diff --git a/src/kernbench/cli/main.py b/src/kernbench/cli/main.py
index 958a50f..04dc594 100644
--- a/src/kernbench/cli/main.py
+++ b/src/kernbench/cli/main.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import argparse
 import sys
+from typing import cast
 
 from kernbench.benches.registry import list_all, resolve
 from kernbench.cli.report import format_report
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ from kernbench.runtime_api.bench_runner import run_bench
 from kernbench.runtime_api.types import DeviceSelector, resolve_device
 from kernbench.sim_engine.engine import GraphEngine
 from kernbench.topology.builder import resolve_topology
+from kernbench.topology.types import TopologyGraph
 
 
 def build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ def build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
 def engine_factory(
     topology: object, device: DeviceSelector, *, enable_data: bool = False,
 ) -> SimEngine:
-    topo_obj = getattr(topology, "topology_obj", topology)
+    topo_obj = cast(TopologyGraph, getattr(topology, "topology_obj", topology))
     return GraphEngine(topo_obj, enable_data=enable_data)
 
 
diff --git a/src/kernbench/runtime_api/types.py b/src/kernbench/runtime_api/types.py
index 3654a82..ec0972a 100644
--- a/src/kernbench/runtime_api/types.py
+++ b/src/kernbench/runtime_api/types.py
@@ -2,9 +2,13 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import re
 from dataclasses import dataclass
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from kernbench.common.types import Completion, Trace
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from kernbench.sim_engine.engine import GraphEngine
+
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
 class BenchResult:
@@ -12,7 +16,7 @@ class BenchResult:
     correlation_id: str
     trace: Trace | None = None
     traces: list[dict] | None = None
-    engine: object | None = None  # GraphEngine ref for Phase 2 data access
+    engine: GraphEngine | None = None
 
     def summary_text(self) -> str:
         if self.completion.ok: