diff --git a/pkg/runtime/handler/vertical_ui.go b/pkg/runtime/handler/vertical_ui.go
index cac385f..3c499c3 100644
--- a/pkg/runtime/handler/vertical_ui.go
+++ b/pkg/runtime/handler/vertical_ui.go
@@ -229,10 +229,6 @@ func (handler *VerticalUI) doRegister(task *runtime.Task) {
 
 	hasParentCmd := task.Config.CmdString != ""
 	hasHeader := len(task.Children) > 0
-	numTasks := len(task.Children)
-	if hasParentCmd {
-		numTasks++
-	}
 
 	// we should overwrite the footer of the last frame when creating a new frame (kinda hacky... todo: replace this)
 	isFirst := handler.frame == nil
diff --git a/pkg/runtime/task.go b/pkg/runtime/task.go
index 8bacf15..84de3f6 100644
--- a/pkg/runtime/task.go
+++ b/pkg/runtime/task.go
@@ -239,7 +239,6 @@ func (task *Task) Execute(eventChan chan TaskEvent, waiter *sync.WaitGroup, envi
 	}
 
 	returnCode := 0
-	returnCodeMsg := "unknown"
 	if err := task.Command.Cmd.Wait(); err != nil {
 		if exiterr, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
 			// The program has exited with an Exit code != 0
@@ -248,7 +247,7 @@ func (task *Task) Execute(eventChan chan TaskEvent, waiter *sync.WaitGroup, envi
 			}
 		} else {
 			returnCode = -1
-			returnCodeMsg = "Failed to run: " + err.Error()
+			returnCodeMsg := "Failed to run: " + err.Error()
 			eventChan <- TaskEvent{Task: task, Status: StatusError, Stderr: returnCodeMsg, ReturnCode: returnCode}
 			task.Command.errorBuffer.WriteString(returnCodeMsg + "\n")
 		}