diff --git a/packages/pgkit/src/config.ts b/packages/pgkit/src/config.ts
index 8e985ce0..66c816ab 100644
--- a/packages/pgkit/src/config.ts
+++ b/packages/pgkit/src/config.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import {type Options as TypegenOptions} from '@pgkit/typegen'
 import * as fs from 'fs'
 import * as path from 'path'
 
@@ -5,9 +6,7 @@ export type Config = {
   client: {
     connectionString: string
   }
-  typegen?: {
-    connectionString?: string
-  }
+  typegen?: Partial<TypegenOptions>
   migrator?: {
     connectionString?: string
     /** @default '${cwd}/migrations' */
diff --git a/packages/pgkit/src/router.ts b/packages/pgkit/src/router.ts
index 3f67cf2e..3d5de04f 100644
--- a/packages/pgkit/src/router.ts
+++ b/packages/pgkit/src/router.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import {Client, createClient} from '@pgkit/client'
 import {Migrator, createMigratorRouter} from '@pgkit/migrator'
 import {confirm} from '@pgkit/migrator/dist/cli'
-import {router as typegenRouter} from '@pgkit/typegen'
+import {generate} from '@pgkit/typegen'
 import express from 'express'
 import * as trpcCli from 'trpc-cli'
 import {z} from 'trpc-cli'
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ const procedureWithClient = t.procedure.use(async ({ctx, next}) => {
     migrationTableName: config.migrator?.migrationTableName,
   }))
   return next({
-    ctx: {...ctx, client, migrator},
+    ctx: {...ctx, client, migrator, config},
   })
 })
 
@@ -33,7 +33,41 @@ export const router = t.router({
       return next({ctx: {...ctx, confirm}})
     }),
   ),
-  ...typegenRouter._def.procedures,
+  generate: procedureWithClient
+    .use(async ({rawInput, ctx, next}) => {
+      const inputObject = typeof rawInput === 'object' ? Object.keys(rawInput || {}) : []
+      return next({
+        ctx: {...ctx, inputKeys: new Set(Object.keys(inputObject))},
+      })
+    })
+    .input(
+      z.object({
+        watch: z
+          .boolean()
+          .optional()
+          .describe(
+            'Run the type checker in watch mode. Files will be run through the code generator when changed or added.',
+          ),
+        lazy: z.boolean().optional().describe('Skip initial processing of input files. Implies --watch.'),
+      }),
+    )
+    .mutation(async ({ctx, input: {watch, ...input}}) => {
+      watch = watch ?? input.lazy
+      if (input.lazy && !watch) throw new Error('Cannot specify --watch=false and --lazy')
+
+      const run = await generate({
+        connectionString: ctx.client,
+        ...input,
+        ...(ctx.config.typegen &&
+          Object.fromEntries(
+            Object.entries(ctx.config.typegen).filter(([key]) => !ctx.inputKeys.has(key)), // don't override options explicitly passed, do override defaults
+          )),
+      })
+
+      if (watch) {
+        await run.watch()
+      }
+    }),
   admin: procedureWithClient
     .input(
       z.object({
diff --git a/packages/typegen/src/defaults.ts b/packages/typegen/src/defaults.ts
index 73dc65e4..f5c25df5 100644
--- a/packages/typegen/src/defaults.ts
+++ b/packages/typegen/src/defaults.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,9 @@ export const resolveOptions = (partial: Partial<Options>): Options => {
     defaultType = defaultTypeScriptType,
     extractQueries = defaultExtractQueries,
     writeTypes = defaultWriteTypes(),
-    poolConfig = getWithWarning<Options['poolConfig']>(logger, `Using default client config.`, {}),
+    poolConfig = typeof connectionString === 'string'
+      ? getWithWarning<Options['poolConfig']>(logger, `Using default client config`, {})
+      : connectionString.options,
     typeParsers = defaultTypeParsers(poolConfig.applyTypeParsers),
     migrate = undefined,
     checkClean = defaultCheckClean,
@@ -68,7 +70,9 @@ export const resolveOptions = (partial: Partial<Options>): Options => {
     logger.warn(`Unexpected configuration keys: ${Object.keys(rest).join(', ')}`)
   }
 
