diff --git a/tidy3d/plugins/invdes/design.py b/tidy3d/plugins/invdes/design.py
index 3ed0c043e3..289e8c0129 100644
--- a/tidy3d/plugins/invdes/design.py
+++ b/tidy3d/plugins/invdes/design.py
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 import pydantic.v1 as pd
 
 import tidy3d as td
-import tidy3d.web as web
 from tidy3d.components.autograd import get_static
 from tidy3d.exceptions import ValidationError
 from tidy3d.plugins.expressions.metrics import Metric
@@ -71,7 +70,7 @@ def objective_fn(params: anp.ndarray, aux_data: dict = None) -> float:
                 post_process_val = post_process_fn(data)
             elif isinstance(data, td.SimulationData):
                 post_process_val = self.metric.evaluate(data)
-            elif isinstance(data, web.BatchData):
+            elif getattr(data, "type", None) == "BatchData":
                 raise NotImplementedError("Metrics currently do not support 'BatchData'")
             else:
                 raise ValueError(f"Invalid data type: {type(data)}")
@@ -100,6 +99,21 @@ def initial_simulation(self) -> td.Simulation:
         initial_params = self.design_region.initial_parameters
         return self.to_simulation(initial_params)
 
+    def run(self, simulation, **kwargs) -> td.SimulationData:
+        """Run a single tidy3d simulation."""
+        from tidy3d.web import run
+
+        kwargs.setdefault("verbose", self.verbose)
+        kwargs.setdefault("task_name", self.task_name)
+        return run(simulation, **kwargs)
+
+    def run_async(self, simulations, **kwargs) -> web.BatchData:  # noqa: F821
+        """Run a batch of tidy3d simulations."""
+        from tidy3d.web import run_async
+
+        kwargs.setdefault("verbose", self.verbose)
+        return run_async(simulations, **kwargs)
+
 
 class InverseDesign(AbstractInverseDesign):
     """Container for an inverse design problem."""
@@ -221,8 +235,7 @@ def to_simulation(self, params: anp.ndarray) -> td.Simulation:
     def to_simulation_data(self, params: anp.ndarray, **kwargs) -> td.SimulationData:
         """Convert the ``InverseDesign`` to a ``td.Simulation`` and run it."""
         simulation = self.to_simulation(params=params)
-        kwargs.setdefault("task_name", self.task_name)
-        return web.run(simulation, verbose=self.verbose, **kwargs)
+        return self.run(simulation, **kwargs)
 
 
 class InverseDesignMulti(AbstractInverseDesign):
@@ -292,11 +305,10 @@ def to_simulation(self, params: anp.ndarray) -> dict[str, td.Simulation]:
         simulation_list = [design.to_simulation(params) for design in self.designs]
         return dict(zip(self.task_names, simulation_list))
 
-    def to_simulation_data(self, params: anp.ndarray, **kwargs) -> web.BatchData:
+    def to_simulation_data(self, params: anp.ndarray, **kwargs) -> web.BatchData:  # noqa: F821
         """Convert the ``InverseDesignMulti`` to a set of ``td.Simulation``s and run async."""
         simulations = self.to_simulation(params)
-        kwargs.setdefault("verbose", self.verbose)
-        return web.run_async(simulations, **kwargs)
+        return self.run_async(simulations, **kwargs)
 
 
 InverseDesignType = typing.Union[InverseDesign, InverseDesignMulti]