diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9f81017..f202e68 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -77,6 +77,15 @@ hgvs
 
 `gnife [type] [command] --help` to display detailed usage of each command.
 
+## JVM Options
+
+To pass extra arguments to the JVM, set the `GNIFE_JVM_OPTS` environment
+variable.
+
+```sh
+export GNIFE_JVM_OPTS="-XX:TieredStopAtLevel=1 -Xmx4g"
+```
+
 ## Test
 
 To run tests,
diff --git a/build.clj b/build.clj
index 6c84baf..55ad9e6 100644
--- a/build.clj
+++ b/build.clj
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@
 
 (def version (format "0.1.%s" (b/git-count-revs nil)))
 (def class-dir "target/classes")
-(def basis (b/create-basis {:project "deps.edn"}))
 (def uber-file "target/gnife.jar")
 (def bin-file "target/gnife")
 
+;; delay to defer side effects (artifact downloads)
+(def basis (delay (b/create-basis {:project "deps.edn"})))
+
 (defn clean [_]
   (b/delete {:path "target"}))
 
@@ -19,12 +21,14 @@
                :target-dir class-dir})
   (b/write-file {:path (str class-dir "/VERSION")
                  :string version})
-  (b/compile-clj {:basis basis
+  (b/compile-clj {:basis @basis
                   :src-dirs ["src"]
-                  :class-dir class-dir})
+                  :class-dir class-dir
+                  :compile-opts {:elide-meta [:doc :file :line :added]
+                                 :direct-linking true}})
   (b/uber {:class-dir class-dir
            :uber-file uber-file
-           :basis basis
+           :basis @basis
            :main 'gnife.main}))
 
 (def ^String preamble
diff --git a/deps.edn b/deps.edn
index faf8f3f..fe995b1 100644
--- a/deps.edn
+++ b/deps.edn
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {:deps {clj-hgvs/clj-hgvs {:mvn/version "0.4.7"}
         clj-sub-command/clj-sub-command {:mvn/version "0.6.0"}
         cljam/cljam {:mvn/version "0.8.4"}
-        org.clojure/clojure {:mvn/version "1.11.1"}
+        org.clojure/clojure {:mvn/version "1.11.3"}
         org.clojure/tools.cli {:mvn/version "1.1.230"}
         varity/varity {:mvn/version "0.11.0"}}
 
@@ -22,5 +22,5 @@
 
            :build
            {:extra-deps {io.github.clojure/tools.build
-                         {:git/tag "v0.9.6" :git/sha "8e78bcc"}}
+                         {:git/tag "v0.10.0" :git/sha "3a2c484"}}
             :ns-default build}}}