diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index e871dfc..44cd699 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -6,13 +6,12 @@ pub fn build(b: *Builder) void {
     lib.setBuildMode(mode);
     lib.install();
 
-    var component_store_test = b.addTest("src/component_store.zig");
-    component_store_test.setBuildMode(mode);
-
-    var entity_manager_test = b.addTest("src/entity_manager.zig");
+    var entity_manager_test = b.addTest("src/encompass.zig");
     entity_manager_test.setBuildMode(mode);
 
+    var component_manager_test = b.addTest("src/component_manager.zig");
+    component_manager_test.setBuildMode(mode);
+
     const test_step = b.step("test", "Run library tests");
-    test_step.dependOn(&component_store_test.step);
     test_step.dependOn(&entity_manager_test.step);
 }
diff --git a/src/component_manager.zig b/src/component_manager.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9bde171
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/component_manager.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+const ComponentStore = @import("component_store.zig").ComponentStore;
+const TypeStore = @import("type_store.zig").TypeStore;
+const Entity = @import("entity.zig").Entity;
+
+const std = @import("std");
+const mem = std.mem;
+const testing = std.testing;
+const Allocator = mem.Allocator;
+
+pub const ComponentManager = struct {
+    const Self = @This();
+
+    allocator: *Allocator,
+    component_stores: TypeStore,
+
+    pub fn init(allocator: *Allocator) Self {
+        return Self {
+            .allocator = allocator,
+            .component_stores = TypeStore.init(allocator),
+        };
+    }
+
+    pub fn deinit(self: *Self) void {
+        self.component_stores.deinit();
+    }
+
+    pub fn register(self: *Self, comptime TComponent: type) void {
+        self.component_stores.add(ComponentStore(TComponent).init(self.allocator));
+    }
+
+    pub fn add_component(self: *Self, entityID: usize, component: anytype) void {
+        self.component_stores.get(ComponentStore(@TypeOf(component))).*.set(entityID, component);
+    }
+
+    pub fn get_component(self: *Self, comptime TComponent: type, entityID: usize) !TComponent {
+        return self.component_stores.get(ComponentStore(TComponent)).*.get(entityID) catch |err| return err;
+    }
+
+    pub fn read_components(self: *Self, comptime TComponent: type) []TComponent {
+        return self.component_stores.get(ComponentStore(TComponent)).*.all_components();
+    }
+
+    pub fn read_entities(self: *Self, comptime TComponent: type) []Entity {
+        return self.component_stores.get(ComponentStore(TComponent)).*.all_entities();
+    }
+};
+
+const TestComponent = struct {
+    number: i32,
+};
+
+test "add component" {
+    const component = TestComponent {
+        .number = 3
+    };
+
+    var component_manager = ComponentManager.init(std.testing.allocator);
+    defer component_manager.deinit();
+
+    component_manager.register(TestComponent);
+
+    component_manager.add_component(2, component);
+    var expectedComponent = try component_manager.get_component(TestComponent, 2);
+    expectedComponent.number = 5; // should be immutable!
+
+    expectedComponent = try component_manager.get_component(TestComponent, 2);
+    testing.expect(expectedComponent.number == 3);
+}
+
+test "read components" {
+    const component = TestComponent {
+        .number = 3
+    };
+
+    const componentTwo = TestComponent {
+        .number = 8
+    };
+
+    const componentThree = TestComponent {
+        .number = 14
+    };
+
+    var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(std.heap.page_allocator);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+
+    const allocator = &arena.allocator;
+
+    var component_manager = ComponentManager.init(allocator);
+
+    component_manager.register(TestComponent);
+
+    component_manager.add_component(2, component);
+    component_manager.add_component(5, componentTwo);
+    component_manager.add_component(52, componentThree);
+
+    var components = component_manager.read_components(TestComponent);
+
+    testing.expect(components[0].number == 3);
+    testing.expect(components[1].number == 8);
+    testing.expect(components[2].number == 14);
+}
+
+test "read entities" {
+    const component = TestComponent {
+        .number = 3
+    };
+
+    const componentTwo = TestComponent {
+        .number = 8
+    };
+
+    const componentThree = TestComponent {
+        .number = 14
+    };
+
+    var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(std.heap.page_allocator);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+
+    const allocator = &arena.allocator;
+
+    var component_manager = ComponentManager.init(allocator);
+
+    component_manager.register(TestComponent);
+
+    component_manager.add_component(2, component);
+    component_manager.add_component(5, componentTwo);
+    component_manager.add_component(52, componentThree);
+
+    var entities = component_manager.read_entities(TestComponent);
+
+    testing.expect(entities[0].ID == 2);
+    testing.expect(entities[1].ID == 5);
+    testing.expect(entities[2].ID == 52);
+}
diff --git a/src/component_store.zig b/src/component_store.zig
index 7cd57d0..50b026f 100644
--- a/src/component_store.zig
+++ b/src/component_store.zig
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+const Entity = @import("entity.zig").Entity;
+
 const std = @import("std");
 const mem = std.mem;
 const testing = std.testing;
@@ -10,21 +12,21 @@ pub fn ComponentStore(comptime TComponent: type) type {
         nextIndex: usize = 0,
         allocator: *Allocator,
         entityIDToIndex: std.AutoArrayHashMap(usize, usize),
-        indexToEntityID: std.ArrayList(usize),
+        indexToEntity: std.ArrayList(Entity),
         components: std.ArrayList(TComponent),
 
