diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a8f06ac..87c23dd 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,4 +16,7 @@ Cargo.lock
 # Rider
 .idea
 /cobertura.xml
+
+# binary specific
 /tests/version_checker_db
+/test_console/src/settings.development.toml
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 06a897f..0b16255 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,5 +3,6 @@
 members = [
         "application",
         "console",
+        "test_console",
         "tests",
 ]
diff --git a/test_console/Cargo.toml b/test_console/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d107fa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_console/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[package]
+name = "test_console"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2021"
+
+# See more keys and their definitions at https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html
+
+[dependencies]
+application = { path = "../application" }
diff --git a/test_console/src/main.rs b/test_console/src/main.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1477546
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_console/src/main.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+   I use this as a test bench instead of running the binary from a terminal.
+   TODO: i might change this to a test, that is muted somehow, but through configuration can be wired
+         to a real SMTP server, so i can test the full flow of the binary
+*/
+fn main() {
+    let parser = ArgumentParser {};
+    let settings = Settings::new(None).unwrap();
+    let console = Console {};
+
+    let notification = EmailNotification {
+        smtp_relay: settings.email.smtp_relay.clone(),
+        smtp_username: settings.email.smtp_username.clone(),
+        smtp_password: settings.email.smtp_password.clone(),
+        from: settings.email.from.clone(),
+    };
+    let args = std::env::args().collect();
+    let application = Application::new(&settings, &console, &notification, parser, args);
+
+    application.run();
+}
diff --git a/test_console/src/settings.toml b/test_console/src/settings.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d293a52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_console/src/settings.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[database]
+connection_string = "version_checker_db"
+in_memory = false