diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index b6b660c5d7..17af1c2074 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ VIZ=1 python -c "from tinygrad import Tensor; Tensor.ones(10).sum().realize()"
 ## Debugging Tips
 
 1. **Print UOp graphs**: `print(tensor.uop)` or `print(tensor.uop.sink())`
-2. **Check schedule**: `tensor.schedule()` returns list of ScheduleItems
+2. **Check schedule**: `tensor.schedule()` returns list of ExecItems
 3. **Trace graph rewrites**: Use `VIZ=1` or add print in PatternMatcher callbacks
 4. **Find UOps by type**: `[u for u in uop.toposort() if u.op is Ops.SOMETHING]`
 
diff --git a/docs/abstractions3.py b/docs/abstractions3.py
index c34a399bba..649bbd60b1 100644
--- a/docs/abstractions3.py
+++ b/docs/abstractions3.py
@@ -38,25 +38,19 @@ optim.schedule_step()   # this will step the optimizer without running realize
 # The weight Tensors have been assigned to, but not yet realized. Everything is still lazy at this point
 # l1.uop and l2.uop define a computation graph
 
-from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ScheduleItem
-schedule: List[ScheduleItem] = Tensor.schedule(l1, l2)
+from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ExecItem
+schedule: List[ExecItem] = Tensor.schedule(l1, l2)
 
 print(f"The schedule contains {len(schedule)} items.")
 for si in schedule: print(str(si)[:80])
 
 # *****
-# 4. Lower a schedule.
+# 4. Lower and run the schedule.
 
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule_item, ExecItem
-lowered: List[ExecItem] = [lower_schedule_item(si) for si in tqdm(schedule)]
+for si in tqdm(schedule): si.run()
 
 # *****
-# 5. Run the schedule
-
-for ei in tqdm(lowered): ei.run()
-
-# *****
-# 6. Print the weight change
+# 5. Print the weight change
 
 print("first weight change\n", l1.numpy()-l1n)
 print("second weight change\n", l2.numpy()-l2n)
diff --git a/docs/developer/developer.md b/docs/developer/developer.md
index f932f0a935..d7c7518ff6 100644
--- a/docs/developer/developer.md
+++ b/docs/developer/developer.md
@@ -17,15 +17,15 @@ The `UOp` graph specifies the compute in terms of low level tinygrad ops. Not al
 
 ## Scheduling
 
-The [scheduler](https://github.com/tinygrad/tinygrad/tree/master/tinygrad/engine/schedule.py) converts the graph of UOps into a list of `ScheduleItem`. One `ScheduleItem` is one kernel on the GPU, and the scheduler is responsible for breaking the large compute graph into subgraphs that can fit in a kernel. `ast` specifies what compute to run, and `bufs` specifies what buffers to run it on.
+The [scheduler](https://github.com/tinygrad/tinygrad/tree/master/tinygrad/engine/schedule.py) converts the graph of UOps into a list of `ExecItem`. One `ExecItem` is one kernel on the GPU, and the scheduler is responsible for breaking the large compute graph into subgraphs that can fit in a kernel. `ast` specifies what compute to run, and `bufs` specifies what buffers to run it on.
 
-::: tinygrad.engine.schedule.ScheduleItem
+::: tinygrad.engine.schedule.ExecItem
 
 ## Lowering
 
-The code in [realize](https://github.com/tinygrad/tinygrad/tree/master/tinygrad/engine/realize.py) lowers `ScheduleItem` to `ExecItem` with
+The code in [realize](https://github.com/tinygrad/tinygrad/tree/master/tinygrad/engine/realize.py) lowers `ExecItem` by populating its `prg` field with
 
-::: tinygrad.engine.realize.lower_schedule
+::: tinygrad.engine.realize.run_schedule
 
 There's a ton of complexity hidden behind this, see the `codegen/` directory.
 
diff --git a/extra/assembly/rdna3/generate.py b/extra/assembly/rdna3/generate.py
index 9c0a2ff7e1..61d5f22be6 100644
--- a/extra/assembly/rdna3/generate.py
+++ b/extra/assembly/rdna3/generate.py
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
 
 from tinygrad import nn, Tensor, Device
 from tinygrad.helpers import get_single_element
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule
 from tinygrad.runtime.support.elf import elf_loader
 from tinygrad.runtime.ops_amd import ProfileSQTTEvent
 from extra.sqtt.attempt_sqtt_parse import parse_sqtt_print_packets
@@ -118,7 +117,8 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
   root = ET.fromstring(xml_str)
 
   a = Tensor.empty(16)+1
-  for si, ei in lower_schedule(a.schedule()):
+  for ei in a.schedule():
+    ei.lower()
     # get text
     _, hdr, _ = elf_loader(ei.prg.lib)
     text = get_single_element([x for x in hdr if x.name==".text"]).content
diff --git a/extra/gemm/amd_matmul.py b/extra/gemm/amd_matmul.py
index 6d704766b8..d72034fef5 100644
--- a/extra/gemm/amd_matmul.py
+++ b/extra/gemm/amd_matmul.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     for _ in range(run_count): tc = (a@b).realize()
 
   GlobalCounters.reset()
-  ei = ExecItem(runner, [a.uop.buffer, b.uop.buffer, c.uop.buffer])
+  ei = ExecItem(ast, [a.uop.buffer, b.uop.buffer, c.uop.buffer], prg=runner)
   with Context(DEBUG=2):
     for _ in range(run_count): ei.run(wait=True)
   print(f"custom  {(c-tc).square().mean().item()}")
diff --git a/extra/gemm/amd_uop_matmul.py b/extra/gemm/amd_uop_matmul.py
index 9ca6adb0ad..af5758e693 100644
--- a/extra/gemm/amd_uop_matmul.py
+++ b/extra/gemm/amd_uop_matmul.py
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ def test_matmul(sink:UOp, N=N):
   hc = Tensor.empty(N, N)
   Tensor.realize(a, b, hc)
 
-  ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in [hc, a, b]])
+  ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in [hc, a, b]], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
 
   ets = []
   with Context(DEBUG=2):
diff --git a/extra/gemm/simple_matmul.py b/extra/gemm/simple_matmul.py
index 45a359be38..379b50474e 100644
--- a/extra/gemm/simple_matmul.py
+++ b/extra/gemm/simple_matmul.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ from tinygrad import dtypes, Tensor
 from tinygrad.helpers import getenv, get_single_element
 from tinygrad.dtype import _to_np_dtype
 from tinygrad.codegen.opt import OptOps
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule
 
 dtype_in = (dtypes.half if getenv("HALF") else dtypes.bfloat16 if getenv("BFLOAT16") else
             dtypes.fp8e4m3 if getenv("FP8E4M3") else dtypes.fp8e5m2 if getenv("FP8E5M2") else dtypes.float)
@@ -40,8 +39,8 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
 
   if getenv("SHOULD_USE_TC"):
     sched = a.matmul(b, dtype=acc_dtype).schedule()
-    lowered = list(lower_schedule(sched))
-    ei = get_single_element(lowered)[1]
+    ei = get_single_element(sched)
+    ei.lower()
     assert any(opt.op is OptOps.TC for opt in ei.prg.p.applied_opts), f"TC not triggered, {ei.prg.p.applied_opts}"
 
