diff --git a/src/App.tsx b/src/App.tsx
index d25ba8382d..5b1f8e696e 100644
--- a/src/App.tsx
+++ b/src/App.tsx
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ import { TextEditor } from 'components/TextEditor'
 import { Themes, getSystemTheme } from 'lib/theme'
 import { useEngineConnectionSubscriptions } from 'hooks/useEngineConnectionSubscriptions'
 import { engineCommandManager } from './lang/std/engineConnection'
-import { kclManager } from 'lang/KclSinglton'
 import { useModelingContext } from 'hooks/useModelingContext'
 
 export function App() {
@@ -82,26 +81,6 @@ export function App() {
     ? 'opacity-40'
     : ''
 
-  // Use file code loaded from disk
-  // on mount, and overwrite any locally-stored code
-  useEffect(() => {
-    if (isTauri() && loadedCode !== null) {
-      if (kclManager.engineCommandManager.engineConnection?.isReady()) {
-        // If the engine is ready, promptly execute the loaded code
-        kclManager.setCodeAndExecute(loadedCode)
-      } else {
-        // Otherwise, just set the code and wait for the connection to complete
-        kclManager.setCode(loadedCode)
-      }
-    }
-    return () => {
-      // Clear code on unmount if in desktop app
-      if (isTauri()) {
-        kclManager.setCode('')
-      }
-    }
-  }, [loadedCode])
-
   useEngineConnectionSubscriptions()
 
   const debounceSocketSend = throttle<EngineCommand>((message) => {
diff --git a/src/Router.tsx b/src/Router.tsx
index 56385fa7ec..ea499a39d9 100644
--- a/src/Router.tsx
+++ b/src/Router.tsx
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ import CommandBarProvider from 'components/CommandBar'
 import { TEST, VITE_KC_SENTRY_DSN } from './env'
 import * as Sentry from '@sentry/react'
 import ModelingMachineProvider from 'components/ModelingMachineProvider'
-import { KclContextProvider } from 'lang/KclSinglton'
+import { KclContextProvider, kclManager } from 'lang/KclSinglton'
 import FileMachineProvider from 'components/FileMachineProvider'
 import { sep } from '@tauri-apps/api/path'
 
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ const router = createBrowserRouter(
             projectPath + sep + PROJECT_ENTRYPOINT
           )
           const children = await readDir(projectPath, { recursive: true })
+          kclManager.setCodeAndExecute(code, false)
 
           return {
             code,
diff --git a/src/components/AvailableVarsHelpers.tsx b/src/components/AvailableVarsHelpers.tsx
index 4905ca1f3c..39aac202e5 100644
--- a/src/components/AvailableVarsHelpers.tsx
+++ b/src/components/AvailableVarsHelpers.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { useEffect, useState, useRef } from 'react'
-import { parse, BinaryPart, Value, executor } from '../lang/wasm'
+import { parse, BinaryPart, Value } from '../lang/wasm'
 import {
   createIdentifier,
   createLiteral,
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { findAllPreviousVariables, PrevVariable } from '../lang/queryAst'
 import { engineCommandManager } from '../lang/std/engineConnection'
 import { kclManager, useKclContext } from 'lang/KclSinglton'
 import { useModelingContext } from 'hooks/useModelingContext'
+import { executeAst } from 'useStore'
 
 export const AvailableVars = ({
   onVarClick,
@@ -130,27 +131,29 @@ export function useCalc({
     if (!programMemory || !selectionRange) return
     const varInfo = findAllPreviousVariables(
       kclManager.ast,
-      programMemory,
+      kclManager.programMemory,
       selectionRange
     )
     setAvailableVarInfo(varInfo)
-  }, [kclManager.ast, programMemory, selectionRange])
+  }, [kclManager.ast, kclManager.programMemory, selectionRange])
 
