Rename the Exec plugin to eliminate confusion with the 'waypoint exec' command

[d3rp3tt3]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
The Exec plugin is used as a type of escape hatch to be able to use Waypoint with existing app workflows and still have the benefit of the Waypoint Entrypoint functions. When you use the plugin, you reference it within your Waypoint app config file (waypoint.hcl).

Conversely, waypoint exec command, (run at the command line), is used to open a shell into a running application that you have deployed with Waypoint.

These are clearly very different functions, and I find it confusing that we use the same name both places. It does not make sense to rename the command/function, so it has to be the plugin.

Describe the solution you'd like
Rename the Exec plugin to something other than "Exec." The name should convey that the plugin is an escape hatch that calls out to an external tool or system.

Describe alternatives you've considered
Potential new names for the Exec plugin (please recommend others):

external
remote
out
??

Explain any additional use-cases
NA

Additional context
https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/name-confusion-between-the-waypoint-exec-command-and-the-waypoint-exec-plugin/20598

[jgrau]

I agree that there's a name clash and it's a source of confusion. A quick thought on an alternative name - although I'm not sure it completely removes the confusion - would be local-exec. The argument being that people familiar with terraform will understand that it's a command that is being run on the local machine.

[d3rp3tt3]

I like the idea of local-exec since it runs as part of the deploy step.

[briancain]

I think something like local-exec is close, but it will have its own kind of confusion. From the TF docs:

The local-exec provisioner invokes a local executable after a resource is created. This invokes a process on the machine running Terraform, not on the resource

In this case, running waypoint exec isn't going to exec something locally, but on the instance that was deployed

But perhaps there's something like something-exec in that nature that would separate the naming confusion between the CLI command and the Exec plugin.

Maybe remote-exec?

[jgrau]

In this case, running waypoint exec isn't going to exec something locally, but on the instance that was deployed

If I understand this issue correctly then the proposal is to rename the plugin not the command. So the something-exec will actually be run on the local machine and not on the remote instance.

[briancain]

@jgrau - Ah, yes. See, the confusion here already exists 😅 For renaming the plugin, which will run commands locally, Local-Exec makes sense to me.

[d3rp3tt3]

In this case, running waypoint exec isn't going to exec something locally, but on the instance that was deployed

If I understand this issue correctly then the proposal is to rename the plugin not the command. So the something-exec will actually be run on the local machine and not on the remote instance.

Yes, that's what I was proposing. :D

[izaaklauer]

We don't believe that the effort of renaming this is worth breaking backward compat by changing the name for existing plugins. We will update the docs to clarify this.