   ref = a.numpy().astype(np.float32) @ b.numpy().astype(np.float32)
diff --git a/extra/gemm/tinygrad_nv_matmul.py b/extra/gemm/tinygrad_nv_matmul.py
index 1ee3e72e15..5e7a4c265a 100644
--- a/extra/gemm/tinygrad_nv_matmul.py
+++ b/extra/gemm/tinygrad_nv_matmul.py
@@ -33,5 +33,5 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
   new_src = prg.src
   # can mod source here
   prg = replace(prg, src=new_src)
-  ei = ExecItem(CompiledRunner(prg), [x.ensure_allocated() for x in si.bufs], si.metadata)
+  ei = ExecItem(si.ast, [x.ensure_allocated() for x in si.bufs], si.metadata, prg=CompiledRunner(prg))
   for i in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
diff --git a/extra/gemm/triton_nv_matmul.py b/extra/gemm/triton_nv_matmul.py
index 89e7838bb0..cdd077213c 100644
--- a/extra/gemm/triton_nv_matmul.py
+++ b/extra/gemm/triton_nv_matmul.py
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
   prg = ProgramSpec("matmul_kernel", src, device=Device.DEFAULT,
                 global_size=[M//BLOCK_SIZE_M, N//BLOCK_SIZE_N, 1], local_size=[32*compiled.metadata.num_warps, 1, 1],
                 mem_estimate=A.nbytes() + B.nbytes() + C.nbytes())
-  ei = ExecItem(CompiledRunner(prg), [x.ensure_allocated() for x in si.bufs], si.metadata)
+  ei = ExecItem(si.ast, [x.ensure_allocated() for x in si.bufs], si.metadata, prg=CompiledRunner(prg))
   tflops = []
   for i in range(5):
     tm = ei.run(wait=True)
diff --git a/extra/reduce_speed.py b/extra/reduce_speed.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 36bd0d3d5c..0000000000
--- a/extra/reduce_speed.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,128 +0,0 @@
-import numpy as np
-import ctypes
-from tinygrad import Tensor, GlobalCounters, Context
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule, CompiledRunner
-from tinygrad.device import CPUProgram
-from dataclasses import replace
-from keystone import Ks, KS_ARCH_ARM64, KS_MODE_LITTLE_ENDIAN
-
-# only the memory access, over 100 GB/s! (sometimes)
-reduce_asm = """
-movi  v0.2d, #0000000000000000
-mov   w9, #0x30
-mov   w10, #0x20
-mov   x8, #-0x10
-movi  v1.2d, #0000000000000000
-movk  w9, #0x300, lsl #16
-movi  v2.2d, #0000000000000000
-movk  w10, #0x200, lsl #16
-movi  v3.2d, #0000000000000000
-mov   w11, #0x1000000
-mov   w12, #0x3ffff0
-loop:
-ldp   q4, q5, [x1]
-add   x13, x1, x11
-add   x15, x1, x10
-add   x14, x1, x9
-add   x8, x8, #0x10
-cmp   x8, x12
-ldp   q6, q7, [x1, #0x20]
-add   x1, x1, #0x40
-ldp   q4, q5, [x13]
-ldp   q6, q7, [x13, #0x20]
-ldp   q4, q5, [x15, #-0x20]
-ldp   q6, q7, [x15]
-ldp   q4, q5, [x14, #-0x30]
-ldp   q6, q7, [x14, #-0x10]
-b.lo  loop
-fadd  v0.4s, v1.4s, v0.4s
-fadd  v0.4s, v2.4s, v0.4s
-fadd  v0.4s, v3.4s, v0.4s
-dup   v1.4s, v0.s[1]
-dup   v2.4s, v0.s[2]
-fadd  v1.4s, v0.4s, v1.4s
-dup   v0.4s, v0.s[3]
-fadd  v1.4s, v2.4s, v1.4s
-fadd  v0.4s, v0.4s, v1.4s
-str   s0, [x0]
-ret
-"""
-
-ks = Ks(KS_ARCH_ARM64, KS_MODE_LITTLE_ENDIAN)
-arm_bytecode, _ = ks.asm(reduce_asm)
-arm_bytecode = bytes(arm_bytecode)
-
-reduce_src = """
-// data1 is 16M inputs
-typedef float float4 __attribute__((aligned(32),vector_size(16)));
-void reduce(float* restrict data0, float* restrict data1) {
-  float4 acc0 = {0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f};
-  float4 acc1 = {0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f};
-  float4 acc2 = {0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f};
-  float4 acc3 = {0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f};
-  float4 acc4 = {0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f};
-  float4 acc5 = {0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f};
-  float4 acc6 = {0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f};
-  float4 acc7 = {0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f};
-  float* data1_1 = data1+4194304;
-  float* data1_2 = data1+(4194304*2);
-  float* data1_3 = data1+(4194304*3);
-  for (int ridx0 = 0; ridx0 < 16777216/4; ridx0+=16) {
-    float4 val0 = *(float4*)((data1+(ridx0+0)));
-    float4 val1 = *(float4*)((data1+(ridx0+4)));
-    float4 val2 = *(float4*)((data1+(ridx0+8)));
-    float4 val3 = *(float4*)((data1+(ridx0+12)));
-    acc0 += val0;
-    acc1 += val1;
-    acc2 += val2;
-    acc3 += val3;
-    val0 = *(float4*)((data1_1+(ridx0+0)));
-    val1 = *(float4*)((data1_1+(ridx0+4)));
-    val2 = *(float4*)((data1_1+(ridx0+8)));
-    val3 = *(float4*)((data1_1+(ridx0+12)));
-    acc4 += val0;
-    acc5 += val1;
-    acc6 += val2;
-    acc7 += val3;
-    val0 = *(float4*)((data1_2+(ridx0+0)));
-    val1 = *(float4*)((data1_2+(ridx0+4)));
-    val2 = *(float4*)((data1_2+(ridx0+8)));
-    val3 = *(float4*)((data1_2+(ridx0+12)));
-    acc0 += val0;
-    acc1 += val1;
-    acc2 += val2;
-    acc3 += val3;
-    val0 = *(float4*)((data1_3+(ridx0+0)));
-    val1 = *(float4*)((data1_3+(ridx0+4)));
-    val2 = *(float4*)((data1_3+(ridx0+8)));
-    val3 = *(float4*)((data1_3+(ridx0+12)));
-    acc4 += val0;
-    acc5 += val1;
-    acc6 += val2;
-    acc7 += val3;
-  }
-  float4 out = acc0+acc1+acc2+acc3+acc4+acc5+acc6+acc7;
-  *(data0+0) = out[0]+out[1]+out[2]+out[3];
-}
-"""
-
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-  a = Tensor(np_array:=(np.random.default_rng().random((4096, 4096), dtype=np.float32)-0.5)).realize()
-  with Context(SPLIT_REDUCEOP=0):
-    # TODO: make it easy to alter the OptOps for a ScheduleItem
-    GlobalCounters.reset()
-    out = a.sum()
-    sis = out.schedule()
-    for i,(_,ei) in enumerate(lower_schedule(sis)):
-      if i == 0:
-        # change the source code
-        prg_spec = ei.prg.p
-        prg_spec = replace(prg_spec, name="reduce", src=reduce_src)
-        prg = CompiledRunner(prg_spec)
-        # change the assembly
-        #prg._prg = CPUProgram(prg_spec.name, arm_bytecode)
-        print("buffer at:",hex(ctypes.addressof(ei.bufs[1]._buf)))
-        ei = replace(ei, prg=prg)
-      ei.run()
-    print(out.item())
-    np.testing.assert_allclose(out.item(), np_array.sum(), atol=1, rtol=1e-4)
diff --git a/extra/sched/fuzz_schedule.py b/extra/sched/fuzz_schedule.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 34f3313ada..0000000000
--- a/extra/sched/fuzz_schedule.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,100 +0,0 @@
-import itertools
-import numpy as np
-from typing import DefaultDict, Dict, List, Set, Tuple, TypeVar, Union
-from tinygrad.device import Buffer
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import capturing, lower_schedule_item
-from tinygrad.helpers import DEBUG, MULTIOUTPUT, colored, getenv
-from tinygrad.engine.schedule import LBScheduleItem, _graph_schedule, ScheduleItem
-from tinygrad.uop.ops import Ops, UOp
-from tinygrad.tensor import Tensor, _to_np_dtype
-
-ctx_vars = { MULTIOUTPUT: (0, 1) }
-FUZZ_SCHEDULE_MAX_PATHS = getenv("FUZZ_SCHEDULE_MAX_PATHS", 10)
-
-def fuzz_schedule(outs:List[UOp]):
-  # find toposorts across all tunable params
-  unique_ts: Dict[Tuple[LBScheduleItem, ...], Dict[str, int]] = {}
-  for combination in itertools.product(*ctx_vars.values()):
-    for var, val in zip(ctx_vars, combination): var.value = val
-    ctx_var_values = dict(zip([v.key for v in ctx_vars], combination))
-    graph, in_degree, _ = _graph_schedule(outs)
-    for ts in find_all_toposorts(graph, in_degree): unique_ts[ts] = ctx_var_values
-  toposorts = list(unique_ts.items())
-  if DEBUG >= 1: print(colored(f"fuzzing {len(toposorts)} schedule permutations", "yellow"))
-
-  # setup ground truth
-  ground_truth: Dict[UOp, memoryview] = {}
-  assign_targets: Dict[UOp, UOp] = {}
-  # IMPORTANT: freeze prerealized bufs before ScheduleItem exec
-  prerealized: Dict[UOp, memoryview] = {}
-  seed = Tensor._seed
-  ts,_ = toposorts[0]
-  for lsi in ts:
-    for out in lsi.outputs:
-      # freeze assign state before exec
-      if out.op is Ops.ASSIGN:
-        prerealized[out] = out.buffer.as_buffer()
-        assign_targets[out.srcs[1]] = out
-    for x in lsi.inputs:
-      if x not in ground_truth and x.device != "NPY": prerealized[x] = x.buffer.as_buffer()
-    si = ScheduleItem(lsi.ast, tuple(x.buffer for x in lsi.outputs+lsi.inputs if x.size != 0), lsi.metadata)
-    _exec_si(si, seed)
-    for out in lsi.outputs:
-      ground_truth[out] = out.buffer.as_buffer()
-      del out.srcs # only schedule the LazyBuffer in this fuzz run
-
-  # exec and validate each permutation with new Buffers
-  for i, (ts, ctx) in enumerate(toposorts[1:]):
-    if DEBUG >= 1: print(colored(f"testing permutation {i} {ctx}", "yellow"))
-    rawbufs: Dict[UOp, Buffer] = {}
-    for lsi in ts:
-      for out in lsi.outputs:
-        base = rawbufs[lsi.inputs[0]].base if out.op is Ops.BUFFER_VIEW else None
-        rawbufs[out] = Buffer(out.buffer.device, out.buffer.size, out.buffer.dtype, base=base)
-        if out.op is Ops.ASSIGN: rawbufs[out].ensure_allocated().copyin(prerealized[out])
-      for x in lsi.inputs:
-        if x not in rawbufs:
-          # override the assign_target after ASSIGN
-          if x in assign_targets and assign_targets[x] in rawbufs: rawbufs[x] = rawbufs[assign_targets[x]]
-          elif x.device == "NPY": rawbufs[x] = x.buffer
-          # copy the pre realized input
-          else: rawbufs[x] = Buffer(x.buffer.device, x.buffer.size, x.buffer.dtype, initial_value=bytes(prerealized[x]))
-      si = ScheduleItem(lsi.ast, tuple(rawbufs[x] for x in lsi.bufs if x.size != 0), lsi.metadata)
-      _exec_si(si, seed)
-      for out in lsi.outputs:
-        outbuf = np.frombuffer(rawbufs[out].as_buffer(), _to_np_dtype(out.dtype))
-        try: np.testing.assert_allclose(outbuf, np.frombuffer(ground_truth[out], _to_np_dtype(out.dtype)), atol=1e-2, rtol=1e-2)
-        except Exception as e:
-          print(f"FAILED FOR {out}")
-          raise e
-
-def _exec_si(si:ScheduleItem, seed:int):
-  ei = lower_schedule_item(si)
-  if len(capturing): capturing[0].add(ei)
-  ei.run()
-
-T = TypeVar("T")
-def find_all_toposorts(graph:DefaultDict[T, List[T]], in_degree:Union[DefaultDict[T, int], Dict[T, int]]) -> List[Tuple[T, ...]]:
-  visited: Set[T] = set()
-  ret: List[Tuple[T, ...]] = []
-  path: List[T] = []
-
-  def recurse_paths(path:List[T]):
-    for v, d in in_degree.items():
-      if d != 0 or v in visited: continue
-      for u in graph[v]: in_degree[u] -= 1
-      path.append(v)
-      visited.add(v)
-      recurse_paths(path)
-      if len(ret) >= FUZZ_SCHEDULE_MAX_PATHS: return
-      # backtrack
-      for u in graph[v]: in_degree[u] += 1
-      path.pop()
-      visited.remove(v)
-    if len(path) == len(in_degree): ret.append(tuple(path))
-  recurse_paths(path)
-
-  if len(ret) == 0: raise RuntimeError("detected cycle in the graph")
-  # verify all paths are unique
-  assert len(ret) == len(set(ret))
-  return ret
diff --git a/test/external/external_benchmark_sdxl_softmax.py b/test/external/external_benchmark_sdxl_softmax.py
index 19837ac9b2..4d03989652 100644
--- a/test/external/external_benchmark_sdxl_softmax.py
+++ b/test/external/external_benchmark_sdxl_softmax.py
@@ -25,4 +25,4 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
   #k.apply_opt(Opt(OptOps.GROUP, 0, 32))
   from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner, ExecItem
   run = CompiledRunner(prg:=get_program(k.ast, k.opts, k.applied_opts))
-  ExecItem(run, si.bufs).run()
+  ExecItem(k.ast, list(si.bufs), prg=run).run()
diff --git a/test/external/external_test_hsa_driver.py b/test/external/external_test_hsa_driver.py
index 29ffaa2340..737dbc29b0 100644
--- a/test/external/external_test_hsa_driver.py
+++ b/test/external/external_test_hsa_driver.py
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 import ctypes, unittest
 from tinygrad.helpers import init_c_struct_t
-from tinygrad.device import Device, Buffer, BufferXfer
+from tinygrad.device import Device, Buffer
 from tinygrad.dtype import dtypes
 from tinygrad.runtime.support.hsa import AQLQueue
 from tinygrad.runtime.graph.hsa import VirtAQLQueue, HSAGraph
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import ExecItem
+from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ExecItem
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import BufferXfer
+from tinygrad.uop.ops import UOp, Ops
 
