codewhale/docs/REBRAND.md

Rebrand: DeepSeek TUI → CodeWhale

Starting with v0.8.41, this project ships under a new name: codewhale.

This document explains what changed, what didn't, and how to migrate. None of the DeepSeek provider integration changed — only the local CLI / TUI brand.

TL;DR

# 1. Uninstall the old wrapper or binaries.
npm uninstall -g deepseek-tui      # or cargo uninstall deepseek-tui-cli deepseek-tui
                                    # or brew uninstall deepseek-tui

# 2. Install under the new name.
npm install -g codewhale            # or cargo install codewhale-cli codewhale-tui --locked
                                    # or brew install deepseek-tui (Homebrew tap still
                                    #     uses the legacy name during the transition;
                                    #     it installs the new binaries underneath.)

# 3. Run with the new command.
codewhale doctor
codewhale

Your ~/.deepseek/config.toml, ~/.deepseek/sessions/, ~/.deepseek/skills/, ~/.deepseek/tasks/, and ~/.deepseek/mcp.json are untouched. Existing DEEPSEEK_* environment variables continue to work.

What got renamed

Surface	Before	After
CLI dispatcher binary	deepseek	codewhale
TUI runtime binary	deepseek-tui	codewhale-tui
npm wrapper package	deepseek-tui	codewhale
Crates.io crates	deepseek-tui-cli / deepseek-tui / deepseek-*	codewhale-cli / codewhale-tui / codewhale-*
Release assets	deepseek-<platform> / deepseek-tui-<platform>	codewhale-<platform> / codewhale-tui-<platform>
Checksum manifest	deepseek-artifacts-sha256.txt	codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt

What did NOT change

Anything that targets the DeepSeek provider API stays exactly as it was:

• Environment variables: DEEPSEEK_API_KEY, DEEPSEEK_BASE_URL, DEEPSEEK_MODEL, DEEPSEEK_PROVIDER, DEEPSEEK_PROFILE, DEEPSEEK_YOLO, DEEPSEEK_LOG_LEVEL, plus the existing DEEPSEEK_TUI_* runtime knobs (DEEPSEEK_TUI_BIN, DEEPSEEK_TUI_RELEASE_BASE_URL, etc.). They're kept for backward compatibility; renaming them would break every shell rc on the planet.
• Model IDs: deepseek-v4-pro, deepseek-v4-flash, and the legacy aliases deepseek-chat and deepseek-reasoner.
• Hosts: api.deepseek.com (global) and api.deepseeki.com (China fallback).
• Config directory: ~/.deepseek/. Renaming this would invalidate every existing install's saved API key, sessions, skills, MCP config, and audit log.
• GitHub repository URL: https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale. The old Hmbown/DeepSeek-TUI URL redirects there during the transition.
• Homebrew tap and formula (Hmbown/homebrew-deepseek-tui): still installs by the legacy name during the transition. The tap's formula will be flipped to the new names in a follow-up.
• Docker image: ghcr.io/hmbown/codewhale.

Deprecation shims (one release cycle)

To keep existing shell aliases, scripts, and CI working through the rename, v0.8.41 ships deprecation shims for one cycle:

• A deepseek binary that prints a one-line warning to stderr and forwards argv to codewhale.
• A deepseek-tui binary that does the same for codewhale-tui.
• An npm package at deepseek-tui@0.8.41 with no bin and a postinstall that prints a clear "rename" notice.

These shims will be removed in v0.9.0. Please migrate before then.

Migrating in practice

npm

npm uninstall -g deepseek-tui
npm install -g codewhale

Cargo

cargo uninstall deepseek-tui-cli deepseek-tui 2>/dev/null || true
cargo install codewhale-cli codewhale-tui --locked

Or in a checkout:

cargo install --path crates/cli --locked --force
cargo install --path crates/tui --locked --force

Homebrew

The tap formula still installs deepseek-tui during the transition. Existing brew install deepseek-tui invocations continue to work and land the new binaries underneath the legacy formula name. The formula and tap repo will follow up with their own rename.

Manual / GitHub Releases

v0.8.41 Releases attach both the canonical codewhale-* / codewhale-tui-* assets and the legacy deepseek-* / deepseek-tui-* shim assets. Existing deepseek update invocations on v0.8.40 keep working; they land you on the deprecation shim, which then prompts the install of codewhale.

A second checksum manifest, deepseek-artifacts-sha256.txt, is attached as an alias of codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt so v0.8.40's hardcoded lookup still verifies.

Why the name change

CodeWhale is a shorter, terminal-friendlier handle for the same terminal coding agent and the longer-term product direction: a DeepSeek-first agentic terminal for open source and open-weight coding models. The project name, command names, package names, release assets, Docker image, and CNB mirror move to CodeWhale; the official DeepSeek provider, model IDs, env vars, and ~/.deepseek/ config surface remain first-class.

Reporting issues with the rename

If your install broke during the migration, please open an issue at https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale/issues and include:

• The output of codewhale --version (or deepseek --version if you're still on the shim).
• Which install path you used (npm, cargo, brew, manual).
• The exact command you ran and the full error output.

We'll prioritize migration regressions.