diff --git a/src/tui/EditBuffer.zig b/src/tui/EditBuffer.zig
index 07520fe..0837447 100644
--- a/src/tui/EditBuffer.zig
+++ b/src/tui/EditBuffer.zig
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const ArrayList = std.ArrayList;
 const EditBuffer = @This();
 
 buffer: ArrayList(u8),
-cursor: usize,
+cursor: u16,
 dirty: bool,
 
 pub fn init(allocator: Allocator) EditBuffer {
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ pub fn deinit(eb: *EditBuffer) void {
     eb.buffer.deinit();
 }
 
-pub fn len(eb: *const EditBuffer) usize {
-    return eb.buffer.items.len;
+pub fn len(eb: *const EditBuffer) u16 {
+    return @intCast(eb.buffer.items.len);
 }
 
 pub fn slice(eb: *EditBuffer) []const u8 {
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ pub fn slice(eb: *EditBuffer) []const u8 {
 /// Insert utf-8 encoded text into the buffer at the cursor position
 pub fn insert(eb: *EditBuffer, bytes: []const u8) !void {
     try eb.buffer.insertSlice(eb.cursor, bytes);
-    eb.cursor += bytes.len;
+    const bytes_len: u16 = @intCast(bytes.len);
+    eb.cursor += bytes_len;
     eb.dirty = true;
 }
 
@@ -64,12 +65,12 @@ pub fn deleteTo(eb: *EditBuffer, pos: usize) void {
 }
 
 /// Set the cursor to an absolute position
-pub fn setCursor(eb: *EditBuffer, pos: usize) void {
+pub fn setCursor(eb: *EditBuffer, pos: u16) void {
     eb.cursor = if (pos > eb.len()) eb.len() else pos;
 }
 
 /// Move the cursor relative to it's current position
-pub fn moveCursor(eb: *EditBuffer, amount: usize, direction: Direction) void {
+pub fn moveCursor(eb: *EditBuffer, amount: u16, direction: Direction) void {
     eb.cursor = switch (direction) {
         .left => if (amount >= eb.cursor) 0 else eb.cursor - amount,
         .right => if (eb.cursor + amount > eb.len()) eb.len() else eb.cursor + amount,
diff --git a/src/tui/opts.zig b/src/tui/opts.zig
index b671865..5600842 100644
--- a/src/tui/opts.zig
+++ b/src/tui/opts.zig
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ const OptionIter = struct {
 pub const Config = struct {
     // Commandline options
     keep_order: bool = false,
-    height: usize = 10,
+    height: u16 = 10,
     filter: ?[]const u8 = null,
     plain: bool = false,
     delimiter: []const u8 = "\n",
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ pub fn parse(allocator: Allocator, args: []const []const u8, stderr: File.Writer
         // height
         else if (mem.eql(u8, opt, "height") or mem.eql(u8, opt, "l") or mem.eql(u8, opt, "lines")) {
             const height_str = iter.getArg() orelse missingArg(stderr, iter, opt);
-            const height = fmt.parseUnsigned(usize, height_str, 10) catch argError(stderr, "height must be an integer");
+            const height = fmt.parseUnsigned(u16, height_str, 10) catch argError(stderr, "height must be an integer");
             if (height < 2) argError(stderr, "height must be an integer greater than 1");
             config.height = height;
         }
diff --git a/src/tui/ui.zig b/src/tui/ui.zig
index fa56a5d..60decae 100644
--- a/src/tui/ui.zig
+++ b/src/tui/ui.zig
@@ -298,18 +298,18 @@ pub const State = struct {
         win.clear();
 
         const width = state.vx.screen.width;
-        const preview_width: usize = if (state.preview) |_|
+        const preview_width: u16 = if (state.preview) |_|
             @intFromFloat(@as(f64, @floatFromInt(width)) * state.config.preview_width)
         else
             0;
 
         const items_width = width - preview_width;
-        const items = win.child(.{ .height = .{ .limit = state.config.height }, .width = .{ .limit = items_width } });
+        const items = win.child(.{ .height = state.config.height, .width = items_width });
 
         const height = @min(state.vx.screen.height, state.config.height);
 
