vscode: capitalize area group header labels in backlog and builders trees

[amrmelsayed]

Problem

After #811 (backlog) and #818 (builders) ship grouping by area/*, the group headers render area names verbatim. GitHub area/* labels are conventionally lowercase (e.g. area/vscode, area/tower, area/porch), so the headers come out as:

vscode (12)
tower (4)
porch (3)
Uncategorized (8)

The lowercase area names look odd sitting next to the capitalized Uncategorized group header — the fallback bucket reads as a proper-noun label while the actual categories read as raw tag IDs.

Desired behavior

Group headers in both the Backlog tree (packages/vscode/src/views/backlog.ts) and the Builders tree (packages/vscode/src/views/builders.ts, once #818 lands) should render area names with consistent capitalization that matches Uncategorized's visual weight. After the fix, the example above would read:

Vscode (12)        # or "VSCode" if acronyms are handled
Tower (4)
Porch (3)
Uncategorized (8)

Scope

• Both the backlog group header rendering and the builders-tree group header rendering (whichever lands first inherits the helper; the other adopts it).
• Header rendering only — do NOT change the wire value (OverviewBacklogItem.area / OverviewBuilder.area) or the UNCATEGORIZED_AREA constant. Those are the canonical sentinel / matcher values; only the displayed label changes.
• Applies to the BacklogGroupTreeItem label and the equivalent BuilderGroupTreeItem label, not the bucketing logic in groupBacklogByArea.

Open question (for implementer)

Sentence-case (vscode → Vscode) is the simplest rule and matches Uncategorized's shape, but it mangles acronyms (api → Api, ui → Ui). Two options:

1. Plain sentence-case via charAt(0).toUpperCase() + slice(1) — predictable, no config, accepts the acronym mangle as a known cost. Reasonable if the repo's area/* set has no acronyms (codev's current set is fine: vscode, tower, porch, consult, panel, terminal, config, core, docs, cross-cutting — though vscode is debatably an acronym already).
2. Per-repo override map — e.g. a setting codev.areaDisplayNames: Record<string, string> lets a repo customize { "vscode": "VSCode", "api": "API" }. Unconfigured areas fall back to plain sentence-case. Costs one setting; solves the acronym problem.

Implementer picks based on whether the repo's area/* set in the wild actually surfaces acronym pain.

Related

• vscode: group backlog by area (area/* label namespace, predictable across views) #811 — backlog grouping by area (introduces the lowercase-area-header rendering)
• vscode: group builders in the tree by area (area/* label namespace, identical to backlog) #818 — builders-tree grouping by area (will inherit the same rendering)
• core: parseAreaLabels helper + flow areas[] through BacklogItem and BuilderOverview #819 — parseArea and the UNCATEGORIZED_AREA constant (do not change these in this issue)

[amrmelsayed]

On it! Working on this with the PIR protocol (plan + dev-approval gates before PR).