-  assert.ok(!connectionString.includes(' \'"'), `Connection string should not contain spaces or quotes`)
+  if (typeof connectionString === 'string') {
+    assert.ok(!connectionString.includes(' \'"'), `Connection string should not contain spaces or quotes`)
+  }
 
   return {
     connectionString,
diff --git a/packages/typegen/src/generate.ts b/packages/typegen/src/generate.ts
index 69a45983..3219b660 100644
--- a/packages/typegen/src/generate.ts
+++ b/packages/typegen/src/generate.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import * as path from 'path'
 import * as defaults from './defaults'
 import {migrateLegacyCode} from './migrate'
 import {getEnumTypes, getRegtypeToPgTypnameMapping, psqlClient} from './pg'
-import {getColumnInfo, getTypeability, removeSimpleComments} from './query'
+import {getColumnInfo, getTypeability} from './query'
 import {getParameterTypes} from './query/parameters'
 import {ExtractedQuery, Options, QueryField, QueryParameter} from './types'
 import {changedFiles, checkClean, containsIgnoreComment, globList} from './util'
@@ -21,10 +21,13 @@ export const generate = async (inputOptions: Partial<Options>) => {
   const options = defaults.resolveOptions(inputOptions)
   const logger = options.logger
 
-  const pool = createClient(options.connectionString, options.poolConfig)
+  const pool =
+    typeof options.connectionString === 'string'
+      ? createClient(options.connectionString, options.poolConfig)
+      : options.connectionString
 
   const _gdesc = (inputSql: string, searchPath?: string) => {
-    let connectionString = options.connectionString
+    let connectionString = pool.connectionString()
     if (searchPath) {
       const url = new URL(connectionString)
       const optionsString = url.searchParams.get('options')
@@ -127,7 +130,7 @@ export const generate = async (inputOptions: Partial<Options>) => {
     const logMsgInclude = `pattern${options.include.length > 1 ? 's' : ''} ${options.include.join(', ')}`
     const logMsgExclude = options.exclude.length > 0 ? ` excluding ${options.exclude.join(', ')}` : ''
     const logMsgSince = options.since ? ` since ${options.since}` : ''
-    logger.info(`Matching files in ${getLogPath(cwd)} with ${logMsgInclude}${logMsgExclude}${logMsgSince}`)
+    logger.info(`Matching files in ${cwd} with ${logMsgInclude}${logMsgExclude}${logMsgSince}`)
 
     const getLogQueryReference = (query: {file: string; line: number}) => `${getLogPath(query.file)}:${query.line}`
 
diff --git a/packages/typegen/src/router.ts b/packages/typegen/src/router.ts
index 57c0fd4d..e5906a63 100644
--- a/packages/typegen/src/router.ts
+++ b/packages/typegen/src/router.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ import {generate, Options} from './generate'
 
 const trpc = trpcServer.initTRPC.meta<TrpcCliMeta>().create()
 
-const CliOptions = z
+// todo: deprecate in favour of inputs more like the ones in pgkit
+export const CliOptions = z
   .object({
     config: z
       .string()
diff --git a/packages/typegen/src/types.ts b/packages/typegen/src/types.ts
index 8dd2f05e..04b510d6 100644
--- a/packages/typegen/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/typegen/src/types.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import {ClientOptions} from '@pgkit/client'
+import {Client, ClientOptions} from '@pgkit/client'
 
 /**
  * Options that can be specified in `typegen.config.js`. Each is optional (has a default value).
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ export interface Options {
    *
    * Note: It's not recommended to run this tool against a production database, even though it doesn't perform any dynamic queries.
    */
-  connectionString: string
+  connectionString: string | Client
   /**
    * How to execute `psql` from the machine running this tool.
    *
diff --git a/pgkit.config.ts b/pgkit.config.ts
index 5d382e7f..df6dff56 100644
--- a/pgkit.config.ts
+++ b/pgkit.config.ts
@@ -2,4 +2,8 @@ export default {
     client: {
         connectionString: 'postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/postgres',
     },
+    typegen: {
+        psqlCommand: 'docker-compose exec -T postgres psql',
+        checkClean: [],
+    }
 } satisfies import('./packages/pgkit/src/config').Config