# tricu CLI debugging notes

For ad-hoc expressions, prefer stdin mode and set `TRICU_DB_PATH` to a DB that already has library definitions imported:

```sh
TRICU_DB_PATH=/tmp/gpt.db ./result/bin/tricu eval -t decode <<'EOF'
main = <expression-to-run>
EOF
```

Important details:

- `eval` from stdin evaluates the submitted program and uses its final/main result.
- When using `-f FILE`, the CLI expects a `main` definition in the evaluated file context.
- With `TRICU_DB_PATH=/tmp/gpt.db`, definitions already loaded into that content store are in scope; do not add `!import` lines unless you intentionally want file import preprocessing.
- `!import "lib/arboricx.tri" !Local` is relative to the file being preprocessed; from temp files it will look under `/tmp`, so avoid that pattern for scratch files.
- Do not inspect huge Arboricx values with `-t fsl`; write small predicates/accessors and return booleans, numbers, or byte strings decoded with `-t decode`.