   useEffect(() => {
     try {
-      const code = `const __result__ = ${value}\nshow(__result__)`
+      const code = `const __result__ = ${value}`
       const ast = parse(code)
       const _programMem: any = { root: {}, return: null }
       availableVarInfo.variables.forEach(({ key, value }) => {
         _programMem.root[key] = { type: 'userVal', value, __meta: [] }
       })
-
-      executor(
+      executeAst({
         ast,
-        _programMem,
         engineCommandManager,
-        kclManager.defaultPlanes
-      ).then((programMemory) => {
+        defaultPlanes: kclManager.defaultPlanes,
+        useFakeExecutor: true,
+        programMemoryOverride: JSON.parse(
+          JSON.stringify(kclManager.programMemory)
+        ),
+      }).then(({ programMemory }) => {
         const resultDeclaration = ast.body.find(
           (a) =>
             a.type === 'VariableDeclaration' &&
@@ -167,7 +170,7 @@ export function useCalc({
       setCalcResult('NAN')
       setValueNode(null)
     }
-  }, [value])
+  }, [value, availableVarInfo])
 
   return {
     valueNode,
@@ -212,7 +215,10 @@ export const CreateNewVariable = ({
 }) => {
   return (
     <>
-      <label htmlFor="create-new-variable" className="block mt-3 font-mono">
+      <label
+        htmlFor="create-new-variable"
+        className="block mt-3 font-mono text-gray-900"
+      >
         Create new variable
       </label>
       <div className="mt-1 flex gap-2 items-center">
@@ -223,6 +229,7 @@ export const CreateNewVariable = ({
             onChange={(e) => {
               setShouldCreateVariable(e.target.checked)
             }}
+            className="bg-white text-gray-900"
           />
         )}
         <input
diff --git a/src/components/FileTree.tsx b/src/components/FileTree.tsx
index f9f3bf0dc1..1213409336 100644
--- a/src/components/FileTree.tsx
+++ b/src/components/FileTree.tsx
@@ -163,7 +163,6 @@ const FileTreeItem = ({
 