         // draw the candidates
-        var line: usize = 0;
+        var line: u16 = 0;
         while (line < height - 1) : (line += 1) {
             if (line < candidates.len) state.drawCandidate(
                 items,
@@ -328,18 +328,18 @@ pub const State = struct {
             if (num_selected > 0) {
                 const stats = try std.fmt.bufPrint(&buf, "{}/{} [{}]", .{ candidates.len, total_candidates, num_selected });
                 const stats_width = numDigits(candidates.len) + numDigits(total_candidates) + numDigits(num_selected) + 4;
-                _ = try items.printSegment(.{ .text = stats }, .{ .col_offset = items_width - stats_width, .row_offset = 0 });
+                _ = items.printSegment(.{ .text = stats }, .{ .col_offset = items_width - stats_width, .row_offset = 0 });
             } else {
                 const stats = try std.fmt.bufPrint(&buf, "{}/{}", .{ candidates.len, total_candidates });
                 const stats_width = numDigits(candidates.len) + numDigits(total_candidates) + 1;
-                _ = try items.printSegment(.{ .text = stats }, .{ .col_offset = items_width - stats_width, .row_offset = 0 });
+                _ = items.printSegment(.{ .text = stats }, .{ .col_offset = items_width - stats_width, .row_offset = 0 });
             }
         }
 
         // draw the prompt
         // TODO: handle display of queries longer than the screen width
         // const query_width = state.query.slice().len;
-        _ = try items.print(&.{
+        _ = items.print(&.{
             .{ .text = state.config.prompt },
             .{ .text = state.query.slice() },
         }, .{ .col_offset = 0, .row_offset = 0 });
@@ -349,15 +349,16 @@ pub const State = struct {
             const preview_win = win.child(.{
                 .x_off = items_width,
                 .y_off = 0,
-                .height = .{ .limit = state.config.height },
-                .width = .{ .limit = preview_width },
+                .height = state.config.height,
+                .width = preview_width,
                 .border = .{ .where = .left },
             });
 
             var lines = std.mem.splitScalar(u8, preview.output, '\n');
-            for (0..height) |l| {
+            for (0..height) |captured_l| {
+                const l: u16 = @intCast(captured_l);
                 if (lines.next()) |preview_line| {
-                    _ = try preview_win.printSegment(
+                    _ = preview_win.printSegment(
                         .{ .text = preview_line },
                         .{ .row_offset = l, .wrap = .none },
                     );
@@ -365,14 +366,15 @@ pub const State = struct {
             }
         }
 
-        items.showCursor(state.config.prompt.len + state.query.cursor, 0);
+        const config_prompt_len: u16 = @intCast(state.config.prompt.len);
+        items.showCursor(config_prompt_len + state.query.cursor, 0);
         try state.vx.render(state.tty.anyWriter());
     }
 
     fn drawCandidate(
         state: *State,
         win: vaxis.Window,
-        line: usize,
+        line: u16,
         str: []const u8,
         tokens: [][]const u8,
         selected: bool,
@@ -383,7 +385,7 @@ pub const State = struct {
 
         // no highlights, just output the string
         if (matches.len == 0) {
-            _ = try win.print(&.{
+            _ = win.print(&.{
                 .{ .text = if (selected) "* " else "  " },
                 .{
                     .text = str,
@@ -397,7 +399,7 @@ pub const State = struct {
         } else {
             var slicer = HighlightSlicer.init(str, matches);
 
-            var res = try win.printSegment(.{
+            var res = win.printSegment(.{
                 .text = if (selected) "* " else "  ",
             }, .{
                 .row_offset = line,
@@ -413,7 +415,7 @@ pub const State = struct {
                     } else .default,
                 };
 
-                res = try win.printSegment(.{
+                res = win.printSegment(.{
                     .text = slice.str,
                     .style = highlight_style,
                 }, .{