docs: add course authoring automatic migration adr

Author: BryanttV

docs/decisions/0013-course-authoring-automatic-migration.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,233 @@
+0013: Course Authoring - Automatic Migration Triggered by Course Authoring Flag
+###############################################################################
+
+Status
+******
+
+**Draft** - *2026-04-09*
+
+Context
+*******
+
+The system is transitioning from the legacy permissions model (``CourseAccessRole``)
+to the new openedx-authz system.
+
+Currently, migrations between both systems are performed manually using Django management commands:
+
+- ``authz_migrate_course_authoring`` (forward migration)
+- ``authz_rollback_course_authoring`` (rollback migration)
+
+In `ADR 0011`_ and `ADR 0010`_ it was established that migration must occur automatically when
+the feature flag ``authz.enable_course_authoring`` changes state, but they deferred the definition of
+the specific mechanism. This ADR addresses that gap.
+
+The current manual approach presents the following risks:
+
+- **Inconsistency**: If an operator enables or disables the flag without running the migration
+  command, the permission data in both systems will diverge.
+- **No status tracking**: There is no visibility into whether a migration is in progress,
+  completed, or failed.
+- **No concurrency protection**: Multiple concurrent flag changes can trigger overlapping
+  migrations, leading to race conditions and data corruption.
+- **No user feedback**: Operators have no way to know the result of a migration without
+  inspecting logs manually.
+
+Decision
+********
+
+We will implement an automatic and asynchronous migration mechanism triggered by changes in the
+``authz.enable_course_authoring`` feature flag. The solution consists of:
+
+#. Django signal handler to detect flag state changes.
+#. Celery tasks to execute migrations asynchronously.
+#. A tracking model to record migration status and errors.
+#. A locking mechanism to prevent concurrent migrations on the same scope.
+
+.. note::
+
+  **Scope Constraint**
+
+  Automatic migration will only trigger for **course-level** and **organization-level** flag
+  overrides, not for global (instance-wide) Waffle flag changes. The reason is that a global
+  flag change could affect a large number of courses simultaneously, introducing an unacceptable
+  performance risk. Global flag changes must be handled via management commands by operators
+  who explicitly accept the performance implications.
+
+Operator Safety and Opt-in Design
+==================================
+
+A concern was raised about the risks of triggering data migrations on a live instance. Data
+migrations are typically executed under controlled conditions (e.g., during maintenance windows)
+because any failure can leave the system in an invalid state. Triggering them automatically via
+a feature flag toggle introduces additional risk:
+
+- Django Admin access is sometimes granted to instructors or non-technical staff who may not
+  understand the implications of toggling the flag.
+- A live instance may be processing requests concurrently, increasing the chance of partial
+  failures or inconsistent transient states.
+
+To address this, the automatic migration mechanism will be **guarded by a Django setting**:
+
+.. code:: python
+
+    ENABLE_AUTOMATIC_COURSE_AUTHORING_MIGRATION = False
+
+This setting:
+
+- Is **disabled by default**.
+- Must be explicitly set to ``True`` by a site operator who understands the migration risks.
+- Acts as a prerequisite check inside the signal handler: if it is not enabled, the signal
+  detects the flag change but does **not** dispatch the Celery task. The operator must then
+  run the migration manually using the existing management commands.
+
+This design preserves the automated behavior for operators who opt in while keeping the system
+safe for deployments where uncontrolled migrations are unacceptable.
+
+Detailed Design
+===============
+
+1. Utility Function Updates
+---------------------------
+
+The existing utility functions ``migrate_legacy_course_roles_to_authz`` and
+``migrate_authz_to_legacy_course_roles`` will be modified to incorporate the locking strategy
+(see **Concurrency Control** below) and the tracking logic (see **Migration Tracking Model** below)
+as integral steps of their execution.
+
+This approach ensures that both the Celery task and the management commands go through the same
+tracking and locking path.
+
+2. Migration Trigger (Django Signals)
+-------------------------------------
+
+``pre_save`` signal handlers are attached to ``WaffleFlagCourseOverrideModel`` and
+``WaffleFlagOrgOverrideModel``. When a save is detected for the ``authz.enable_course_authoring``
+flag, the handler:
+
+#. Compares the previous and new flag state to determine the transition direction:
+
+   - ``False → True``: triggers a **forward migration** (Legacy → openedx-authz)
+   - ``True → False``: triggers a **rollback migration** (openedx-authz → Legacy)
+
+#. Determines the scope (course or organization) from the model being saved.
+#. Dispatches an asynchronous Celery task with the migration parameters.
+
+.. note::
+  If no effective change is detected (i.e., the flag state is the same as the previous state),
+  the signal handler does nothing.