 def get_hsa_inc_prog(dev, inc=1):
   prg = f"""
@@ -102,7 +104,8 @@ class TestHSADriver(unittest.TestCase):
     test_buf1.copyin(memoryview(bytearray(1*4)))
     test_buf2.copyin(memoryview(bytearray(1*4)))
 
-    jit_cache = [ExecItem(BufferXfer(), [test_buf0, test_buf2]), ExecItem(BufferXfer(), [test_buf2, test_buf1])]
+    jit_cache = [ExecItem(UOp(Ops.NOOP), [test_buf0, test_buf2], prg=BufferXfer(test_buf0.nbytes, test_buf0.device, test_buf2.device)),
+                 ExecItem(UOp(Ops.NOOP), [test_buf2, test_buf1], prg=BufferXfer(test_buf2.nbytes, test_buf2.device, test_buf1.device))]
     graph = HSAGraph(jit_cache, [], {})
 
     for i in range(10000):
diff --git a/test/external/fuzz_graph.py b/test/external/fuzz_graph.py
index 4e1d492eae..3b62ccf289 100644
--- a/test/external/fuzz_graph.py
+++ b/test/external/fuzz_graph.py
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ from tinygrad.device import Buffer, Device
 from tinygrad.helpers import Context, getenv, from_mv
 from tinygrad.dtype import dtypes
 from tinygrad.tensor import Tensor, _to_np_dtype
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import ExecItem, BufferXfer, get_runner
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import BufferXfer, get_runner
+from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ExecItem
+from tinygrad.uop.ops import UOp, Ops
 from tinygrad.engine.jit import apply_graph_to_jit
 
 BUF_LEN = getenv("BUF_LEN", 128)
@@ -35,13 +37,13 @@ def gen_kernel_ji(device, deps):
   assert len(deps) >= 2
   out = alloc_rawbuffer(device)
   prg = gen_prg(device, len(deps))
-  return ExecItem(prg, [out] + deps)
+  return ExecItem(UOp(Ops.NOOP), [out] + deps, prg=prg)
 
 def gen_copy_ji(device, deps):
   assert len(deps) == 1
   out = alloc_rawbuffer(device)
   prg = BufferXfer(deps[0].nbytes, device, deps[0].device)
-  return ExecItem(prg, [out] + deps)
+  return ExecItem(UOp(Ops.NOOP), [out] + deps, prg=prg)
 
 def gen_graph():
   input_buffers = []
diff --git a/test/test_arange.py b/test/test_arange.py
index 00ef30e290..f82014a269 100644
--- a/test/test_arange.py
+++ b/test/test_arange.py
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ import numpy as np
 from tinygrad import Tensor, GlobalCounters, dtypes, nn, Device, Variable
 from tinygrad.helpers import Context, getenv
 from tinygrad.engine.realize import run_schedule
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner, ExecItem, get_program
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner, get_program
+from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ExecItem
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import Ops
 from tinygrad.renderer import Estimates
 from tinygrad.renderer.ptx import PTXRenderer
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@ class TestArange(unittest.TestCase):
     sched = tensor.schedule()
     self.assertEqual(len(sched), 1)
     p = get_program(sched[-1].ast, renderer=Device[Device.DEFAULT].renderer)
-    ExecItem(CompiledRunner(p), [tensor.uop.buffer]).run()
+    ExecItem(sched[-1].ast, [tensor.uop.buffer], prg=CompiledRunner(p)).run()
     np.testing.assert_equal(tensor.numpy(), desired)
     return p.estimates.ops
 
diff --git a/test/test_compile_failures.py b/test/test_compile_failures.py
index 7d9b0e33d5..11c1d42abe 100644
--- a/test/test_compile_failures.py
+++ b/test/test_compile_failures.py
@@ -2,13 +2,12 @@ import unittest, io
 from contextlib import redirect_stdout
 from tinygrad import Tensor, dtypes, Device
 from tinygrad.helpers import OSX, CPU_LLVM, CPU_LVP
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule
 from tinygrad.device import is_dtype_supported
 from tinygrad.engine.realize import get_program
 
 class TestCompileFailures(unittest.TestCase):
   def compile(self, out:Tensor):
-    for _ in lower_schedule(out.schedule()): pass
+    for si in out.schedule(): si.lower()
 
