Should `verdi` be renamed to `aiida` or add `aiida` as an alias

Design Discussions
1

Historical context

The command line interface (CLI) of AiiDA is called verdi.
When AiiDA was created, the CLI was named verdi mostly for technical reasons, since aiida would clash with the Python package. This technical limitation is no longer the case, so the question was raised whether verdi should be renamed to aiida or whether the latter should at least be added as an alias (and verdi kept for backwards compatibility).

Pros

  • aiida potentially is less confusing for new users

Cons

  • Having verdi avoids potential ambiguity when talking about AiiDA. It will always be immediately clear one is talking about the CLI and not the Python API or the software as a whole
  • A lot of work is needed to update tutorials/documentation and existing scripts
  • Removing verdi: is backwards incompatible
  • Keeping verdi: can cause confusion as there will be now two ways of doing things and it might not be immediately obvious to users if there is difference and which one to use.
2

I am not a 100% sure if I have captured all the pros, please let me know if there are others that should be added.

I would personally be against this change as I think the downsides by far outweigh the slight advantage.

3

Thanks @sphuber! I at first didn’t see any issues with this change and deemed it natural, but now that you’ve listed some cons I’m also leaning against changing the CLI name. Unless there are indeed some other pro arguments we’re missing.

4

There are plenty of other things one has to learn when using AiiDA, so I don’t think verdi as the CLI base command matters here for simplifying anything. With all the cons, I’m also against changing it.

5

My two cents are also in favor on NOT changing it.

6

This was raised again by a user

So a +1 from Libor on adding an aiida CLI alias. Other previous related GitHub items:

And others have in passing mentioned this as a source of confusion. So it does seem to keep on being a problem for new users, who are the ones that we should aim face the least friction.

To revisit some of the cons presented initially:

  • Having verdi avoids potential ambiguity when talking about AiiDA. It will always be immediately clear one is talking about the CLI and not the Python API or the software as a whole

I can see the point, but I think saying aiida CLI or just CLI is equally clear. If you mention CLI and show e.g. aiida process list, I don’t think users are going to mistake this for the Python API.

  • A lot of work is needed to update tutorials/documentation and existing scripts

This was my main reason for not doing this previously: it’s a lot of work for not so much benefit, and we had plenty of more important priorities to work on. But, it keeps on coming up (more benefit than we thought?), and the work is now substantially reduced with LLMs.

  • Removing verdi: is backwards incompatible
  • Keeping verdi: can cause confusion as there will be now two ways of doing things and it might not be immediately obvious to users if there is difference and which one to use.

I agree removing verdi is not an option. An aiida alias, and moving all of our documentation to use aiida, is the way to go. verdi will keep on working. We could deprecate it to push the whole ecosystem to adapt, but I’m not sure that’s the best way forward.

Of course, in many packages, users will keep on seeing verdi xxx and this might confuse them. But the documentation of actively maintained packages can be easily adapted. Packages that have fallen out of maintenance can’t be a reason to change something that might geniunely improve the experience of new users.