+
+3. Migration Tracking Model
+---------------------------
+
+A new model is introduced to track the lifecycle of each migration operation:
+
+.. code:: python
+
+    class CourseAuthoringMigrationRun(models.Model):
+        migration_type = models.CharField(max_length=20)  # forward / rollback
+        scope_type = models.CharField(max_length=20)  # course / org
+        scope_key = models.CharField(max_length=255)
+        status = models.CharField(max_length=20)  # pending, running, completed, skipped
+        created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
+        updated_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)
+        completed_at = models.DateTimeField(null=True, blank=True)
+        metadata = models.JSONField(default=dict)
+
+This model is registered in Django Admin so operators can inspect migration history and
+diagnose failures without needing to access logs directly.
+
+4. Asynchronous Execution
+-------------------------
+
+The Celery task acts strictly as a thin dispatcher. All core logic, including locking,
+tracking, and migration execution, is implemented in the utility functions (see
+**Utility Function Updates** above).
+
+All database operations within the migration itself execute inside an atomic transaction.
+If the migration fails, no data is deleted from either system, preserving consistency.
+
+5. Concurrency Control (Locking Strategy)
+-----------------------------------------
+
+To prevent race conditions caused by rapid or concurrent flag changes on the same scope, a
+distributed lock is implemented using the Django cache backend (Redis):
+
+.. code:: python
+
+    lock_key = f"authz_migration:{scope_type}:{scope_key}"
+
+The lock is acquired using ``cache.add()``, which is an atomic operation. The default TTL
+is **1 hour**. If a lock already exists for the given scope, the migration is skipped
+and a new tracking record is created with that status. This ensures that only one
+migration runs at a time for the same scope.
+
+6. Execution Flow
+------------------
+
+1. An operator changes the ``authz.enable_course_authoring`` flag for a course or
+   organization via Django Admin or a management command.
+2. The ``pre_save`` signal handler detects the state transition.
+3. A Celery task is dispatched asynchronously.
+4. The task calls the utility function, which acquires the lock, creates and updates the
+   ``CourseAuthoringMigrationRun`` record, and executes the migration.
+5. The operator can check the migration status via Django Admin on the ``CourseAuthoringMigrationRun``
+   model.
+
+Consequences
+************
+
+Positive consequences
+=====================
+
+- **Migration is decoupled from the request cycle**: the flag change returns immediately and
+  migration happens in the background.
+- **Full observability**: every migration run is recorded with its status, scope, and metadata
+  in the tracking model.
+- **Concurrency-safe**: the lock strategy prevents overlapping migrations on the same scope.
+- **No manual intervention required**: for course-level or organization-level flag changes. Operators
+  who have opted in do not need to remember to run management commands.
+- **Safe by default**: the opt-in guard flag ensures that automatic migration is never triggered
+  unexpectedly on instances where operators have not explicitly accepted the risks.
+
+Negative consequences / risks
+==============================
+
+- **Global flag changes are not covered**: operators must still run management commands
+  manually when enabling or disabling the flag at the instance level. This is a deliberate
+  trade-off to avoid performance risks.
+- **Celery dependency**: the system now requires a functioning Celery worker for automatic
+  migration. If workers are down, migrations will be queued but not executed until workers
+  recover.
+- **Lock TTL edge cases**: if a migration takes longer than 1 hour (unlikely but possible
+  for very large organizations), the lock will expire and a new migration for the same scope
+  could start concurrently for the same scope.
+
+Rejected Alternatives
+*********************
+
+**Synchronous execution in the signal handler**
+  Executing the migration directly inside the ``pre_save`` signal would block the HTTP
+  request that triggered the flag change, leading to timeouts for large scopes and poor
+  operator experience.
+
+**Manual migration**
+  Error-prone, not scalable, and inconsistent. The flag is the source of truth, but manual
+  migration allows the system to end up in inconsistent states (e.g., flag enabled but data
+  still in the legacy system), resulting in an operationally fragile design.
+
+**Automatic global migration**
+  Triggering automatic migration when the flag is changed globally (instance-wide) would
+  risk performance degradation on large instances. This was explicitly ruled out: global
+  migrations must remain operator-initiated via management commands.
+
+References
+**********
+
+* `Automatic Migration Spike`_
+* `ADR 0010`_
+* `ADR 0011`_
+
+.. _Automatic Migration Spike:
+   https://openedx.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/OEPM/pages/6205112321/Spike+-+RBAC+AuthZ+-+Automatic+Role+Migration
+.. _ADR 0010: 0010-course-authoring-flag.rst
+.. _ADR 0011: 0011-course-authoring-migration-process.rst