diff --git a/src/core/$reflect.ts b/src/core/$reflect.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index ca4f920..0000000
--- a/src/core/$reflect.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-export function $reflect<T>(arg: T, types?: string) : T {
-  // TODO: implement typed-function for real
-  if (!types) {
-    console.error('types should be resolved with runtime type information by the TypeScript plugin')
-  }
-
-  console.log(`INFER: Creating function with types ${types}`)
-
-  // TODO: here we can now turn the inputs into a real typed-function with a signature
-  return arg
-}
diff --git a/src/core/typed.ts b/src/core/typed.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3306776
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/typed.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+export function typed<T>(name: string, types: string, arg: T) : T {
+  // TODO: implement typed-function for real
+  if (types === '__infer__') {
+    console.error('__infer__ should be replaced with runtime type information by the TypeScript plugin')
+  }
+
+  console.log(`TYPED-FUNCTION: Creating function "${name}" with types ${types}`)
+
+  // TODO: here we can now turn the inputs into a real typed-function with a signature
+  return arg
+}
diff --git a/src/experiment/arithmeticInfer.ts b/src/experiment/arithmeticInfer.ts
index 4a4a6e6..be544a3 100644
--- a/src/experiment/arithmeticInfer.ts
+++ b/src/experiment/arithmeticInfer.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-import { $reflect } from '../core/$reflect.js'
+import { typed } from '../core/typed.js'
 
-export const square = $reflect(<T>(dep: {
+export const square = typed('square', '__infer__', <T>(dep: {
   multiply: (a: T, b: T) => T,
   unaryMinus: (x: T) => T, // just for the experiment
 }): (a: T) => T =>
diff --git a/src/plugins/typeInferPlugin.ts b/src/plugins/typeInferPlugin.ts
index 84c0dcf..4ca6c21 100644
--- a/src/plugins/typeInferPlugin.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/typeInferPlugin.ts
@@ -7,43 +7,43 @@ const transformer: ts.TransformerFactory<ts.SourceFile> = context => {
 
   return sourceFile => {
     const visitor = (node: ts.Node): ts.Node => {
-      // we're looking for a function call like $reflect(deps => ...)
       // @ts-ignore
-      if (ts.isCallExpression(node) && ts.isIdentifier(node.expression) && node.expression.escapedText === '$reflect') {
-        console.log('PLUGIN: FOUND AN OCCURRENCE OF $reflect')
-        // console.log('PARENT')
-        // console.log(node)
+      if (ts.isStringLiteral(node) && node.text === '__infer__') {
+        console.log('PLUGIN: FOUND AN OCCURRENCE OF __infer__')
 
-        // TODO: validate that argNode is an ArrowFunction
-        // @ts-ignore
-        const argNode = node.arguments[0]
-        // @ts-ignore
-        const returnType = argNode.type.getText(sourceFile)
-        console.log('PLUGIN: RETURN TYPE')
-        console.log(returnType)
-        // (a: number) => number
+        // we're looking for a function call like typed('name', '__infer__', deps => ...)
+        const parentNode = node.parent
+        if (ts.isCallExpression(parentNode) && ts.isIdentifier(parentNode.expression) && parentNode.expression.escapedText === 'typed') {
+          // console.log('PARENT')
+          // console.log(parentNode)
 
-        // @ts-ignore
-        const paramNode = argNode.parameters[0]
-        const paramTypeSrc = paramNode.type.getText(sourceFile)
-        console.log('PLUGIN: PARAM TYPE SRC', paramTypeSrc)
-        // {
-        //   multiply: (a: number, b: number) => number,
-        //   unaryMinus: (x: number) => number, // just for the experiment
-        // }
+          // TODO: validate that argNode is an ArrowFunction
+          // @ts-ignore
+          const argNode = parentNode.arguments[2]
+          // @ts-ignore
+          const returnType = argNode.type.getText(sourceFile)
+          console.log('PLUGIN: RETURN TYPE')
+          console.log(returnType)
+          // (a: number) => number
 
-        const type = checker.getTypeAtLocation(paramNode)
-        const paramType = checker.typeToString(type, paramNode, ts.TypeFormatFlags.InTypeAlias)
-        console.log('PLUGIN: PARAM TYPE STRING', paramType)
-        // { multiply: (a: number, b: number) => number; unaryMinus: (x: number) => number; }
+          // @ts-ignore
+          const paramNode = argNode.parameters[0]
+          const paramTypeSrc = paramNode.type.getText(sourceFile)
+          console.log('PLUGIN: PARAM TYPE SRC', paramTypeSrc)
+          // {
+          //   multiply: (a: number, b: number) => number,
+          //   unaryMinus: (x: number) => number, // just for the experiment
+          // }
 
-        const depsAndReturnType = `{ deps: ${paramType}; return: ${returnType} }`
+          const type = checker.getTypeAtLocation(paramNode)
+          const paramType = checker.typeToString(type, paramNode, ts.TypeFormatFlags.InTypeAlias)
+          console.log('PLUGIN: PARAM TYPE STRING', paramType)
+          // { multiply: (a: number, b: number) => number; unaryMinus: (x: number) => number; }
 
-        // Now we insert a second argument to the $reflect function call: a string with the types
-        // @ts-ignore
-        node.arguments.push(ts.factory.createStringLiteral(depsAndReturnType))
+          const depsAndReturnType = `{ deps: ${paramType}; return: ${returnType} }`
 
-        return node
+          return ts.factory.createStringLiteral(depsAndReturnType)
+        }
       }
 
       return ts.visitEachChild(node, visitor, context)