   function openFile() {
     if (fileOrDir.children !== undefined) return // Don't open directories
-    kclManager.setCode('')
     navigate(`${paths.FILE}/${encodeURIComponent(fileOrDir.path)}`)
     closePanel()
   }
diff --git a/src/components/ModelingMachineProvider.tsx b/src/components/ModelingMachineProvider.tsx
index a09247201f..d3bdd1300d 100644
--- a/src/components/ModelingMachineProvider.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ModelingMachineProvider.tsx
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ export const ModelingMachineProvider = ({
             engineCommandManager.artifactMap[sketchEnginePathId] = {
               type: 'result',
               range: [startProfileAtCallExp.start, startProfileAtCallExp.end],
-              commandType: 'extend_path',
+              commandType: 'start_path',
               data: null,
               raw: {} as any,
             }
diff --git a/src/components/SetAngleLengthModal.tsx b/src/components/SetAngleLengthModal.tsx
index fe8734b5eb..cdfcec7a9f 100644
--- a/src/components/SetAngleLengthModal.tsx
+++ b/src/components/SetAngleLengthModal.tsx
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ export const SetAngleLengthModal = ({
                 </label>
                 <div className="mt-1 flex">
                   <button
-                    className="border border-gray-300 px-2"
+                    className="border border-gray-300 px-2 text-gray-900"
                     onClick={() => setSign(-sign)}
                   >
                     {sign > 0 ? '+' : '-'}
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ export const SetAngleLengthModal = ({
                     type="text"
                     name="val"
                     id="val"
-                    className="shadow-sm focus:ring-blue-500 focus:border-blue-500 block w-full sm:text-sm border-gray-300 rounded-md font-mono pl-1"
+                    className="shadow-sm focus:ring-blue-500 focus:border-blue-500 block w-full sm:text-sm border-gray-300 rounded-md font-mono pl-1 text-gray-900"
                     value={value}
                     onChange={(e) => {
                       setValue(e.target.value)
diff --git a/src/components/SetHorVertDistanceModal.tsx b/src/components/SetHorVertDistanceModal.tsx
index 633409885b..20c041781b 100644
--- a/src/components/SetHorVertDistanceModal.tsx
+++ b/src/components/SetHorVertDistanceModal.tsx
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ export const GetInfoModal = ({
               leaveFrom="opacity-100 scale-100"
               leaveTo="opacity-0 scale-95"
             >
-              <Dialog.Panel className="w-full max-w-md transform overflow-hidden rounded-2xl bg-white p-6 text-left align-middle shadow-xl transition-all">
+              <Dialog.Panel className="w-full max-w-md transform overflow-hidden rounded-2xl bg-white/90 p-6 text-left align-middle shadow-xl transition-all">
                 <Dialog.Title
                   as="h3"
                   className="text-lg font-medium leading-6 text-gray-900"
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ export const GetInfoModal = ({
                 </label>
                 <div className="mt-1 flex">
                   <button
-                    className="border border-gray-300 px-2 mr-1"
+                    className="border border-gray-400 px-2 mr-1 text-gray-900"
                     onClick={() => setSign(-sign)}
                   >
                     {sign > 0 ? '+' : '-'}
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ export const GetInfoModal = ({
                     name="val"
                     id="val"
                     ref={inputRef}
-                    className="shadow-sm focus:ring-blue-500 focus:border-blue-500 block w-full sm:text-sm border-gray-300 rounded-md font-mono"
+                    className="shadow-sm focus:ring-blue-500 focus:border-blue-500 block w-full sm:text-sm text-gray-900 border-gray-300 rounded-md font-mono"
                     value={value}
                     onChange={(e) => {
                       setValue(e.target.value)
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ export const GetInfoModal = ({
                     name="segName"
                     id="segName"
                     disabled={!isSegNameEditable}
-                    className="shadow-sm focus:ring-blue-500 focus:border-blue-500 block w-full sm:text-sm border-gray-300 rounded-md font-mono"
+                    className="shadow-sm focus:ring-blue-500 focus:border-blue-500 block w-full sm:text-sm text-gray-900 border-gray-300 rounded-md font-mono"
                     value={segName}
                     onChange={(e) => {
                       setSegName(e.target.value)
diff --git a/src/components/TextEditor.tsx b/src/components/TextEditor.tsx
index 70d8ec22f2..7552b56c3f 100644
--- a/src/components/TextEditor.tsx
+++ b/src/components/TextEditor.tsx
@@ -17,15 +17,7 @@ import { useStore } from 'useStore'
 import { processCodeMirrorRanges } from 'lib/selections'
 import { LanguageServerClient } from 'editor/lsp'
 import kclLanguage from 'editor/lsp/language'
-import { isTauri } from 'lib/isTauri'
-import { useParams } from 'react-router-dom'
-import { writeTextFile } from '@tauri-apps/api/fs'
-import { toast } from 'react-hot-toast'
-import {
-  EditorView,
-  addLineHighlight,
-  lineHighlightField,
-} from 'editor/highlightextension'
+import { EditorView, lineHighlightField } from 'editor/highlightextension'
 import { roundOff } from 'lib/utils'
 import { kclErrToDiagnostic } from 'lang/errors'
 import { CSSRuleObject } from 'tailwindcss/types/config'
@@ -50,7 +42,6 @@ export const TextEditor = ({
 }: {
   theme: Themes.Light | Themes.Dark
 }) => {
-  const pathParams = useParams()
   const { editorView, isLSPServerReady, setEditorView, setIsLSPServerReady } =
     useStore((s) => ({
       editorView: s.editorView,
@@ -113,18 +104,6 @@ export const TextEditor = ({
   // const onChange = React.useCallback((value: string, viewUpdate: ViewUpdate) => {
   const onChange = (newCode: string) => {
     kclManager.setCodeAndExecute(newCode)
-    if (isTauri() && pathParams.id) {
-      // Save the file to disk
-      // Note that PROJECT_ENTRYPOINT is hardcoded until we support multiple files
-      writeTextFile(pathParams.id, newCode).catch((err) => {
-        // TODO: add Sentry per GH issue #254 (https://github.com/KittyCAD/modeling-app/issues/254)
-        console.error('error saving file', err)
-        toast.error('Error saving file, please check file permissions')
-      })
-    }
-    if (editorView) {
-      editorView?.dispatch({ effects: addLineHighlight.of([0, 0]) })
-    }
   } //, []);
   const onUpdate = (viewUpdate: ViewUpdate) => {
     if (!editorView) {
diff --git a/src/lang/KclSinglton.tsx b/src/lang/KclSinglton.tsx
index ac967e7f99..fbfda2d7d3 100644
--- a/src/lang/KclSinglton.tsx
+++ b/src/lang/KclSinglton.tsx
@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@ import { bracket } from 'lib/exampleKcl'
 import { createContext, useContext, useEffect, useState } from 'react'
 import { getNodeFromPath } from './queryAst'
 import { IndexLoaderData } from 'Router'
-import { useLoaderData } from 'react-router-dom'
+import { Params, useLoaderData } from 'react-router-dom'
+import { isTauri } from 'lib/isTauri'
+import { writeTextFile } from '@tauri-apps/api/fs'
+import { toast } from 'react-hot-toast'
+import { useParams } from 'react-router-dom'
 
