diff --git a/selfdrive/modeld/SConscript b/selfdrive/modeld/SConscript
index 859488356e3f79..1f1c661c8be3e9 100644
--- a/selfdrive/modeld/SConscript
+++ b/selfdrive/modeld/SConscript
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ common_model = lenv.Object(common_src)
 if use_thneed and arch == "larch64":
   fn = File("models/supercombo").abspath
   compiler = lenv.Program('thneed/compile', ["thneed/compile.cc"]+common_model, LIBS=libs)
-  cmd = f"cd {Dir('.').abspath} && {compiler[0].abspath} {fn}.dlc {fn}_badweights.thneed --binary"
+  cmd = f"cd {Dir('.').abspath} && {compiler[0].abspath} --in {fn}.dlc --out {fn}_badweights.thneed --binary --optimize"
 
   lib_paths = ':'.join(Dir(p).abspath for p in lenv["LIBPATH"])
   kernel_path = os.path.join(Dir('.').abspath, "thneed", "kernels")
diff --git a/selfdrive/modeld/runners/snpemodel.cc b/selfdrive/modeld/runners/snpemodel.cc
index 44fa6ce298c389..d8ed708fa867e9 100644
--- a/selfdrive/modeld/runners/snpemodel.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/modeld/runners/snpemodel.cc
@@ -123,6 +123,12 @@ SNPEModel::SNPEModel(const char *path, float *loutput, size_t loutput_size, int
     outputBuffer = ubFactory.createUserBuffer(output, output_size * sizeof(float), outputStrides, &userBufferEncodingFloat);
     outputMap.add(output_tensor_name, outputBuffer.get());
   }
+
+#ifdef USE_THNEED
+  if (Runtime == zdl::DlSystem::Runtime_t::GPU) {
+    thneed.reset(new Thneed());
+  }
+#endif
 }
 
 void SNPEModel::addRecurrent(float *state, int state_size) {
@@ -176,7 +182,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<zdl::DlSystem::IUserBuffer> SNPEModel::addExtra(float *state, in
 void SNPEModel::execute() {
 #ifdef USE_THNEED
   if (Runtime == zdl::DlSystem::Runtime_t::GPU) {
-    if (thneed == NULL) {
+    if (!thneed_recorded) {
       bool ret = inputBuffer->setBufferAddress(input);
       assert(ret == true);
       if (use_extra) {
@@ -188,7 +194,7 @@ void SNPEModel::execute() {
         PrintErrorStringAndExit();
       }
       memset(recurrent, 0, recurrent_size*sizeof(float));
-      thneed = new Thneed();
+      thneed->record = true;
       if (!snpe->execute(inputMap, outputMap)) {
         PrintErrorStringAndExit();
       }
@@ -220,6 +226,7 @@ void SNPEModel::execute() {
         assert(false);
       }
       free(outputs_golden);
+      thneed_recorded = true;
     } else {
       if (use_extra) {
         float *inputs[5] = {recurrent, trafficConvention, desire, extra, input};
diff --git a/selfdrive/modeld/runners/snpemodel.h b/selfdrive/modeld/runners/snpemodel.h
index 6e9c33f89c8f6d..ee5381d6a29c1c 100644
--- a/selfdrive/modeld/runners/snpemodel.h
+++ b/selfdrive/modeld/runners/snpemodel.h
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ class SNPEModel : public RunModel {
   void execute();
 
 #ifdef USE_THNEED
-  Thneed *thneed = NULL;
+  std::unique_ptr<Thneed> thneed;
+  bool thneed_recorded = false;
 #endif
 
 private:
diff --git a/selfdrive/modeld/runners/thneedmodel.cc b/selfdrive/modeld/runners/thneedmodel.cc
index edc091bda9ca38..dbe80a9463b1d2 100644
--- a/selfdrive/modeld/runners/thneedmodel.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/modeld/runners/thneedmodel.cc
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 ThneedModel::ThneedModel(const char *path, float *loutput, size_t loutput_size, int runtime, bool luse_extra) {
   thneed = new Thneed(true);
-  thneed->record = 0;
   thneed->load(path);
   thneed->clexec();
   thneed->find_inputs_outputs();
diff --git a/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/compile.cc b/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/compile.cc
index c22156d2c9c2a0..8698ce482e224b 100644
--- a/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/compile.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/compile.cc
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include <cstring>
+#include <getopt.h>
 
 #include "selfdrive/modeld/runners/snpemodel.h"
 #include "selfdrive/modeld/thneed/thneed.h"
@@ -10,10 +11,36 @@
 