   @unittest.skipUnless(is_dtype_supported(dtypes.uchar, Device.DEFAULT), f"no uint8 on {Device.DEFAULT}")
   def test_interpolate_atari(self):
diff --git a/test/test_fusion_op.py b/test/test_fusion_op.py
index 6dd9040dc1..a01c80c7d9 100644
--- a/test/test_fusion_op.py
+++ b/test/test_fusion_op.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import unittest
 import time
 import numpy as np
 from tinygrad import Tensor, dtypes
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule_item, run_schedule
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import run_schedule
 
 class TestFusionOp(unittest.TestCase):
   def test_contiguous_add(self):
@@ -26,9 +26,9 @@ class TestFusionOp(unittest.TestCase):
     a = Tensor([1,2,3,4])
     for _ in range(24): a = a + a
     sched = a.schedule()
-    ei = lower_schedule_item(sched[-1])
+    sched[-1].lower()
     self.assertLess(time.perf_counter()-st, 2.0)
-    assert len(ei.prg.p.src.splitlines()) < 250
+    assert len(sched[-1].prg.p.src.splitlines()) < 250
 
   def test_recursive_add_cmp(self):
     st = time.perf_counter()
diff --git a/test/test_graph.py b/test/test_graph.py
index 1d009e218c..33bb4f3793 100644
--- a/test/test_graph.py
+++ b/test/test_graph.py
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ from tinygrad.tensor import Tensor, _to_np_dtype
 from tinygrad.helpers import Context, dedup, from_mv
 from tinygrad.dtype import dtypes
 from tinygrad.engine.jit import MultiGraphRunner
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import ExecItem, BufferXfer, get_runner, CompiledRunner
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import BufferXfer, get_runner, CompiledRunner
+from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ExecItem
+from tinygrad.uop.ops import UOp, Ops
 
 from test.helpers import needs_second_gpu
 
@@ -27,11 +29,11 @@ def helper_exec_op(device, outbuf, inbufs):
       prg = get_runner(device, si.ast)
     cached_prgs[(device, len(inbufs))] = prg
 
-  return ExecItem(cached_prgs[(device, len(inbufs))], [outbuf] + inbufs)
+  return ExecItem(UOp(Ops.NOOP), [outbuf] + inbufs, prg=cached_prgs[(device, len(inbufs))])
 
 def helper_copy_op(device, dest, src):
   prg = BufferXfer(dest.nbytes, device, src.device)
-  return ExecItem(prg, [dest, src])
+  return ExecItem(UOp(Ops.NOOP), [dest, src], prg=prg)
 
 def helper_alloc_rawbuffer(device, fill=False):
   rawbuf = Buffer(device, BUF_SIZE, dtypes.int).ensure_allocated()
@@ -69,7 +71,7 @@ def helper_test_graphs(graph_impl, graphs, runs=RUN_CNT):
   ground_truth_np = [np.frombuffer(x, _to_np_dtype(bufs[i].dtype)) for i,x in enumerate(ground_thruth_bufs)]
 
   # Build graphs
-  gr_ji = [ExecItem(graph_impl(graph, [], {}), []) for graph in graphs]
+  gr_ji = [ExecItem(UOp(Ops.NOOP), [], prg=graph_impl(graph, [], {})) for graph in graphs]
 
   for _ in range(runs):
     test_bufs = helper_run_jit(gr_ji, bufs, out_buffers)
diff --git a/test/test_image_dtype.py b/test/test_image_dtype.py
index da1f3aeeea..1ec95939be 100644
--- a/test/test_image_dtype.py
+++ b/test/test_image_dtype.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import numpy as np
 from tinygrad import Device, dtypes, Tensor, Context
 from tinygrad.device import LRUAllocator, is_dtype_supported
 from tinygrad.dtype import ImageDType
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule
 from tinygrad.helpers import prod, unwrap
 from test.helpers import REAL_DEV
 
@@ -129,8 +128,8 @@ class TestImageDType(unittest.TestCase):
       loss = x.image_dot(w1).image_dot(w2).float().max()
       loss.backward()
       sched = unwrap(w1.grad).schedule()
-      for s,(_,ei) in zip(sched, lower_schedule(sched[:])):
-        ei.run()
+      for s in sched:
+        s.run()
         if s.bufs[0].dtype == dtypes.float:
           lst = s.bufs[0].as_buffer().cast("f").tolist()
           print(lst)
diff --git a/test/test_linearizer.py b/test/test_linearizer.py
index c15ad8c2e2..c26b93d0c9 100644
--- a/test/test_linearizer.py
+++ b/test/test_linearizer.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from tinygrad.codegen.gpudims import get_grouped_dims
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import UOp, Ops, GroupOp, AxisType, PatternMatcher, graph_rewrite, UPat
 from tinygrad.device import Device, Buffer, is_dtype_supported
 from tinygrad.tensor import Tensor, _to_np_dtype
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import run_schedule, lower_schedule, CompiledRunner, get_program
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import run_schedule, CompiledRunner, get_program
 from tinygrad.helpers import Context, flatten, dedup, TC_SELECT, TC_OPT, getenv
 from tinygrad.dtype import DType, dtypes, PtrDType, AddrSpace
 from tinygrad.renderer.ptx import PTXRenderer
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ class TestLinearizer(unittest.TestCase):
     a, b = Tensor.randn(4).realize(), Tensor.randn(4).realize()
     np_a, np_b = a.numpy(), b.numpy()
     c = ((a.shrink(((0, 2),)) - a.shrink(((2, 4),))) - (b.shrink(((0, 2),)) - b.shrink(((2, 4),))))
-    lowered = [x[1] for x in lower_schedule(c.schedule())]
-    for ei in lowered: ei.run()
-    rawbufs = lowered[-1].bufs
+    sched = c.schedule()
+    for si in sched: si.run()
+    rawbufs = sched[-1].bufs
     assert len(rawbufs) == 3 and set(rawbufs[1:]) == {a.uop.base.realized, b.uop.base.realized}
     np_c = (np_a[:2] - np_a[2:]) - (np_b[:2] - np_b[2:])
     np.testing.assert_allclose(np_c, c.numpy(), atol=1e-4, rtol=1e-4)
diff --git a/test/test_multitensor.py b/test/test_multitensor.py
index 1409822775..c68531654e 100644
--- a/test/test_multitensor.py
+++ b/test/test_multitensor.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from tinygrad.device import is_dtype_supported
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import Ops, UOp
 from tinygrad.helpers import getenv, prod, Context
 from tinygrad.nn.state import get_parameters, get_state_dict
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule, BufferCopy, CompiledRunner, run_schedule
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import BufferCopy, CompiledRunner, run_schedule
 import numpy as np
 from hypothesis import given, strategies as strat, settings
 from test.helpers import not_support_multi_device, needs_second_gpu, slow
@@ -123,9 +123,10 @@ class TestMultiTensor(unittest.TestCase):
     out = (X + X)
     sched = out.schedule()
     names = []
-    for si, ei in lower_schedule(sched):
-      if isinstance(ei.prg, CompiledRunner): names.append(ei.prg.p.name)
-      ei.run()
+    for si in sched:
+      si.lower()
+      if isinstance(si.prg, CompiledRunner): names.append(si.prg.p.name)
+      si.run()
     self.assertEqual(len(set(names)), 1, "function was relinearized")
 
   @unittest.skip("this doesn't fold because shard_ calls contiguous on all lbs")
diff --git a/test/test_opt_gemm.py b/test/test_opt_gemm.py
index de7d0b438c..12d1bda436 100644
--- a/test/test_opt_gemm.py
+++ b/test/test_opt_gemm.py
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ import unittest
 from tinygrad import Tensor, Device
 from tinygrad.helpers import get_single_element
 from tinygrad.codegen.opt import Opt, OptOps
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner, ExecItem, get_program
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner, get_program
+from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ExecItem
 
 class TestOptGemm(unittest.TestCase):
   @classmethod
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ class TestOptGemm(unittest.TestCase):
     # TODO: this should be a generic test helper
     si = get_single_element(t.schedule())
     run = CompiledRunner(get_program(si.ast, renderer=Device[Device.DEFAULT].renderer, opts=opts))
-    ExecItem(run, si.bufs).run()
+    ExecItem(si.ast, list(si.bufs), prg=run).run()
     test = si.bufs[0].numpy().reshape(self.res.shape)
     np.testing.assert_allclose(self.res, test, atol=1e-4)
 
diff --git a/test/test_quantize_onnx.py b/test/test_quantize_onnx.py
index 4a30b9ad2c..72d74b4251 100644
--- a/test/test_quantize_onnx.py
+++ b/test/test_quantize_onnx.py
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ from dataclasses import replace
 from tinygrad import Tensor, Context, Device, dtypes
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import Ops
 from tinygrad.codegen.opt import Opt, OptOps
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner, ExecItem, lower_schedule_item, get_program
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner, get_program
+from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ExecItem
 
