refactor: rebrand Gator TUI to Term / NemoClaw

[johntmyers]

Problem Statement

The TUI is currently branded as "Gator" throughout the codebase — CLI subcommand, UI title bar, docs, and agent skills. It needs to be rebranded: the CLI subcommand becomes nemoclaw term, the title shown in the TUI changes from "Gator" to "NemoClaw", and all other code/doc references change from "Gator" to "Term" or "TUI" as appropriate. This is a naming cleanup to move to a generic, consistent brand.

Technical Context

The TUI is implemented in the navigator-tui crate and launched via a clap-derived Commands::Gator enum variant in navigator-cli. The variant name directly determines the subcommand string (nemoclaw gator). The visible brand text "Gator" is rendered in a single Span::styled call in ui/mod.rs. Beyond the source code, the name is embedded in architecture docs, mise task files, and agent skill files. The crate name itself (navigator-tui) does not contain "gator" and needs no change.

Affected Components

Component	Key Files	Role
CLI	crates/navigator-cli/src/main.rs	Defines the Gator subcommand variant and dispatch match arm
TUI crate	crates/navigator-tui/src/lib.rs, src/ui/mod.rs, Cargo.toml	Crate description, doc comments, and rendered title bar text
Mise tasks	tasks/gator.toml	Task definitions for mise run gator / gator:dev
Architecture docs	architecture/gator.md, architecture/system-architecture.md, architecture/sandbox-connect.md	TUI documentation and system diagrams
Agent skills	.agents/skills/tui-development/SKILL.md, .agents/skills/nemoclaw-cli/cli-reference.md, .agents/skills/nemoclaw-cli/SKILL.md	Agent guides referencing Gator by name

Technical Investigation

Architecture Overview

The TUI is a ratatui-based terminal application in the navigator-tui crate. It is launched as a subcommand of the nemoclaw binary. The CLI uses clap's derive macro — the Commands enum has a Gator variant which clap auto-lowercases to the gator subcommand. The main function dispatches Commands::Gator to call navigator_tui::run(). Inside the TUI, the brand is rendered in the title bar via a single Span::styled(" Gator", ...) call.

Code References

Location	Description
crates/navigator-cli/src/main.rs:145	Doc comment: /// Launch the Gator interactive TUI.
crates/navigator-cli/src/main.rs:146	Clap enum variant: Gator, — determines the gator subcommand name
crates/navigator-cli/src/main.rs:1288	Match arm: Some(Commands::Gator) => { — dispatches to TUI
crates/navigator-tui/Cargo.toml:6	Package description: "Gator – NemoClaw interactive TUI"
crates/navigator-tui/src/lib.rs:28	Doc comment: /// Launch the Gator TUI.
crates/navigator-tui/src/ui/mod.rs:101	Rendered title: Span::styled(" Gator", styles::ACCENT_BOLD)
tasks/gator.toml	Mise task file: task names [gator], [gator:dev] and run = "nemoclaw gator"
architecture/gator.md	Full TUI architecture doc (~25 "Gator" references)
architecture/system-architecture.md:10,180	System diagram and component list mentioning "Gator TUI"
architecture/sandbox-connect.md:173,178,186	TUI sandbox workflow references
.agents/skills/tui-development/SKILL.md	~14 lines referencing "Gator" in the TUI dev guide
.agents/skills/nemoclaw-cli/cli-reference.md:67,342,344	CLI command tree and nemoclaw gator reference
.agents/skills/nemoclaw-cli/SKILL.md:567	Cross-reference to "Gator TUI"

Current Behavior

• nemoclaw gator launches the TUI. The clap variant Commands::Gator is lowercased automatically.
• The TUI title bar renders " Gator" as a styled span in the top-left corner.
• mise run gator and mise run gator:dev are convenience tasks defined in tasks/gator.toml.
• Architecture docs and agent skills refer to the TUI as "Gator" throughout.

What Would Need to Change

Source code (3 files, 6 changes):

• main.rs: Rename enum variant Gator → Term, update doc comment and match arm
• lib.rs: Update doc comment from "Gator" to "NemoClaw"
• ui/mod.rs: Change rendered string from " Gator" to " NemoClaw"
• Cargo.toml: Update package description

Mise tasks (1 file rename + content changes):

• Rename tasks/gator.toml → tasks/term.toml
• Update task names [gator] → [term], [gator:dev] → [term:dev]
• Update run commands from nemoclaw gator to nemoclaw term

Architecture docs (1 file rename + content changes in 3 files):

• Rename architecture/gator.md → architecture/tui.md
• Update ~25 "Gator" references in the renamed file
• Update 2 references in system-architecture.md
• Update 3 references in sandbox-connect.md
• Note: gator.md:151 references plans/gator-tui.md which does not exist (dead link — remove or fix)

Agent skill files (content changes in 3 files):

• .agents/skills/tui-development/SKILL.md: ~14 line updates
• .agents/skills/nemoclaw-cli/cli-reference.md: 3 line updates
• .agents/skills/nemoclaw-cli/SKILL.md: 1 line update

Alternative Approaches Considered

The renaming rules are straightforward, but there are a few judgment calls:

• Architecture doc filename: architecture/tui.md (generic) vs architecture/term.md (matches CLI subcommand). Recommend tui.md since the doc describes the TUI component, not the CLI subcommand.
• Skill trigger keywords: Replace gator with both term and tui to cover both terms users might type.