 const PERSIST_CODE_TOKEN = 'persistCode'
 
@@ -41,6 +45,7 @@ class KclManager {
   private _kclErrors: KCLError[] = []
   private _isExecuting = false
   private _wasmInitFailed = true
+  private _params: Params<string> = {}
 
   engineCommandManager: EngineCommandManager
   private _defferer = deferExecution((code: string) => {
@@ -71,6 +76,21 @@ class KclManager {
   set code(code) {
     this._code = code
     this._codeCallBack(code)
+    if (isTauri()) {
+      setTimeout(() => {
+        // Wait one event loop to give a chance for params to be set
+        // Save the file to disk
+        // Note that PROJECT_ENTRYPOINT is hardcoded until we support multiple files
+        this._params.id &&
+          writeTextFile(this._params.id, code).catch((err) => {
+            // TODO: add Sentry per GH issue #254 (https://github.com/KittyCAD/modeling-app/issues/254)
+            console.error('error saving file', err)
+            toast.error('Error saving file, please check file permissions')
+          })
+      })
+    } else {
+      localStorage.setItem(PERSIST_CODE_TOKEN, code)
+    }
   }
 
   get programMemory() {
@@ -117,8 +137,17 @@ class KclManager {
     this._wasmInitFailedCallback(wasmInitFailed)
   }
 
+  setParams(params: Params<string>) {
+    this._params = params
+  }
+
   constructor(engineCommandManager: EngineCommandManager) {
     this.engineCommandManager = engineCommandManager
+
+    if (isTauri()) {
+      this.code = ''
+      return
+    }
     const storedCode = localStorage.getItem(PERSIST_CODE_TOKEN)
     // TODO #819 remove zustand persistence logic in a few months
     // short term migration, shouldn't make a difference for tauri app users
@@ -130,6 +159,7 @@ class KclManager {
       zustandStore.state.code = ''
       localStorage.setItem('store', JSON.stringify(zustandStore))
     } else if (storedCode === null) {
+      console.log('stored brack thing')
       this.code = bracket
     } else {
       this.code = storedCode
@@ -189,8 +219,7 @@ class KclManager {
     this._programMemory = programMemory
     this._ast = { ...ast }
     if (updateCode) {
-      this._code = recast(ast)
-      this._codeCallBack(this._code)
+      this.code = recast(ast)
     }
     this._executeCallback()
   }
@@ -233,13 +262,17 @@ class KclManager {
     this.ast = ast
     if (code) this.code = code
   }
-  setCode(code: string) {
+  setCode(code: string, shouldWriteFile = true) {
+    if (shouldWriteFile) {
+      // use the normal code setter
+      this.code = code
+      return
+    }
     this._code = code
     this._codeCallBack(code)
-    localStorage.setItem(PERSIST_CODE_TOKEN, code)
   }
-  setCodeAndExecute(code: string) {
-    this.setCode(code)
+  setCodeAndExecute(code: string, shouldWriteFile = true) {
+    this.setCode(code, shouldWriteFile)
     if (code.trim()) {
       this._defferer(code)
       return
@@ -270,15 +303,12 @@ class KclManager {
     execute: boolean,
     optionalParams?: {
       focusPath?: PathToNode
-      callBack?: (ast: Program) => void
     }
   ): Promise<Selections | null> {
     const newCode = recast(ast)
     const astWithUpdatedSource = parse(newCode)
-    optionalParams?.callBack?.(astWithUpdatedSource)
     let returnVal: Selections | null = null
 
-    this.code = newCode
     if (optionalParams?.focusPath) {
       const { node } = getNodeFromPath<any>(
         astWithUpdatedSource,
@@ -299,12 +329,12 @@ class KclManager {
 
     if (execute) {
       // Call execute on the set ast.
-      await this.executeAst(astWithUpdatedSource)
+      await this.executeAst(astWithUpdatedSource, true)
     } else {
       // When we don't re-execute, we still want to update the program
       // memory with the new ast. So we will hit the mock executor
       // instead.
-      await this.executeAstMock(astWithUpdatedSource)
+      await this.executeAstMock(astWithUpdatedSource, true)
     }
     return returnVal
   }
@@ -369,6 +399,11 @@ export function KclContextProvider({
       setWasmInitFailed,
     })
   }, [])
+
+  const params = useParams()
+  useEffect(() => {
+    kclManager.setParams(params)
+  }, [params])
   return (
     <KclContext.Provider
       value={{
diff --git a/src/lang/std/engineConnection.ts b/src/lang/std/engineConnection.ts
index 265a2aa542..d37bc301e4 100644
--- a/src/lang/std/engineConnection.ts
+++ b/src/lang/std/engineConnection.ts
@@ -889,6 +889,7 @@ export class EngineCommandManager {
     // TODO: instead of sending a single command with `object_ids: Object.keys(this.artifactMap)`
     // we need to loop over them each individually because if the engine doesn't recognise a single
     // id the whole command fails.
+    const artifactsToDelete: any = {}
     Object.entries(this.artifactMap).forEach(([id, artifact]) => {
       const artifactTypesToDelete: ArtifactMap[string]['commandType'][] = [
         // 'start_path' creates a new scene object for the path, which is why it needs to be deleted,
@@ -898,7 +899,9 @@ export class EngineCommandManager {
         'start_path',
       ]
       if (!artifactTypesToDelete.includes(artifact.commandType)) return
-
+      artifactsToDelete[id] = artifact
+    })
+    Object.keys(artifactsToDelete).forEach((id) => {
       const deletCmd: EngineCommand = {
         type: 'modeling_cmd_req',
         cmd_id: uuidv4(),
diff --git a/src/lib/exampleKcl.ts b/src/lib/exampleKcl.ts
index 6397823876..ba645c24f0 100644
--- a/src/lib/exampleKcl.ts
+++ b/src/lib/exampleKcl.ts
@@ -26,5 +26,4 @@ const bracket = startSketchOn('XY')
   |> close(%)
   |> extrude(width, %)
 
-show(bracket)
 `
diff --git a/src/lib/tauriFS.ts b/src/lib/tauriFS.ts
index 4ee59c283b..3762d585f9 100644
--- a/src/lib/tauriFS.ts
+++ b/src/lib/tauriFS.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import { documentDir, homeDir, sep } from '@tauri-apps/api/path'
 import { isTauri } from './isTauri'
 import { ProjectWithEntryPointMetadata } from '../Router'
 import { metadata } from 'tauri-plugin-fs-extra-api'
-import { bracket } from './exampleKcl'
 
 const PROJECT_FOLDER = 'kittycad-modeling-projects'
 export const FILE_EXT = '.kcl'
@@ -211,7 +210,8 @@ export function sortProject(project: FileEntry[]): FileEntry[] {
 // Creates a new file in the default directory with the default project name
 // Returns the path to the new file
 export async function createNewProject(
-  path: string
+  path: string,
+  initCode = ''
 ): Promise<ProjectWithEntryPointMetadata> {
   if (!isTauri) {
     throw new Error('createNewProject() can only be called from a Tauri app')
@@ -225,10 +225,12 @@ export async function createNewProject(
     })
   }
 
