diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 53a9c92f..2d66a655 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# emacs workspace config
+.projectile
 # lsp keeps state here
 .cache
 # typical build directory
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index cc36dfaa..32311792 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,15 +7,7 @@ project(xo_pyreflect VERSION 0.1)
 include(GNUInstallDirs)
 include(cmake/xo-bootstrap-macros.cmake)
 
-xo_cxx_toplevel_options2()
-
-# ----------------------------------------------------------------
-# cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=coverage
-xo_toplevel_coverage_config2()
-
-# ----------------------------------------------------------------
-# cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=debug
-xo_toplevel_debug_config2()
+xo_cxx_toplevel_options3()
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------
 # c++ settings (usually temporary)
diff --git a/src/pyreflect/pyreflect.cpp b/src/pyreflect/pyreflect.cpp
index 35b971a3..b2302685 100644
--- a/src/pyreflect/pyreflect.cpp
+++ b/src/pyreflect/pyreflect.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,17 @@ namespace xo {
     namespace reflect {
         PYBIND11_MODULE(PYREFLECT_MODULE_NAME(), m) {
 
+            m.doc() = "pybind11 plugin for xo-reflect";
+
+            py::enum_<Metatype>(m, "Metatype")
+                .value("invalid", Metatype::mt_invalid)
+                .value("atomic", Metatype::mt_atomic)
+                .value("pointer", Metatype::mt_pointer)
+                .value("vector", Metatype::mt_vector)
+                .value("struct", Metatype::mt_struct)
+                .value("function", Metatype::mt_function)
+                ;
+
             /* note: possibly move this to pytime/  if/when we provide it */
             //py::class_<utc_nanos>(m, "utc_nanos");
 
@@ -34,9 +45,15 @@ namespace xo {
              */
             py::class_<TypeDescrBase,
                        unowned_ptr<TypeDescrBase>>(m, "TypeDescr")
+
+                .def_static("lookup_by_name", &TypeDescrBase::lookup_by_name)
                 .def_static("print_reflected_types",
                             [](){ TypeDescrBase::print_reflected_types(std::cout); })
+
                 .def_property_readonly("canonical_name", &TypeDescrBase::canonical_name)
+                .def_property_readonly("short_name", &TypeDescrBase::short_name)
+                .def_property_readonly("metatype", &TypeDescrBase::metatype)
+                .def_property_readonly("complete_flag", &TypeDescrBase::complete_flag)
                 .def("__repr__", &TypeDescrBase::display_string);
 
             /* note: this means python will use