diff --git a/src/image.zig b/src/image.zig
index 2d40b97..51c1eef 100644
--- a/src/image.zig
+++ b/src/image.zig
@@ -179,8 +179,9 @@ pub const Image = struct {
     }
 
     pub fn close(self: *Image) void {
-        //self.allocator.free(self.path);
-        //self.allocator.free(self.curpath);
+        self.allocator.free(self.path);
+        self.allocator.free(self.curpath);
+
         var st: i32 = c.sf_close(self.sndfile);
 
         if (st != 0) {
diff --git a/src/lang.zig b/src/lang.zig
index 3d33909..c80af14 100644
--- a/src/lang.zig
+++ b/src/lang.zig
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ pub const Command = struct {
     pub const Load = struct {
         pub const base_tag = Tag.load;
         base: Command,
-        path: []u8,
+        path: []const u8,
     };
 
     pub const Quicksave = struct {
@@ -474,7 +474,29 @@ pub const Command = struct {
     });
 };
 
-pub const CommandList = std.ArrayList(*Command);
+const CmdArrayList = std.ArrayList(*Command);
+
+pub const CommandList = struct {
+    list: CmdArrayList,
+    const Self = @This();
+
+    pub fn init(allocator: *std.mem.Allocator) Self {
+        return .{
+            .list = CmdArrayList.init(allocator),
+        };
+    }
+
+    pub fn deinit(self: *Self) void {
+        for (self.list.items) |cmd_ptr| {
+            self.list.allocator.destroy(cmd_ptr);
+        }
+        self.list.deinit();
+    }
+
+    pub fn append(self: *Self, cmd: *Command) !void {
+        return try self.list.append(cmd);
+    }
+};
 
 /// A parser.
 pub const Lang = struct {
@@ -546,7 +568,7 @@ pub const Lang = struct {
                     f32 => try std.fmt.parseFloat(f32, arg),
                     u64 => try std.fmt.parseInt(u64, arg, 10),
                     usize => try std.fmt.parseInt(usize, arg, 10),
-                    []const u8 => try self.allocator.dupe(u8, arg),
+                    []const u8 => arg,
                     else => @compileError("parameter struct has unsupported type " ++ @typeName(cmd_field.field_type)),
                 };
 
@@ -564,8 +586,7 @@ pub const Lang = struct {
                     usize => try std.fmt.parseInt(usize, arg, 10),
                     i32 => try std.fmt.parseInt(i32, arg, 10),
                     f32 => try std.fmt.parseFloat(f32, arg),
-                    []u8 => try self.allocator.dupe(u8, arg),
-                    []const u8 => try self.allocator.dupe(u8, arg),
+                    []const u8 => arg,
                     else => @compileError("Invalid parameter type (" ++ @typeName(cmd_field.field_type) ++ ") left on command struct " ++ @typeName(command_struct) ++ "."),
                 };
 
diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index a53c1fb..962684b 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -60,12 +60,14 @@ pub fn doRepl(allocator: *std.mem.Allocator, args_it: anytype) !void {
         var scri_existing = try allocator.alloc(u8, total_bytes);
         _ = try file_read_opt.?.read(scri_existing);
 
-        // we can defer this because we copy the Command structs back to cmds
+        // we can't defer this directly because we copy the
+        // Command pointers to the cmds list. running deinit() directly
+        // would cause those pointers to be freed.
         var existing_cmds = try lang.parse(scri_existing);
-        defer existing_cmds.deinit();
+        defer existing_cmds.list.deinit();
 
         // copy the existing command list into the repl's command list
-        for (existing_cmds.items) |existing_cmd| {
+        for (existing_cmds.list.items) |existing_cmd| {
             try cmds.append(existing_cmd);
         }
     } else {
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ pub fn doRepl(allocator: *std.mem.Allocator, args_it: anytype) !void {
         // TODO: deliberate memleak here. we only allocate this
         // command once, for the start of the file, so.
         var load_cmd = try allocator.create(langs.Command.Load);
-        std.mem.copy(u8, load_cmd.path, ":0");
+        load_cmd.path = ":0";
         load_cmd.base.tag = langs.Command.Tag.load;
 
         // taking address is fine, because load_cmd lives in the lifetime
@@ -210,9 +212,8 @@ pub fn doRepl(allocator: *std.mem.Allocator, args_it: anytype) !void {
         };
 
         // no command? ignore!
-        if (cmds_parsed.items.len == 0) continue;
-
-        current = cmds_parsed.items[0].*;
+        if (cmds_parsed.list.items.len == 0) continue;
+        current = cmds_parsed.list.items[0].*;
 
         // by cloning the parent runner, we can iteratively write
         // whatever command we want and only commit the good results
@@ -241,9 +242,9 @@ pub fn main() !void {
     var args_it = std.process.args();
 
     // TODO print help
-
-    _ = try (args_it.next(allocator) orelse @panic("expected exe name"));
+    _ = args_it.skip();
     const scri_path = try (args_it.next(allocator) orelse @panic("expected scri path or 'repl'"));
+    defer allocator.free(scri_path);
 
     if (std.mem.eql(u8, scri_path, "repl")) {
         return try doRepl(allocator, &args_it);
diff --git a/src/printer.zig b/src/printer.zig
index 69cc4b5..5ea5a7b 100644
--- a/src/printer.zig
+++ b/src/printer.zig
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ fn printCommand(stream: anytype, cmd: *langs.Command, comptime tag: langs.Comman
 }
 
 pub fn printList(list: langs.CommandList, stream: anytype) !void {
-    for (list.items) |cmd| {
+    for (list.list.items) |cmd| {
         const command = @tagName(cmd.tag);
         try stream.print("{}", .{command});
 
diff --git a/src/runner.zig b/src/runner.zig
index a9ea3e3..47f2cab 100644
--- a/src/runner.zig
+++ b/src/runner.zig
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ pub const Runner = struct {
         }
     }
 
+    // Caller owns returned memory.
     fn resolveArgPath(self: *Runner, path_or_argidx: []const u8) ![]const u8 {
         const path = try self.resolveArg(path_or_argidx);
         const resolved_path = try std.fs.path.resolve(
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@ pub const Runner = struct {
     }
 
     fn loadCmd(self: *Runner, path_or_argidx: []const u8) !void {
-        var load_path = try self.resolveArgPath(path_or_argidx);
+        const load_path = try self.resolveArgPath(path_or_argidx);
         std.debug.warn("\tload path: {}\n", .{load_path});
 
         // we could use ImageMagick to convert from X to BMP
@@ -312,7 +313,7 @@ pub const Runner = struct {
         cmds: lang.CommandList,
         debug_flag: bool,
     ) !void {
-        for (cmds.items) |cmd| {
+        for (cmds.list.items) |cmd| {
             cmd.print();
             try self.runCommand(cmd.*);
         }