 N = 512
 
@@ -42,8 +43,8 @@ def sexec(out:Tensor, opts:list[Opt], replace_src=None, run_count=3):
   if replace_src is not None:
     old_name = prg.src.split("__attribute__((noinline)) void ")[1].split("(")[0]
     prg = replace(prg, src=replace_src + "/* DSP boilerplate */" + prg.src.split("/* DSP boilerplate */")[1].replace(old_name, "fxn"))
-  ei = ExecItem(CompiledRunner(prg), [x.ensure_allocated() for x in si.bufs], si.metadata)
-  for _ in range(run_count): ei.run(wait=True)
+  new_si = ExecItem(si.ast, [x.ensure_allocated() for x in si.bufs], si.metadata, prg=CompiledRunner(prg))
+  for _ in range(run_count): new_si.run(wait=True)
 
 def get_quantized_model(sz):
   from onnxruntime.quantization import quantize_static, QuantFormat, QuantType, CalibrationDataReader
@@ -74,8 +75,8 @@ class TestQuantizeOnnxCPU(unittest.TestCase):
     inp = Tensor(np.random.uniform(size=(sz, sz)).astype(np.float32))
     with Context(QUANTIZE=1):
       sched = run_onnx({"input":inp})["output"].schedule()
-      ei = lower_schedule_item(sched[-2])
-      daccs = [u for u in ei.prg.p.uops if u.op is Ops.DEFINE_REG]
+      sched[-2].lower()
+      daccs = [u for u in sched[-2].prg.p.uops if u.op is Ops.DEFINE_REG]
       assert all(u.dtype.scalar() is dtypes.int for u in daccs)
 
 @unittest.skipIf(Device.DEFAULT != "DSP", "only tests for DSP")
diff --git a/test/test_randomness.py b/test/test_randomness.py
index 4504ccba65..d3d888fd34 100644
--- a/test/test_randomness.py
+++ b/test/test_randomness.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from functools import partial
 from tinygrad import nn, dtypes, Tensor, Device, TinyJit, Variable
 from tinygrad.helpers import getenv, CI, OSX
 from tinygrad.device import is_dtype_supported
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule, CompiledRunner
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner
 from tinygrad.renderer.ptx import PTXRenderer
 from tinygrad.renderer.nir import NIRRenderer
 from test.helpers import not_support_multi_device, needs_second_gpu
@@ -103,10 +103,12 @@ class TestRandomness(unittest.TestCase):
 
   @unittest.skipIf(isinstance(Device[Device.DEFAULT].renderer, (NIRRenderer, PTXRenderer)), "PTX and NIR use pointer arithmetic")
   def test_threefry_doesnt_use_long(self):
-    for (_,ei) in lower_schedule(Tensor.rand(20).schedule()):
-      if isinstance(ei.prg, CompiledRunner):
-        for u in ei.prg.p.uops:
-          self.assertNotIn(u.dtype, {dtypes.long, dtypes.ulong}, msg=f"long found in {ei.prg.p.name}")
+    sched = Tensor.rand(20).schedule()
+    for si in sched:
+      si.lower()
+      if isinstance(si.prg, CompiledRunner):
+        for u in si.prg.p.uops:
+          self.assertNotIn(u.dtype, {dtypes.long, dtypes.ulong}, msg=f"long found in {si.prg.p.name}")
 
   def test_threefry_against_reference_full(self):
     Tensor.manual_seed(1337)
diff --git a/test/test_renderer_failures.py b/test/test_renderer_failures.py
index 4baebae6b7..5a406067f1 100644
--- a/test/test_renderer_failures.py
+++ b/test/test_renderer_failures.py
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ from tinygrad.uop.ops import UOp, Ops, python_alu
 from tinygrad.renderer import ProgramSpec
 from tinygrad.tensor import Tensor, _to_np_dtype
 from tinygrad.codegen import full_rewrite
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule_item
 
 def _test_uop_result(inputs:list[Tensor], stores:list[UOp], local_size=None):
   for x in inputs: x.realize()
@@ -76,8 +75,8 @@ class TestCStyleFailures(unittest.TestCase):
     for _ in range(5): ret = python_alu[op](ret, Tensor.empty(1, dtype=dtype))
     schedule = ret.schedule()
     assert len(schedule) == 1
-    ei = lower_schedule_item(schedule[0])
-    src = ei.prg.p.src
+    schedule[0].lower()
+    src = schedule[0].prg.p.src
     self.assertEqual("("*5 not in src, should_strip_paren)
 
   def test_repeat_add(self): self._test_src_strip_paren(Ops.ADD)
diff --git a/test/test_schedule.py b/test/test_schedule.py
index d4c77fbc9f..10d0912344 100644
--- a/test/test_schedule.py
+++ b/test/test_schedule.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from tinygrad.dtype import DType, ImageDType
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import UOp, Ops, GroupOp, UPat
 from tinygrad.helpers import CI, DEBUG, SPLIT_REDUCEOP, GlobalCounters, Context, getenv, all_same, temp
 from tinygrad.schedule.rangeify import Kernel
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner, run_schedule, lower_schedule
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner, run_schedule
 
 class KernelCountException(Exception): pass
 def check_schedule(t:Tensor|list[Tensor]|UOp, allowed:int, to_prerealize:list[Tensor]|None=None, filter_sink=True):
@@ -24,8 +24,9 @@ def check_schedule(t:Tensor|list[Tensor]|UOp, allowed:int, to_prerealize:list[Te
   else:
     assert isinstance(t, UOp), f"can't schedule {t}"
     sched = Tensor(t).schedule()
-  # test lowering all the ScheduleItems to ExecItems
-  kernel_cnt = len([si for si,ei in lower_schedule(sched.copy()) if isinstance(ei.prg, CompiledRunner) or not filter_sink])
+  # test lowering all the ExecItems
+  for si in sched: si.lower()
+  kernel_cnt = len([si for si in sched if isinstance(si.prg, CompiledRunner) or not filter_sink])
   if kernel_cnt != allowed:
     print(f"SCHEDULE ISSUE, expecting {allowed} got {kernel_cnt}")
     if DEBUG >= 3:
@@ -174,7 +175,7 @@ class TestSchedule(unittest.TestCase):
     child.realize()
     assert a.uop.is_realized
 
-  # NOTE: because empty does not have an ExecItem if realize is called on a childless empty, it never gets allocated.
+  # NOTE: because empty does not have a lowered ExecItem if realize is called on a childless empty, it never gets allocated.
   def test_childless_empty_never_allocates(self):
     a = Tensor.empty(10)
     a.realize()
diff --git a/test/test_softmax_fusion.py b/test/test_softmax_fusion.py
index da141205da..5588991079 100644
--- a/test/test_softmax_fusion.py
+++ b/test/test_softmax_fusion.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import numpy as np
 from tinygrad import Tensor, GlobalCounters, Context, Device
 from tinygrad.dtype import DTypeLike, dtypes
 from tinygrad.helpers import DEBUG, get_single_element
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule_item
 from tinygrad.device import is_dtype_supported
 
 def single_kernel_softmax(x_in:Tensor, axis=-1, dtype:DTypeLike|None=None) -> Tensor:
@@ -27,7 +26,7 @@ def single_kernel_softmax(x_in:Tensor, axis=-1, dtype:DTypeLike|None=None) -> Te
   out = e.div(ss).reshape(x_in.shape)
   return out
 
