fix: auto-detect viewer mode from global_config in rerun bridge

[spomichter]

fixes rerun-connect not working on G1 blueprints.

problem

each blueprint had a match global_config.viewer_backend that manually mapped backend names to rerun_bridge(viewer_mode=...). the G1 primitive blueprint was missing the rerun-connect case, so dimos --viewer-backend rerun-connect run unitree-g1-sim silently created an empty autoconnect with no viewer.

fix

moved the mapping into RerunBridgeModule.start() — it now auto-detects viewer_mode from global_config.viewer_backend when not explicitly set:

• rerun → native
• rerun-web → web
• rerun-connect → connect
• none → none

simplified both GO2 basic and G1 primitive blueprints to just:

if global_config.viewer_backend.startswith("rerun"):
    with_vis = autoconnect(rerun_bridge(**rerun_config))

no blueprint needs to know about viewer modes anymore. adding new backends only requires updating the bridge.

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

This PR fixes the critical bug where dimos --viewer-backend rerun-connect silently produced an empty autoconnect on G1 blueprints by centralizing the viewer_backend → viewer_mode mapping into RerunBridgeModule.start().

Key changes:

• Config.viewer_mode defaults to None; start() auto-detects the mode from global_config.viewer_backend via the _BACKEND_TO_MODE lookup when not explicitly set.
• Both G1 primitive and GO2 basic blueprints simplified to a single startswith("rerun") guard — no more per-blueprint viewer mode branching.
• The standalone run_bridge() / dimos rerun-bridge CLI path remains unaffected (still passes viewer_mode explicitly and bypasses auto-detection).

The fix is targeted, removes duplication, and ensures every blueprint automatically gets the correct viewer mode regardless of backend. Verified that blueprint guards prevent hypothetical fallback issues.

Confidence Score: 5/5

• Safe to merge — the fix is correct, targeted, and removes per-blueprint duplication without introducing new issues.
• The PR successfully fixes the concrete bug (rerun-connect missing on G1) by centralizing the viewer_backend mapping. Code paths are protected by blueprint guards (startswith("rerun") checks). The auto-detection logic is sound: known backends map to known modes, and the fallback only triggers with explicit instantiation in non-guarded contexts (which don't occur today). The fix simplifies both blueprints and makes the system more maintainable for future backends.
• No files require special attention

Flowchart

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart TD
    A["dimos --viewer-backend backend"] --> B["Blueprint loaded - G1 or GO2"]
    B --> C{viewer_backend\n== foxglove?}
    C -- Yes --> D["autoconnect(foxglove_bridge())"]
    C -- No --> E{viewer_backend\nstarts with rerun?}
    E -- No --> F["autoconnect() or _transports_base\nno visualization"]
    E -- Yes --> G["autoconnect(rerun_bridge)\nviewer_mode=None"]
    G --> H["RerunBridgeModule.start()"]
    H --> I{config.viewer_mode\nis None?}
    I -- No --> L["Use explicit viewer_mode"]
    I -- Yes --> J["_BACKEND_TO_MODE.get\nglobal_config.viewer_backend\nfallback: native"]
    J --> K["Set self.config.viewer_mode"]
    K --> L
    L --> M{viewer_mode?}
    M -- native --> N["rr.spawn() - desktop viewer"]
    M -- web --> O["rr.serve_grpc + serve_web_viewer"]
    M -- connect --> P["rr.connect_grpc(connect_url)"]
    M -- none --> Q["rr.init only - headless"]

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_{Last reviewed commit: c8e30c6}