Patterns to Follow

This is a find-and-replace refactor. The naming convention to apply:

• CLI subcommand: term (lowercase, matches clap variant convention)
• Rendered UI text: NemoClaw (product brand)
• Prose/docs: "the TUI" or "NemoClaw TUI" (never "Term" as a proper noun in prose)
• Task/file names: term (lowercase, matches CLI subcommand)

Proposed Approach

Rename the clap enum variant from Gator to Term to change the CLI subcommand, update the single rendered title string to "NemoClaw", then sweep through docs, mise tasks, and agent skills replacing "Gator" references with "Term", "TUI", or "NemoClaw" as context dictates. File renames for tasks/gator.toml and architecture/gator.md to match. This is a mechanical refactor with no behavioral changes.

Scope Assessment

• Complexity: Low
• Confidence: High — clear path, purely mechanical renaming
• Estimated files to change: 10 (+ 2 file renames)
• Issue type: refactor

Risks & Open Questions

• Dead link: architecture/gator.md:151 references plans/gator-tui.md which doesn't exist. Decide whether to remove the link or create the plan doc.
• External references: Any external docs, wikis, or READMEs outside the repo that reference nemoclaw gator will break. Verify no external tooling depends on the gator subcommand name.
• Git branch: There's an existing branch feat(gator) in .git/config — this is historical and doesn't need changing.

Test Considerations

• No existing tests reference "gator" directly, so no test changes needed
• After the rename, verify cargo build succeeds (the enum variant rename is the only code change that could cause a compile error)
• Verify nemoclaw term launches the TUI and the title bar shows "NemoClaw"
• Verify mise run term and mise run term:dev work

---

Created by spike investigation. Use build-from-issue to plan and implement.

[johntmyers]

Note: The dead link at architecture/gator.md:151 referencing plans/gator-tui.md should be removed entirely during implementation, not replaced.

[johntmyers]

🏗️ build-plan

Implementation Plan

Issue type: refactor
Complexity: Low
Confidence: High — clear path, purely mechanical renaming

Summary

Rebrand the TUI from "Gator" to "Term"/"NemoClaw"/"TUI" across the entire codebase. The CLI subcommand changes from nemoclaw gator to nemoclaw term, the TUI title bar changes from "Gator" to "NemoClaw", and all doc/skill references are updated. Two files are renamed. No behavioral changes.

Scope

• crates/navigator-cli/src/main.rs: Rename Commands::Gator enum variant to Commands::Term, update doc comment and match arm
• crates/navigator-tui/Cargo.toml: Update package description
• crates/navigator-tui/src/lib.rs: Update doc comment
• crates/navigator-tui/src/ui/mod.rs: Change rendered title string from " Gator" to " NemoClaw"
• tasks/gator.toml → tasks/term.toml: Rename file, update task names and run commands
• architecture/gator.md → architecture/tui.md: Rename file, update ~25 "Gator" references, remove dead link to plans/gator-tui.md
• architecture/system-architecture.md: Update 2 "Gator" references
• architecture/sandbox-connect.md: Update 3 "Gator" references
• .agents/skills/tui-development/SKILL.md: Update ~14 "Gator"/"gator" references
• .agents/skills/nemoclaw-cli/cli-reference.md: Update 3 references
• .agents/skills/nemoclaw-cli/SKILL.md: Update 1 reference

Implementation Steps

1. Rust source code — Rename Commands::Gator → Commands::Term in main.rs (variant, doc comment, match arm). Update Cargo.toml description. Update lib.rs doc comment. Change ui/mod.rs title string. Verify cargo check passes.

2. Mise task file — Delete tasks/gator.toml, create tasks/term.toml with updated task names ([term], [term:dev]) and run commands (nemoclaw term).

3. Architecture docs — Rename architecture/gator.md → architecture/tui.md via git mv. Update all ~25 "Gator" references using the naming rules: "NemoClaw" for the product brand, "the TUI" for prose references, term for CLI subcommand. Remove the dead link to plans/gator-tui.md (per owner's instruction). Update system-architecture.md and sandbox-connect.md.

4. Agent skill files — Update .agents/skills/tui-development/SKILL.md (~14 lines), .agents/skills/nemoclaw-cli/cli-reference.md (3 lines), .agents/skills/nemoclaw-cli/SKILL.md (1 line). Update trigger keywords to replace gator with term and tui.

5. Verification — Run mise run pre-commit to confirm build, tests, lint, and formatting all pass.

Naming Rules

Context	Old	New
CLI subcommand	gator	term
Clap enum variant	Gator	Term
TUI title bar	Gator	NemoClaw
Prose/docs	"Gator"	"the TUI" or "NemoClaw TUI"
Task/file names	gator	term
Trigger keywords	gator	term, tui

Test Plan

• Unit tests: No test changes needed — no existing tests reference "gator". Pre-existing tests must continue to pass.
• Integration tests: N/A — no behavioral changes.
• E2E tests: N/A — no behavioral changes.

Risks & Open Questions

• None remaining. The dead link question was resolved (remove it).

Documentation Impact

• architecture/tui.md (renamed from gator.md) — full content update
• architecture/system-architecture.md — 2 line updates
• architecture/sandbox-connect.md — 3 line updates

---

Revision 1 — initial plan

[johntmyers]

🏗️ build-from-issue-agent

Implementation Complete

PR: #134

What was built

Rebranded the TUI from "Gator" to "Term"/"NemoClaw"/"TUI" across 12 files (including 2 file renames). CLI subcommand is now nemoclaw term, title bar shows "NemoClaw", all docs and skills updated.

Tests

• Unit: 0 new (no behavioral changes) — all 89 existing tests pass
• Integration: N/A
• E2E: N/A

Docs updated

• architecture/tui.md (renamed from gator.md)
• architecture/system-architecture.md
• architecture/sandbox-connect.md

The issue will auto-close when the PR is merged.