 // TODO: This should probably use SNPE directly.
 int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
+  bool run_optimizer = false, save_binaries = false;
+  const char *input_file = NULL, *output_file = NULL;
+  static struct option long_options[] = {
+      {"in",       required_argument, 0,  'i' },
+      {"out",      required_argument, 0,  'o' },
+      {"binary",   no_argument,       0,  'b' },
+      {"optimize", no_argument,       0,  'f' },
+      {0,          0,                 0,  0 }
+  };
+  int long_index = 0, opt = 0;
+  while ((opt = getopt_long_only(argc, argv,"", long_options, &long_index)) != -1) {
+    switch (opt) {
+      case 'i': input_file = optarg; break;
+      case 'o': output_file = optarg; break;
+      case 'b': save_binaries = true; break;
+      case 'f': run_optimizer = true; break;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // no input?
+  if (!input_file) {
+    printf("usage: -i <input file> -o <output file> --binary --optimize\n");
+    return -1;
+  }
+
   #define OUTPUT_SIZE 0x10000
 
   float *output = (float*)calloc(OUTPUT_SIZE, sizeof(float));
-  SNPEModel mdl(argv[1], output, 0, USE_GPU_RUNTIME, true);
+  SNPEModel mdl(input_file, output, 0, USE_GPU_RUNTIME, true);
+  mdl.thneed->run_optimizer = run_optimizer;
 
   float state[TEMPORAL_SIZE] = {0};
   float desire[DESIRE_LEN] = {0};
@@ -32,14 +59,20 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
   memset(output, 0, OUTPUT_SIZE * sizeof(float));
   mdl.execute();
 
+  // don't save?
+  if (!output_file) {
+    printf("no output file, exiting\n");
+    return 0;
+  }
+
   // save model
-  bool save_binaries = (argc > 3) && (strcmp(argv[3], "--binary") == 0);
-  mdl.thneed->save(argv[2], save_binaries);
+  printf("saving %s with binary %d\n", output_file, save_binaries);
+  mdl.thneed->save(output_file, save_binaries);
 
   // test model
   auto thneed = new Thneed(true);
   thneed->record = false;
-  thneed->load(argv[2]);
+  thneed->load(output_file);
   thneed->clexec();
   thneed->find_inputs_outputs();
 
diff --git a/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/thneed.cc b/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/thneed.cc
index 470ff219b0e431..90b1200a1aee57 100644
--- a/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/thneed.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/thneed.cc
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@
 
 #include "selfdrive/common/clutil.h"
 #include "selfdrive/common/timing.h"
-//#define RUN_DISASSEMBLER
-#define RUN_OPTIMIZER
 
 Thneed *g_thneed = NULL;
 int g_fd = -1;
@@ -203,11 +201,6 @@ void CachedCommand::exec() {
     for (auto &it : kq) {
       it->debug_print(false);
     }
-    #ifdef RUN_DISASSEMBLER
-      // assuming 2 commands
-      disassemble(0);
-      disassemble(1);
-    #endif
   }
 
   assert(ret == 0);
@@ -220,7 +213,6 @@ Thneed::Thneed(bool do_clinit) {
   assert(g_fd != -1);
   fd = g_fd;
   ram = make_unique<GPUMalloc>(0x80000, fd);
-  record = true;
   timestamp = -1;
   g_thneed = this;
   char *thneed_debug_env = getenv("THNEED_DEBUG");
@@ -230,7 +222,7 @@ Thneed::Thneed(bool do_clinit) {
 void Thneed::stop() {
   find_inputs_outputs();
   printf("Thneed::stop: recorded %lu commands\n", cmds.size());
-  record = 0;
+  record = false;
 }
 
 void Thneed::find_inputs_outputs() {
@@ -416,9 +408,7 @@ cl_int thneed_clFinish(cl_command_queue command_queue) {
   Thneed *thneed = g_thneed;
 
   if (thneed != NULL && thneed->record) {
-    #ifdef RUN_OPTIMIZER
-      thneed->optimize();
-    #endif
+    if (thneed->run_optimizer) thneed->optimize();
     return thneed->clexec();
   } else {
     return clFinish(command_queue);
diff --git a/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/thneed.h b/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/thneed.h
index b09d32b0ef9e8a..0ccea59a3c3e8a 100644
--- a/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/thneed.h
+++ b/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/thneed.h
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ class Thneed {
     void execute(float **finputs, float *foutput, bool slow=false);
     void wait();
     int optimize();
+    bool run_optimizer = false;
 
     vector<cl_mem> input_clmem;
     vector<void *> inputs;
@@ -106,7 +107,7 @@ class Thneed {
     int context_id;
 
     // protected?
-    bool record;
+    bool record = false;
     int debug;
     int timestamp;
     unique_ptr<GPUMalloc> ram;