         pub fn init(allocator: *Allocator) Self {
             return Self {
                 .allocator = allocator,
                 .entityIDToIndex = std.AutoArrayHashMap(usize, usize).init(allocator),
-                .indexToEntityID = std.ArrayList(usize).init(allocator),
+                .indexToEntity = std.ArrayList(Entity).init(allocator),
                 .components = std.ArrayList(TComponent).init(allocator),
             };
         }
 
         pub fn deinit(self: *Self) void {
             self.entityIDToIndex.deinit();
-            self.indexToEntityID.deinit();
+            self.indexToEntity.deinit();
             self.components.deinit();
         }
 
@@ -40,7 +42,7 @@ pub fn ComponentStore(comptime TComponent: type) type {
                 // FIXME: actually handle OOM
                 self.components.append(component) catch unreachable;
                 self.entityIDToIndex.put(entityID, index) catch unreachable;
-                self.indexToEntityID.append(entityID) catch unreachable;
+                self.indexToEntity.append(Entity { .ID = entityID }) catch unreachable;
             }
             else
             {
@@ -60,12 +62,12 @@ pub fn ComponentStore(comptime TComponent: type) type {
         pub fn remove(self: *Self, entityID: usize) void {
             if (self.entityIDToIndex.contains(entityID)) {
                 var storageIndex = self.entityIDToIndex.get(entityID).?;
-                var lastEntity = self.indexToEntityID.items[self.nextIndex - 1];
+                var lastEntity = self.indexToEntity.items[self.nextIndex - 1];
 
-                self.entityIDToIndex.put(lastEntity, storageIndex) catch unreachable;
+                self.entityIDToIndex.put(lastEntity.ID, storageIndex) catch unreachable;
 
                 var removedComponent = self.components.swapRemove(storageIndex);
-                var removedEntityID = self.indexToEntityID.swapRemove(storageIndex);
+                var removedEntityID = self.indexToEntity.swapRemove(storageIndex);
                 var removedEntry = self.entityIDToIndex.remove(entityID);
 
                 self.nextIndex -= 1;
@@ -76,8 +78,8 @@ pub fn ComponentStore(comptime TComponent: type) type {
             return self.components.items;
         }
 
