Tools

Typhon is a complete technology, not just a library. Beyond the embeddable engine, it ships with a first-class toolchain for working with a database — visually and from the command line:

Tool	What it is	Reach for it when…
Workbench	A local database + performance-analysis GUI (React SPA served over loopback), launched with typhon ui.	You want to explore — browse schema, entities, storage layout, and profiling traces interactively.
CLI	The typhon command: an interactive REPL, script runner, and CI probe.	You want to automate — script setup, mutate data, or assert invariants in CI.

Both host the same in-process engine — there is no server, no wire protocol, and no separate client to install. The Workbench even ships inside the CLI: typhon ui is the launcher.

When to use which

The two tools split cleanly along read vs. write and interactive vs. automated:

• Workbench = interactive, read-mostly exploration & profiling. The backend is read-only by design. It is the place for visual investigation: navigating archetypes, drilling into byte/cache-line layouts, walking the on-disk file map, and analysing profiler timelines and call trees. Think DataGrip fused with a flight recorder.
• CLI = automation, scripting, mutation, and CI. Everything a GUI cannot do: a REPL and .tsh scripts, entity CRUD inside explicit transactions, machine-readable json/csv output, exit codes, and CI assertions (btree-validate, schema checks).

They are complementary, not redundant. A typical loop: script fixtures and mutations with the CLI, then open the result in the Workbench to see what the engine did with them.

Next steps

• Workbench overview — the three modes (Open, Trace, Attach) and how to launch it.
• CLI overview — install, the REPL, and the command groups.
• CLI scripting — .tsh files, output formats, and CI patterns.