Instructor Dashboard - API Updates by brianjbuck-wgu · Pull Request #38458 · openedx/openedx-platform

brianjbuck-wgu · 2026-04-27T16:54:06Z

Description

Makes several tweaks to the Instructor API v2 endpoints:

Username in course metadata: GET /api/instructor/v2/courses/{course_id} now returns the username of the authenticated user, enabling the MFE to display the current user without a separate request.
Exam type field: Special exams list and detail endpoints now include an exam_type field derived from proctoring flags.
Ordering support: The allowances and attempts list endpoints (/special_exams/allowances, /special_exams/attempts) support ?ordering= since edx_proctoring APIs return lists instead of querysets.

Impacted user roles: Course Staff, Instructors.

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No database migrations.
Ticket for updating edx-proctoring: Update Exam Functions to Allow Optional Ordering Params edx-proctoring#1320

openedx-webhooks · 2026-04-27T16:54:11Z

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Copilot

Pull request overview

Updates the Instructor API v2 “special exams” endpoints to expose additional exam attempt metadata and support client-driven ordering, while also making the due-date-change “reason” field optional/blank-safe.

Changes:

Allow reason to be omitted or blank in the due date change payload.
Add exam_type to exam attempt responses (derived from proctored exam flags).
Add ordering support (via in-memory sort) to course allowances and course exam attempts list endpoints, with accompanying tests.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

File	Description
`lms/djangoapps/instructor/views/serializers_v2.py`	Makes due-date `reason` accept blank/omitted and adds derived `exam_type` to exam attempts.
`lms/djangoapps/instructor/views/api_v2.py`	Introduces `_sort_in_memory` and wiring for `ordering` on allowances/attempts endpoints.
`lms/djangoapps/instructor/tests/views/test_special_exams_api_v2.py`	Adds coverage for `exam_type` and new `ordering` query param behavior.
`lms/djangoapps/instructor/tests/test_api.py`	Adds regression test ensuring due-date changes work when `reason` is omitted/blank.

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Copilot

Pull request overview

Updates Instructor Dashboard v2 APIs to support optional “reason” on due date extensions, expose an exam_type field on exam attempts, and add query-param sorting for special-exams allowances/attempts endpoints.

Changes:

Make reason optional (including blank) for the due date extension v2 serializer and add coverage for omitted/blank values.
Add exam_type to ExamAttemptSerializer, derived from proctored/practice flags.
Add ordering support for course allowances and course exam attempts endpoints, backed by a shared in-memory sort helper, with associated tests.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

File	Description
`lms/djangoapps/instructor/views/serializers_v2.py`	Makes due-date `reason` optional/blankable and adds derived `exam_type` to exam attempt serialization.
`lms/djangoapps/instructor/views/api_v2.py`	Introduces `_sort_in_memory` and wires `ordering` into allowances + attempts list APIs.
`lms/djangoapps/instructor/tests/views/test_special_exams_api_v2.py`	Adds/extends tests for `exam_type` and ordering support on special-exams APIs.
`lms/djangoapps/instructor/tests/test_api.py`	Adds regression test ensuring due-date change works with omitted/blank `reason`.

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wgu-taylor-payne

Nice set of changes — clean structure overall. A few suggestions below.

Review assisted by Kiro

wgu-taylor-payne · 2026-04-29T21:06:06Z

+    ORDERING_FIELDS = {
+        'username': 'user.username',
+        'user.username': 'user.username',
+        'email': 'user.email',
+        'user.email': 'user.email',
+        'exam_name': 'proctored_exam.exam_name',
+        'proctored_exam.exam_name': 'proctored_exam.exam_name',
+        'time_limit': 'proctored_exam.time_limit_mins',
+        'proctored_exam.time_limit_mins': 'proctored_exam.time_limit_mins',
+        'started_at': 'started_at',
+        'completed_at': 'completed_at',
+        'status': 'status',
+    }


The serializer outputs start_time and end_time (via source='started_at'/source='completed_at'), but the ordering params only accept started_at/completed_at. An API consumer sees start_time in the response JSON but has to know the internal field name to sort by it — and since unrecognized ordering values silently no-op, ?ordering=start_time would just return unsorted results with no error.

Consider accepting the serializer field names as aliases:

Suggested change

ORDERING_FIELDS = {

'username': 'user.username',

'user.username': 'user.username',

'email': 'user.email',

'user.email': 'user.email',

'exam_name': 'proctored_exam.exam_name',

'proctored_exam.exam_name': 'proctored_exam.exam_name',

'time_limit': 'proctored_exam.time_limit_mins',

'proctored_exam.time_limit_mins': 'proctored_exam.time_limit_mins',

'started_at': 'started_at',

'completed_at': 'completed_at',

'status': 'status',

}

ORDERING_FIELDS = {

'username': 'user.username',

'user.username': 'user.username',

'email': 'user.email',

'user.email': 'user.email',

'exam_name': 'proctored_exam.exam_name',

'proctored_exam.exam_name': 'proctored_exam.exam_name',

'time_limit': 'proctored_exam.time_limit_mins',

'proctored_exam.time_limit_mins': 'proctored_exam.time_limit_mins',

'start_time': 'started_at',

'started_at': 'started_at',

'end_time': 'completed_at',

'completed_at': 'completed_at',

'status': 'status',

}

Same idea for the docstring example (ordering=-started_at → ordering=-start_time).

wgu-taylor-payne · 2026-04-29T21:06:06Z

+    def _get_exam_type(self, attempt):
+        """Derive exam type string for sorting purposes."""
+        exam = attempt.get('proctored_exam', {})
+        if exam.get('is_practice_exam'):
+            return 'practice'
+        if exam.get('is_proctored'):
+            return 'proctored'
+        return 'timed'