-  await writeTextFile(path + sep + PROJECT_ENTRYPOINT, bracket).catch((err) => {
-    console.error('Error creating new file:', err)
-    throw err
-  })
+  await writeTextFile(path + sep + PROJECT_ENTRYPOINT, initCode).catch(
+    (err) => {
+      console.error('Error creating new file:', err)
+      throw err
+    }
+  )
 
   const m = await metadata(path)
 
diff --git a/src/routes/Onboarding/Introduction.tsx b/src/routes/Onboarding/Introduction.tsx
index 4f7455d33e..daca39a1b5 100644
--- a/src/routes/Onboarding/Introduction.tsx
+++ b/src/routes/Onboarding/Introduction.tsx
@@ -43,7 +43,10 @@ function OnboardingWithNewFile() {
       ONBOARDING_PROJECT_NAME,
       nextIndex
     )
-    const newFile = await createNewProject(defaultDirectory + sep + name)
+    const newFile = await createNewProject(
+      defaultDirectory + sep + name,
+      bracket
+    )
     navigate(
       `${paths.FILE}/${encodeURIComponent(
         newFile.path + sep + PROJECT_ENTRYPOINT
@@ -79,7 +82,7 @@ function OnboardingWithNewFile() {
               <ActionButton
                 Element="button"
                 onClick={() => {
-                  kclManager.setCode(bracket)
+                  kclManager.setCodeAndExecute(bracket)
                   next()
                 }}
                 icon={{ icon: faArrowRight }}
diff --git a/src/routes/Settings.tsx b/src/routes/Settings.tsx
index db893bc5a9..6ffb68a02b 100644
--- a/src/routes/Settings.tsx
+++ b/src/routes/Settings.tsx
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import {
 } from 'lib/tauriFS'
 import { ONBOARDING_PROJECT_NAME } from './Onboarding'
 import { sep } from '@tauri-apps/api/path'
+import { bracket } from 'lib/exampleKcl'
 
 export const Settings = () => {
   const loaderData =
@@ -96,7 +97,10 @@ export const Settings = () => {
       ONBOARDING_PROJECT_NAME,
       nextIndex
     )
-    const newFile = await createNewProject(defaultDirectory + sep + name)
+    const newFile = await createNewProject(
+      defaultDirectory + sep + name,
+      bracket
+    )
     navigate(`${paths.FILE}/${encodeURIComponent(newFile.path)}`)
   }
 
diff --git a/src/useStore.ts b/src/useStore.ts
index b89d8b6f2d..2f48d1bc38 100644
--- a/src/useStore.ts
+++ b/src/useStore.ts
@@ -253,11 +253,13 @@ export async function executeAst({
   engineCommandManager,
   defaultPlanes,
   useFakeExecutor = false,
+  programMemoryOverride,
 }: {
   ast: Program
   engineCommandManager: EngineCommandManager
   defaultPlanes: DefaultPlanes
   useFakeExecutor?: boolean
+  programMemoryOverride?: ProgramMemory
 }): Promise<{
   logs: string[]
   errors: KCLError[]
@@ -269,10 +271,13 @@ export async function executeAst({
       engineCommandManager.startNewSession()
     }
     const programMemory = await (useFakeExecutor
-      ? enginelessExecutor(ast, {
-          root: defaultProgramMemory,
-          return: null,
-        })
+      ? enginelessExecutor(
+          ast,
+          programMemoryOverride || {
+            root: defaultProgramMemory,
+            return: null,
+          }
+        )
       : _executor(
           ast,
           {