-def run_one_schedule_item(out): lower_schedule_item(get_single_element(out.schedule())).run()
+def run_one_schedule_item(out): get_single_element(out.schedule()).run()
 
 class TestFuse(unittest.TestCase):
   def _test_fuse(self, fxn, *args, atol=1e-6, allow_multiple=False, **kwargs):
diff --git a/test/test_uops.py b/test/test_uops.py
index a92939d7c0..d0583a05c6 100644
--- a/test/test_uops.py
+++ b/test/test_uops.py
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ from tinygrad.uop.ops import Ops, UOp, UPat, KernelInfo, exec_alu, AxisType
 from tinygrad.uop.spec import shared_spec
 from tinygrad.renderer import ProgramSpec
 from tinygrad.renderer.cstyle import CStyleLanguage
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner, get_program, get_runner, ExecItem
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import CompiledRunner, get_program, get_runner
+from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ExecItem
 from tinygrad.codegen import full_rewrite
 from tinygrad.uop.symbolic import sym
 from tinygrad.device import is_dtype_supported
@@ -568,7 +569,7 @@ class TestZeroRange(unittest.TestCase):
 
 class TestUOpPrograms(unittest.TestCase):
   def _run(self, prog:UOp, *tensors:Tensor):
-    ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, prog), [t.uop.buffer for t in tensors]).run(wait=True)
+    ExecItem(prog, [t.uop.buffer for t in tensors], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, prog)).run(wait=True)
 
   def test_simple(self):
     out = Tensor.empty(10,10,dtype=dtypes.int)
diff --git a/test/test_uops_stats.py b/test/test_uops_stats.py
index 78c35e08ca..d349aea765 100644
--- a/test/test_uops_stats.py
+++ b/test/test_uops_stats.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import unittest
 from tinygrad import Tensor
 from tinygrad.helpers import getenv, GlobalCounters, EMULATE
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import lower_schedule_item, ProgramSpec, get_program
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import get_program
+from tinygrad.renderer import ProgramSpec
 from tinygrad.renderer import Estimates
 from tinygrad.codegen import full_rewrite
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import Ops, UOp
@@ -17,9 +18,8 @@ def flops_mem(uops, ignore_indexing=False):
 # **************** new FlopCounter ****************
 
 def get_stats(x:Tensor):
-  si = x.schedule()[-1]
-  ei = lower_schedule_item(si)
-  return ei.prg.estimates.ops, ei.prg.estimates.mem
+  si = x.schedule()[-1].lower()
+  return si.prg.estimates.ops, si.prg.estimates.mem
 
 @unittest.skipIf(Device.DEFAULT == "WEBGPU", "webgpu does extra load/store for packed types")
 class TestMemoryCount(unittest.TestCase):
diff --git a/test/testextra/test_tk.py b/test/testextra/test_tk.py
index e3a898f802..51b74874ba 100644
--- a/test/testextra/test_tk.py
+++ b/test/testextra/test_tk.py
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ import unittest, math, time
 
 from tinygrad import Tensor, Device, dtypes, Context
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import UOp, Ops
-from tinygrad.engine.realize import ExecItem, get_runner
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import get_runner
+from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ExecItem
 from tinygrad.engine.jit import TinyJit
 from tinygrad.helpers import CI
 import numpy as np
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       c = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, N, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b, c)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (c, a, b)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (c, a, b)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     c = c.float()
 
@@ -113,7 +114,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       c = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, N, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b, c)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (c, a, b)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (c, a, b)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     c = c.float()
 
@@ -149,7 +150,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       b = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, N, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     b = b.float()
 
@@ -188,7 +189,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       b = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, N, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     b = b.float()
 
@@ -230,7 +231,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       c = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, N, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b, c)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, c, a)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, c, a)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     b = b.float()
     c = c.float()
@@ -270,7 +271,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       b = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, N, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     b = b.float()
 
@@ -307,7 +308,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
         b = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, N, dtype="float32")
         Tensor.realize(a, b)
 
-      ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)])
+      ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
       for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
       b = b.float()
 
@@ -352,7 +353,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       b = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, N, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     b = b.float()
 
@@ -397,7 +398,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       b = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, M, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     b = b.float()
 
@@ -442,7 +443,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       b = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, N, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     b = b.float()
 
@@ -487,7 +488,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       b = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, M, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     b = b.float()
 
@@ -547,7 +548,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       b = Tensor.empty(1, 1, BLOCK_SIZE, N, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     b = b.float()
 
@@ -607,7 +608,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       b = Tensor.empty(1, 1, N, BLOCK_SIZE, dtype="float32")
       Tensor.realize(a, b)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (b, a)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5): ei.run(wait=True)
     b = b.float()
 
@@ -717,7 +718,7 @@ class TestTK(unittest.TestCase):
       out = Tensor.empty(B, N, H, D, dtype=dtypes.bfloat16)
       Tensor.realize(q, k, v, out)
 
-    ei = ExecItem(get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink), [t.uop.buffer for t in (out, q, k, v)])
+    ei = ExecItem(sink, [t.uop.buffer for t in (out, q, k, v)], prg=get_runner(Device.DEFAULT, sink))
     for _ in range(5):
       et = ei.run(wait=True)
       attn_flops = 2 * B * H * N * N * D + \
diff --git a/tinygrad/engine/jit.py b/tinygrad/engine/jit.py
index f728eb7559..89a652ed96 100644
--- a/tinygrad/engine/jit.py
+++ b/tinygrad/engine/jit.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from tinygrad.engine.realize import ExecItem, capturing, ViewOp, BufferCopy, Buf
 from tinygrad.engine.memory import _internal_memory_planner
 from tinygrad.nn.state import get_parameters
 from tinygrad.schedule.rangeify import mop_cleanup
-from dataclasses import dataclass
+from dataclasses import dataclass, replace
 from weakref import WeakKeyDictionary
 
 class GraphException(Exception): pass
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def apply_graph_to_jit(jit_cache: list[ExecItem], input_rawbuffers: list[Buffer]
       graph_runner = current_batch_devs[0].graph(current_batch, input_rawbuffers, var_vals)
       # clear jit inputs to allow their memory to be freed/reused
       for (j,i) in graph_runner.input_replace.keys(): graph_runner.jit_cache[j].bufs[i] = None
-      graphed_jit_cache.append(ExecItem(graph_runner, cast(list[Buffer|None], input_rawbuffers)))
+      graphed_jit_cache.append(ExecItem(UOp(Ops.NOOP), cast(list[Buffer|None], input_rawbuffers), prg=graph_runner))
       max_batch_size *= 2
       if DEBUG >= 2: print(f"JIT GRAPHing batch with {len(current_batch)} kernels on device {current_batch_devs[0]}")
     except GraphException as e:
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ class GraphRunner(Runner):
 
     estimates = Estimates()
     for j,ji in enumerate(jit_cache):
+      assert ji.prg is not None
       estimates += ji.prg.estimates
       if isinstance(ji.prg, CompiledRunner):
         if ji.prg.p.vars: self.var_vals_replace[j] = [(i, self.vars.index(v.expr)) for i, v in enumerate(ji.prg.p.vars) if v.expr not in ji.fixedvars]
@@ -103,6 +104,7 @@ class GraphRunner(Runner):
     self.w_dependency_map: dict[int, Any] = {}
     self.r_dependency_map: dict[int, list[Any]] = collections.defaultdict(list)
 
+    assert jit_cache[0].prg is not None
     super().__init__(colored(f"<batched {len(jit_cache)}>", "cyan"), jit_cache[0].prg.device.split(":")[0], estimates.simplify())
 
   def updated_vars(self, var_vals: dict[str, int]):
@@ -186,7 +188,7 @@ class CapturedJit(Generic[ReturnType]):
   def replan_buffers_memory_layout(self):
     blacklist = [t.uop.buffer for t in get_parameters(self.ret)]
     asgn = _internal_memory_planner([[b for item in self.jit_cache for b in item.bufs if b is not None and b not in blacklist]], ignore_checks=True)
-    self.jit_cache = [ExecItem(item.prg, [asgn.get(b,b) if b is not None else None for b in item.bufs]) for item in self.jit_cache]
+    self.jit_cache = [replace(item, bufs=[asgn.get(b,b) if b is not None else None for b in item.bufs]) for item in self.jit_cache]
     for old, new in asgn.items():
       if old.is_allocated(): new.ensure_allocated().copyin(old.as_buffer())
     self.__post_init__()
@@ -249,7 +251,7 @@ class TinyJit(Generic[ReturnType]):
     return ret
 
   def add(self, ei:ExecItem):
-    self._jit_cache.append(ExecItem(ei.prg, [self.add_buffer(buf) for buf in ei.bufs if buf is not None], ei.metadata, ei.fixedvars))
+    self._jit_cache.append(ExecItem(ei.ast, [self.add_buffer(buf) for buf in ei.bufs if buf is not None], ei.metadata, ei.fixedvars, ei.prg))
 
   def reset(self):
     assert self.fxn is not None, "can't reset without function"
@@ -320,8 +322,7 @@ class TinyJit(Generic[ReturnType]):
       # Exclude buffers involved in transfer ops to preserve parallelism.
       noopt_buffers = {b for ji in jit_cache if isinstance(ji.prg, (BufferXfer, BufferCopy, EncDec)) for b in ji.bufs}
       assigned = _internal_memory_planner([cast(list[Buffer], item.bufs) for item in jit_cache], noopt_buffers, debug_prefix="JIT ")
-      jit_cache = [ExecItem(item.prg, [assigned.get(b,b).ensure_allocated() for b in item.bufs if b is not None],
-                            item.metadata, item.fixedvars) for item in jit_cache]
+      jit_cache = [replace(item, bufs=[assigned.get(b,b).ensure_allocated() for b in item.bufs if b is not None]) for item in jit_cache]
 
