Decisions › D21
The name is RobotDx
Context
The research on 22 October recommended keeping robotdiagnostics, and listed robotdx as dropped because the .com was taken. Zach chose it anyway the next day. In medicine, Dx is shorthand for diagnosis, so the name says the same thing in less, and the site now lives at robotdx.dev.
The decision
RobotDx is the name a person sees: the dock entry, the tray's title, the page title, the chip and its Open button. To open the app you search “robotdx”. The ids stay (the desktop id, the icon names, the ports, Stable's release history), so nothing installed breaks. In code it is still RobotDiagnostics.
Why
“lets call it really RobotDx.com”
Zach Yamaoka, 23 Oct 2026
“baymax is a health robot”
Zach Yamaoka, notes, 23 Oct 2026
The second quote is about the face, not the name, but it is why a short medical word fits: the mark is a calm health robot.
Options considered
The scored list from 22 October is on the superseded decision. This one was a ruling, not a score.
| Option | Verdict | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| robotdiagnostics | Superseded | Best score and fully recognised, but long to write. |
| robotdx | Chosen | Short, says the same thing in medical shorthand. Zach bought robotdx.dev on 23 October. |
Consequences
- The public site is robotdx.dev. It is a placeholder with the philosophy, two real screenshots and the plugin contract, and nothing to download yet.
- The robotparts catalogue never imports RobotDx, and RobotDx never imports it.
Evidence
- Name research: 20 alternatives to RobotDiagnosticsContract doc, 2026-10-22. The scored list behind the naming decisions.
Commits in the app's repository (private):
0d5be522026-10-24 RobotDx: the app's display name