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
                                    # legacy Homebrew installs may still use
                                    # brew install deepseek-tui until the tap
                                    # formula is renamed.

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

Your existing ~/.deepseek/config.toml, ~/.deepseek/sessions/, ~/.deepseek/skills/, ~/.deepseek/tasks/, and ~/.deepseek/mcp.json are not deleted. New CodeWhale installs prefer ~/.codewhale/, and legacy ~/.deepseek/ state remains a read fallback while you migrate. 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 changed for local state

New installs write product-owned state under ~/.codewhale/. Existing ~/.deepseek/ config, sessions, skills, tasks, MCP config, memory, and notes remain readable as legacy fallbacks while you migrate. CodeWhale never deletes the legacy directory automatically.

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).
• 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 uses the legacy formula name for existing installs. Treat it as compatibility-only until the tap is renamed; new install docs prefer codewhale npm, Cargo, Docker, or direct downloads.
• Docker image: ghcr.io/hmbown/codewhale.

Deprecation shims (removed in v0.9.0)

To keep existing shell aliases, scripts, and CI working through the rename, v0.8.41 and later v0.8.x releases shipped deprecation shims:

• 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.
• The legacy deepseek-tui npm package is deprecated and no longer receives new releases. Install the codewhale npm package instead.

These binary shims are removed in v0.9.0. DeepSeek provider support, model IDs, DEEPSEEK_* environment variables, and legacy ~/.deepseek/ state fallbacks remain supported.

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 through the legacy deepseek-tui name for existing Homebrew users. Keep using brew upgrade deepseek-tui only for that compatibility path. New installs should prefer npm, Cargo, Docker, or direct downloads until the formula and tap repo are renamed.

Manual / GitHub Releases

v0.8.41 through v0.8.x Releases attached both the canonical codewhale-* / codewhale-tui-* assets and compatibility-only deepseek-* / deepseek-tui-* shim assets. Starting in v0.9.0, Releases attach only the canonical codewhale-* / codewhale-tui-* assets and the canonical codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt checksum manifest. Install or update through codewhale before moving to v0.9.0.

Sessions, skills, and manual workspaces

Renaming the binary does not require starting over:

• Config: on first launch, CodeWhale copies ~/.deepseek/config.toml to ~/.codewhale/config.toml if the CodeWhale file does not already exist. It never overwrites a newer CodeWhale config. You can inspect the active path with codewhale doctor.
• Sessions and tasks: managed state is read from ~/.codewhale/... when present, with ~/.deepseek/... used as the legacy fallback when only the old directory exists. Existing saved sessions still appear in codewhale sessions and the TUI resume picker.
• Skills: CodeWhale discovers workspace skills first, then global skills, including both ~/.codewhale/skills and legacy ~/.deepseek/skills. Existing skill directories with SKILL.md do not need to be rewritten.
• MCP config: the default path is ~/.codewhale/mcp.json. If that file is absent, CodeWhale still reads legacy ~/.deepseek/mcp.json. To use a custom MCP config file, set mcp_config_path in config.toml or DEEPSEEK_MCP_CONFIG.
• Manual binary installs: keep the dispatcher and TUI binaries as siblings on your PATH: codewhale plus codewhale-tui. On Windows, the recommended user-local location is %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\CodeWhale\bin. On Unix-like systems, any user-writable PATH directory is fine as long as both binaries are present.
• Specified work directories: running codewhale from a project directory, or launching it with a specific workspace path, does not move project files. CodeWhale reads <workspace>/.codewhale/config.toml first and falls back to legacy <workspace>/.deepseek/config.toml when the new path is absent.

If both ~/.codewhale/... and ~/.deepseek/... copies exist, the CodeWhale path wins. Keep the legacy directory until you have confirmed codewhale doctor, codewhale sessions, and your expected skills all show the same state.

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.