       input_replace = get_input_replace(jit_cache, input_buffers)
       if DEBUG >= 1 and len(set(input_replace.values())) != len(input_buffers): print("WARNING: some input tensors not found")
diff --git a/tinygrad/engine/memory.py b/tinygrad/engine/memory.py
index 36a4e3b0ba..ae1d42544a 100644
--- a/tinygrad/engine/memory.py
+++ b/tinygrad/engine/memory.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from typing import cast
 from collections import defaultdict
-from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ScheduleItem
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import ExecItem
 from tinygrad.device import Device, Buffer
 from tinygrad.helpers import NO_MEMORY_PLANNER, dedup, DEBUG, round_up
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import Ops
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ def _internal_memory_planner(buffers:list[list[Buffer]], noopt_buffers=None, ign
 
   return assigned
 
-def memory_planner(schedule:list[ScheduleItem]) -> list[ScheduleItem]:
+def memory_planner(schedule:list[ExecItem]) -> list[ExecItem]:
   # Exclude buffers involved in load ops (e.g transfers) to preserve parallelism in graphs.
-  assigned = _internal_memory_planner([list(si.bufs) for si in schedule],
-                                      noopt_buffers={b for si in schedule if si.ast.op is not Ops.SINK for b in si.bufs})
-  return [ScheduleItem(si.ast, tuple(assigned.get(x, x) for x in si.bufs), si.metadata, si.fixedvars) for si in schedule]
+  assigned = _internal_memory_planner([[b for b in si.bufs if b is not None] for si in schedule],
+                                      noopt_buffers={b for si in schedule if si.ast.op is not Ops.SINK for b in si.bufs if b is not None})
+  return [ExecItem(si.ast, [assigned.get(x, x) if x is not None else None for x in si.bufs], si.metadata, si.fixedvars) for si in schedule]
diff --git a/tinygrad/engine/realize.py b/tinygrad/engine/realize.py
index a2edd2ad62..d2451e1c8b 100644
--- a/tinygrad/engine/realize.py
+++ b/tinygrad/engine/realize.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from typing import cast, Generator, Callable
+from typing import cast, Callable
 import time, pprint, random, itertools, math
 from dataclasses import dataclass, replace, field
 from tinygrad.helpers import all_same, colored, DEBUG, GlobalCounters, ansilen, BEAM, NOOPT, all_int, CAPTURING, Metadata, TRACEMETA, TracingKey
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ from tinygrad.helpers import unwrap
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import Ops, PatternMatcher, UOp, UPat, sym_infer, graph_rewrite, print_uops, track_rewrites, KernelInfo, pyrender
 from tinygrad.device import Device, Buffer
 from tinygrad.renderer import Renderer, ProgramSpec, Estimates
-from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ScheduleItem
 from tinygrad.codegen import full_rewrite
 from tinygrad.codegen.opt import Opt
 
@@ -171,15 +170,43 @@ def get_runner(device:str, ast:UOp) -> CompiledRunner:
 
 # **************** lowering functions ****************
 
-@dataclass(frozen=True)
+# NOTE: ctx is the buffers
+si_lowerer = PatternMatcher([
+  (UPat(Ops.SINK, name="sink"), lambda ctx,sink: get_runner(ctx[0].device, sink)),
+  (UPat(Ops.BUFFER_VIEW), lambda ctx: ViewOp(ctx[0])),
+  (UPat(Ops.COPY, name="copy"), lambda ctx,copy: (BufferXfer(ctx[0].nbytes, ctx[0].device, ctx[1].device) \
+      if hasattr(Device[ctx[0].device].allocator, '_transfer') and all_same([x.device.split(":")[0] for x in ctx]) \
+      else BufferCopy(ctx[0].nbytes, ctx[0].device, ctx[1].device))),
+  (UPat(Ops.ENCDEC, name="encdec"), lambda ctx,encdec: EncDec(encdec, ctx[0].nbytes, ctx[1].device)),
+])
+
+@dataclass
 class ExecItem:
-  prg: Runner
-  bufs: list[Buffer|None]
-  metadata: tuple[Metadata, ...]|None = None
+  ast: UOp
+  bufs: list[Buffer|None] = field(default_factory=list)
+  metadata: tuple[Metadata, ...] = ()
   fixedvars: dict[str, int] = field(default_factory=dict)
+  prg: Runner|None = None
+
+  def lower(self):
+    """Populate self.prg by lowering the AST."""
+    if self.prg is not None: return self
+    try: self.prg = cast(Runner, si_lowerer.rewrite(self.ast, self.bufs))
+    except Exception as e:
+      if DEBUG >= 2:
+        print(f"error lowering {self.ast.op}")
+        print("tensor operations:")
+        pprint.pprint(self.metadata, indent=2)
+      raise e
+    return self
+
   def run(self, _var_vals:dict[str, int]|None=None, wait=False, jit=False, do_update_stats=True) -> float|None:
+    if self.prg is None: self.lower()
+    assert self.prg is not None
     var_vals = self.fixedvars if _var_vals is None else (_var_vals|self.fixedvars)
-    bufs = [unwrap(x) for x in self.bufs] if jit else [unwrap(x).ensure_allocated() for x in self.bufs]
+    # reorder bufs to match program globals if needed
+    _bufs = [self.bufs[i] for i in self.prg.p.globals] if isinstance(self.prg, CompiledRunner) else self.bufs
+    bufs = cast(list[Buffer], [unwrap(x) for x in _bufs] if jit else [unwrap(x).ensure_allocated() for x in _bufs])
     if PROFILE:
       payload = {"metadata":self.metadata, "var_vals":var_vals, "bufs":[b.trace_num for b in bufs], "name":self.prg.display_name}
       payload["outputs"], payload["inputs"] = (self.prg.p.outs, self.prg.p.ins) if isinstance(self.prg, CompiledRunner) else ([0], [1])
@@ -206,48 +233,28 @@ class ExecItem:
       self.prg.first_run = False
     return et
 
-# NOTE: ctx is the buffers
-si_lowerer = PatternMatcher([
-  (UPat(Ops.SINK, name="sink"), lambda ctx,sink: (runner:=get_runner(ctx[0].device, sink), [ctx[x] for x in runner.p.globals])),
-  (UPat(Ops.BUFFER_VIEW), lambda ctx: (ViewOp(ctx[0]), list(ctx))),
-  (UPat(Ops.COPY, name="copy"), lambda ctx,copy: ((BufferXfer(ctx[0].nbytes, ctx[0].device, ctx[1].device) \
-      if hasattr(Device[ctx[0].device].allocator, '_transfer') and all_same([x.device.split(":")[0] for x in ctx]) \
-      else BufferCopy(ctx[0].nbytes, ctx[0].device, ctx[1].device)), list(ctx))),
-  (UPat(Ops.ENCDEC, name="encdec"), lambda ctx,encdec: ((EncDec(encdec, ctx[0].nbytes, ctx[1].device)), list(ctx))),
-])
-def lower_schedule_item(si:ScheduleItem) -> ExecItem:
-  return ExecItem(*cast(tuple[Runner,list], si_lowerer.rewrite(si.ast, si.bufs)), si.metadata, si.fixedvars)
-
-def lower_schedule(schedule:list[ScheduleItem]) -> Generator[tuple[ScheduleItem, ExecItem], None, None]:
-  while len(schedule):
-    si = schedule.pop(0)
-    try: yield (si, lower_schedule_item(si))
-    except Exception as e:
-      if DEBUG >= 2:
-        print(f"error lowering {si.ast.op}")
-        print("tensor operations:")
-        pprint.pprint(si.metadata, indent=2)
-      raise e
-
 # **************** main run function ****************
 
 capturing: list = []  # put classes with an add method in here
 
-def run_schedule(schedule:list[ScheduleItem], var_vals:dict[str, int]|None=None, do_update_stats=True):
-  for si, ei in lower_schedule(schedule):
+def run_schedule(schedule:list[ExecItem], var_vals:dict[str, int]|None=None, do_update_stats=True):
+  while len(schedule):
+    ei = schedule.pop(0).lower()
     if len(capturing) and CAPTURING: capturing[0].add(ei)
-    if VALIDATE_WITH_CPU and si.ast.op is Ops.SINK:
+    if VALIDATE_WITH_CPU and ei.ast.op is Ops.SINK:
       # copy in allocated buffers from the GPU
-      nb: tuple[Buffer, ...] = tuple(Buffer("CPU", b.size, b.dtype) for b in si.bufs)
-      for cpu_b, gpu_b in zip(nb, si.bufs):
-        if gpu_b.is_allocated(): cpu_b.ensure_allocated().copyin(gpu_b.as_buffer())
+      bufs = [b for b in ei.bufs if b is not None]
+      nb: list[Buffer|None] = [Buffer("CPU", b.size, b.dtype) for b in bufs]
+      for cpu_b, gpu_b in zip(nb, bufs):
+        if cpu_b is not None and gpu_b.is_allocated(): cpu_b.ensure_allocated().copyin(gpu_b.as_buffer())
 
       # run on GPU
       ei.run(var_vals, do_update_stats=do_update_stats)
 
       # validate the output buffers match (NOTE: this is assuming the output is buffer 0)
-      with Context(BEAM=0): lower_schedule_item(ScheduleItem(si.ast, nb, si.metadata, si.fixedvars)).run(var_vals, do_update_stats=do_update_stats)
+      with Context(BEAM=0): ExecItem(ei.ast, nb, ei.metadata, ei.fixedvars).run(var_vals, do_update_stats=do_update_stats)
       import numpy as np
-      np.testing.assert_allclose(si.bufs[0].numpy(), nb[0].numpy(), rtol=1e-3, atol=1e-3)
+      assert nb[0] is not None
+      np.testing.assert_allclose(bufs[0].numpy(), nb[0].numpy(), rtol=1e-3, atol=1e-3)
     else:
       ei.run(var_vals, do_update_stats=do_update_stats)
diff --git a/tinygrad/engine/schedule.py b/tinygrad/engine/schedule.py
index d2ee084711..a8c4a6845e 100644
--- a/tinygrad/engine/schedule.py
+++ b/tinygrad/engine/schedule.py
@@ -1,25 +1,17 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
 import time
 from typing import cast
-from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from collections import deque
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import UOp, Ops, buffers, UOpMetaClass, track_rewrites
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import PatternMatcher, UPat, graph_rewrite, graph_rewrite_map
 from tinygrad.uop.spec import type_verify, tensor_spec
 from tinygrad.device import Buffer, MultiBuffer
-from tinygrad.helpers import Metadata, DEBUG, cpu_profile, TracingKey, SPEC, flatten, pluralize
-
-# **** ScheduleItem return type
-
-@dataclass(frozen=True)
-class ScheduleItem:
-  ast: UOp
-  bufs: tuple[Buffer, ...] = ()
-  metadata: tuple[Metadata, ...] = ()
-  fixedvars: dict[str, int] = field(default_factory=dict)
+from tinygrad.helpers import DEBUG, cpu_profile, TracingKey, SPEC, flatten, pluralize
+from tinygrad.engine.realize import ExecItem
 
 # **** schedule linearizer
 
-def create_schedule(sched_sink:UOp) -> tuple[list[ScheduleItem], UOp]:
+def create_schedule(sched_sink:UOp) -> tuple[list[ExecItem], UOp]:
   with cpu_profile(TracingKey("toposort sched_sink")):
     # construct the KERNEL children graph based on assigns
     children: dict[UOp, list[UOp]] = {}
@@ -70,7 +62,7 @@ def create_schedule(sched_sink:UOp) -> tuple[list[ScheduleItem], UOp]:
         if in_degree[x] == 0: queue.append(x)
 
   with cpu_profile(TracingKey("expand ranges")):
-    pre_schedule: list[ScheduleItem] = []
+    pre_schedule: list[ExecItem] = []
     buf_uops_list: list[UOp] = []
     sched_ptr = 0
     in_ranges: dict[UOp, int] = {}
@@ -89,7 +81,7 @@ def create_schedule(sched_sink:UOp) -> tuple[list[ScheduleItem], UOp]:
       else:
         ast, buf_uops, metadata, fixedvars, bound_ranges = si
         fixedvars = fixedvars | {s.src[0].arg[0]:in_ranges[s.src[1]] for s in bound_ranges}
-        pre_schedule.append(ScheduleItem(ast, (), metadata, fixedvars))
+        pre_schedule.append(ExecItem(ast, [], metadata, fixedvars))
         buf_uops_list.append(UOp.sink(*buf_uops))
       sched_ptr += 1
   return pre_schedule, UOp.sink(*buf_uops_list)
@@ -131,9 +123,9 @@ pm_post_sched_cache = PatternMatcher([
   (UPat(Ops.BIND, src=(UPat(Ops.DEFINE_VAR),), name="b"), lambda ctx,b: ctx.get(b)),
 ])
 
-schedule_cache: dict[bytes, tuple[list[ScheduleItem], UOp]] = {}
+schedule_cache: dict[bytes, tuple[list[ExecItem], UOp]] = {}
 @track_rewrites(lambda _,ret: f"Schedule {pluralize('Kernel', len(ret[1]))}")
-def complete_create_schedule_with_vars(big_sink:UOp) -> tuple[dict[UOp, UOp], list[ScheduleItem], dict[str, int]]:
+def complete_create_schedule_with_vars(big_sink:UOp) -> tuple[dict[UOp, UOp], list[ExecItem], dict[str, int]]:
   # big_sink srcs are all the Tensors
   st = time.perf_counter()
 
@@ -180,7 +172,7 @@ def complete_create_schedule_with_vars(big_sink:UOp) -> tuple[dict[UOp, UOp], li
   tensor_map = {tm_src[i]:tm_src[i+1] for i in range(0, len(tm_src), 2)}
 
   # add bufs to pre_schedule
-  schedule: list[ScheduleItem] = []
+  schedule: list[ExecItem] = []
   for i, si in enumerate(pre_schedule):
     buf_uops = buf_uops_sink.src[i].src
     # create subbuffers if needed
@@ -193,10 +185,10 @@ def complete_create_schedule_with_vars(big_sink:UOp) -> tuple[dict[UOp, UOp], li
       assert all(isinstance(x, MultiBuffer) for x in ubufs), "kernel must all be multibuffer"
       dnums = [x for x in si.ast.variables() if x.arg[0] == '_device_num']
       for j, bufs in enumerate(zip(*[x.bufs for x in cast(tuple[MultiBuffer, ...], ubufs)])):
-        schedule.append(ScheduleItem(si.ast, bufs, si.metadata, si.fixedvars | ({dnums[0].expr:j} if len(dnums) else {})))
+        schedule.append(ExecItem(si.ast, list(bufs), si.metadata, si.fixedvars | ({dnums[0].expr:j} if len(dnums) else {})))
     else:
       # ONE -> ONE
-      schedule.append(ScheduleItem(si.ast, cast(tuple[Buffer, ...], ubufs), si.metadata, si.fixedvars))
+      schedule.append(ExecItem(si.ast, list(ubufs), si.metadata, si.fixedvars))
   with cpu_profile(TracingKey("memory planner")): schedule = memory_planner(schedule)
 
   # extract var_vals from BINDs that were stripped (only if there are kernels)
diff --git a/tinygrad/tensor.py b/tinygrad/tensor.py
index 369675f4f7..c397bbd08b 100644
--- a/tinygrad/tensor.py
+++ b/tinygrad/tensor.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ from tinygrad.gradient import compute_gradient
 from tinygrad.mixin import OpMixin
 from tinygrad.mixin.movement import _align_left
 from tinygrad.uop.ops import smax, smin, resolve, UOp, Ops, sint, identity_element, all_metadata, _index_to_concrete_int, sint_to_uop, Variable
-from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ScheduleItem, complete_create_schedule_with_vars
+from tinygrad.engine.schedule import ExecItem, complete_create_schedule_with_vars
 from tinygrad.device import Device, Buffer
 from tinygrad.engine.realize import run_schedule
 
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ class Tensor(OpMixin):
     """
     return [Tensor(u) for u in UOp.custom_kernel(*[t.uop for t in (self,)+lst], fxn=fxn, grad_fxn=grad_fxn)]
 
-  def schedule_with_vars(self, *lst:Tensor) -> tuple[list[ScheduleItem], dict[str, int]]:
+  def schedule_with_vars(self, *lst:Tensor) -> tuple[list[ExecItem], dict[str, int]]:
     """
     Creates the schedule needed to realize these Tensor(s), with Variables.
 
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ class Tensor(OpMixin):
     _apply_map_to_tensors(becomes_map, name="Apply Schedule Map")
     return schedule, var_vals
 
-  def schedule(self, *lst:Tensor) -> list[ScheduleItem]:
+  def schedule(self, *lst:Tensor) -> list[ExecItem]:
     """Creates the schedule needed to realize these Tensor(s)."""
     schedule, var_vals = self.schedule_with_vars(*lst)
     assert len(var_vals) == 0