This is identical to ExamAttemptSerializer.get_exam_type in serializers_v2.py. If the derivation logic changes, one could be updated without the other. Consider extracting a shared helper:

Suggested change

def _get_exam_type(self, attempt):

"""Derive exam type string for sorting purposes."""

exam = attempt.get('proctored_exam', {})

if exam.get('is_practice_exam'):

return 'practice'

if exam.get('is_proctored'):

return 'proctored'

return 'timed'

@staticmethod

def _get_exam_type(attempt):

"""Derive exam type string for sorting purposes."""

return ExamAttemptSerializer.get_exam_type_from_dict(

attempt.get('proctored_exam', {})

)

…or a module-level function both can call. Not blocking, just a maintenance consideration.

wgu-taylor-payne · 2026-04-29T21:06:06Z

+        # Verify ascending and descending both succeed
+        for prefix in ('', '-'):
+            response = self.client.get(self._url(), {'ordering': f'{prefix}{ordering}'})
+            assert response.status_code == status.HTTP_200_OK
+            assert len(response.json()['results']) == 2


This only asserts status 200 and count — it would still pass if ordering were completely ignored. test_sort_allowances has a stronger pattern (checking asc_results[0] == desc_results[1]). Consider mirroring that here:

Suggested change

# Verify ascending and descending both succeed

for prefix in ('', '-'):

response = self.client.get(self._url(), {'ordering': f'{prefix}{ordering}'})

assert response.status_code == status.HTTP_200_OK

assert len(response.json()['results']) == 2

# Verify ascending and descending both succeed and reverse order

asc_response = self.client.get(self._url(), {'ordering': ordering})

desc_response = self.client.get(self._url(), {'ordering': f'-{ordering}'})

assert asc_response.status_code == status.HTTP_200_OK

asc_results = asc_response.json()['results']

desc_results = desc_response.json()['results']

assert len(asc_results) == 2

assert asc_results[0] == desc_results[1]

assert asc_results[1] == desc_results[0]

openedx-webhooks added the open-source-contribution PR author is not from Axim or 2U label Apr 27, 2026

openedx-webhooks added this to Contributions Apr 27, 2026

github-project-automation Bot moved this to Needs Triage in Contributions Apr 27, 2026

brianjbuck-wgu requested a review from Copilot April 27, 2026 16:54

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of brianjbuck-wgu April 27, 2026 16:54 View session

brianjbuck-wgu changed the title ~~Feature/special exams api updates~~ Instructor Dashboard - API Updates Apr 27, 2026

Copilot AI reviewed Apr 27, 2026

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brianjbuck-wgu requested a review from Copilot April 27, 2026 17:26

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of brianjbuck-wgu April 27, 2026 17:27 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Apr 27, 2026

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Comment thread lms/djangoapps/instructor/views/api_v2.py

Comment thread lms/djangoapps/instructor/tests/views/test_special_exams_api_v2.py

Comment thread lms/djangoapps/instructor/views/api_v2.py Outdated

Comment thread lms/djangoapps/instructor/views/api_v2.py

brianjbuck-wgu force-pushed the feature/special-exams-api-updates branch 3 times, most recently from c2c97fe to d960f85 Compare April 28, 2026 16:41

mphilbrick211 added the mao-onboarding Reviewing this will help onboard devs from an Axim mission-aligned organization (MAO). label Apr 29, 2026

mphilbrick211 moved this from Needs Triage to Waiting on Author in Contributions Apr 29, 2026

brianjbuck-wgu added 7 commits April 29, 2026 09:47

feat: Add exam type to special exams endpoints.

2333eff

fix: Add ordering for special exams list endpoints

eedda0f

fix: Allow sending blank reason in change course endpoint.

109d189

fix: Address Copilot feedback

aa8bf4b

fix: More Copilot feedback

02b4400

fix: Add username to the course metadata endpoint

2c72798

fix: Convert PT009 warnings in tests.

3710e50

brianjbuck-wgu force-pushed the feature/special-exams-api-updates branch from d960f85 to d07978b Compare April 29, 2026 15:47

fix: Allow for dotted lookups in order by

b8a53d2

brianjbuck-wgu force-pushed the feature/special-exams-api-updates branch from d07978b to b8a53d2 Compare April 29, 2026 18:50

brianjbuck-wgu marked this pull request as ready for review April 29, 2026 19:12

brianjbuck-wgu requested review from dwong2708 and wgu-taylor-payne April 29, 2026 19:12

wgu-taylor-payne reviewed Apr 29, 2026

View reviewed changes

fix: Fix exam_type coming over the wire.

a815adc

diana-villalvazo-wgu mentioned this pull request Apr 30, 2026

fix: allowances openedx/frontend-app-instructor-dashboard#194

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Instructor Dashboard - API Updates#38458

Instructor Dashboard - API Updates#38458
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-        # Verify ascending and descending both succeed
-        for prefix in ('', '-'):
-            response = self.client.get(self._url(), {'ordering': f'{prefix}{ordering}'})
-            assert response.status_code == status.HTTP_200_OK
-            assert len(response.json()['results']) == 2
+        # Verify ascending and descending both succeed and reverse order
+        asc_response = self.client.get(self._url(), {'ordering': ordering})
+        desc_response = self.client.get(self._url(), {'ordering': f'-{ordering}'})
+        assert asc_response.status_code == status.HTTP_200_OK
+        asc_results = asc_response.json()['results']
+        desc_results = desc_response.json()['results']
+        assert len(asc_results) == 2
+        assert asc_results[0] == desc_results[1]
+        assert asc_results[1] == desc_results[0]

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