-        pub fn all_entities(self: Self) []usize {
-            return self.indexToEntityID.items();
+        pub fn all_entities(self: Self) []Entity {
+            return self.indexToEntity.items;
         }
     };
 }
diff --git a/src/encompass.zig b/src/encompass.zig
index dcd593f..b3d13fa 100644
--- a/src/encompass.zig
+++ b/src/encompass.zig
@@ -1,2 +1,9 @@
-pub const Entity = @import("entity.zig").Entity;
-pub const ComponentStore = @import("component_store.zig").ComponentStore;
+pub const EntityManager = @import("entity_manager.zig").EntityManager;
+pub const ComponentManager = @import("component_manager.zig").ComponentManager;
+
+const std = @import("std");
+const testing = std.testing;
+
+test "" {
+    testing.refAllDecls(@This());
+}
diff --git a/src/type_store.zig b/src/type_store.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0688a8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/type_store.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+// adapted from https://github.com/prime31/zig-ecs/blob/master/src/ecs/utils.zig
+
+const std = @import("std");
+
+/// stores a single object of type T for each T added
+pub const TypeStore = struct {
+    map: std.AutoHashMap(u32, []u8),
+    allocator: *std.mem.Allocator,
+
+    pub fn init(allocator: *std.mem.Allocator) TypeStore {
+        return TypeStore{
+            .map = std.AutoHashMap(u32, []u8).init(allocator),
+            .allocator = allocator,
+        };
+    }
+
+    pub fn deinit(self: *TypeStore) void {
+        var iter = self.map.iterator();
+        while (iter.next()) |kv| {
+            self.allocator.free(kv.value);
+        }
+        self.map.deinit();
+    }
+
+    /// adds instance, returning a pointer to the item as it lives in the store
+    pub fn add(self: *TypeStore, instance: anytype) void {
+        var bytes = self.allocator.alloc(u8, @sizeOf(@TypeOf(instance))) catch unreachable;
+        std.mem.copy(u8, bytes, std.mem.asBytes(&instance));
+        _ = self.map.put(typeId(@TypeOf(instance)), bytes) catch unreachable;
+    }
+
+    pub fn get(self: *TypeStore, comptime T: type) *T {
+        if (self.map.get(typeId(T))) |bytes| {
+            return @ptrCast(*T, @alignCast(@alignOf(T), bytes));
+        }
+        unreachable;
+    }
+
+    pub fn getConst(self: *TypeStore, comptime T: type) T {
+        return self.get(T).*;
+    }
+
+    pub fn getOrAdd(self: *TypeStore, comptime T: type) *T {
+        if (!self.has(T)) {
+            var instance = std.mem.zeroes(T);
+            self.add(instance);
+        }
+        return self.get(T);
+    }
+
+    pub fn remove(self: *TypeStore, comptime T: type) void {
+        if (self.map.get(typeId(T))) |bytes| {
+            self.allocator.free(bytes);
+            _ = self.map.remove(typeId(T));
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn has(self: *TypeStore, comptime T: type) bool {
+        return self.map.contains(typeId(T));
+    }
+
+    fn typeId(comptime T: type) u32 {
+        comptime return hashStringFnv(u32, @typeName(T));
+    }
+
+    fn hashStringFnv(comptime ReturnType: type, comptime str: []const u8) ReturnType {
+        std.debug.assert(ReturnType == u32 or ReturnType == u64);
+
+        const prime = if (ReturnType == u32) @as(u32, 16777619) else @as(u64, 1099511628211);
+        var value = if (ReturnType == u32) @as(u32, 2166136261) else @as(u64, 14695981039346656037);
+        for (str) |c| {
+            value = (value ^ @intCast(u32, c)) *% prime;
+        }
+        return value;
+    }
+};
+
+test "TypeStore" {
+    const Vector = struct { x: f32 = 0, y: f32 = 0, z: f32 = 0 };
+
+    var store = TypeStore.init(std.testing.allocator);
+    defer store.deinit();
+
+    var orig = Vector{ .x = 5, .y = 6, .z = 8 };
+    store.add(orig);
+    std.testing.expect(store.has(Vector));
+    std.testing.expectEqual(store.get(Vector).*, orig);
+
+    var v = store.get(Vector);
+    std.testing.expectEqual(v.*, Vector{ .x = 5, .y = 6, .z = 8 });
+    v.*.x = 666;
+
+    var v2 = store.get(Vector);
+    std.testing.expectEqual(v2.*, Vector{ .x = 666, .y = 6, .z = 8 });
+
+    store.remove(Vector);
+    std.testing.expect(!store.has(Vector));
+
+    var v3 = store.getOrAdd(u32);
+    std.testing.expectEqual(v3.*, 0);
+    v3.* = 777;
+
+    var v4 = store.get(u32);
+    std.testing.expectEqual(v3.*, 777);
+}