[Test failure] <TC_AUTHOR_154>: Completed course prereq, still can't access course

[crathbun428]

Release

Teak

Expected behavior

1. When I try to access the course that is gated by a prerequisite course before I completed the prerequisite course
2. I see that I cannot access the course
3. After I complete the prerequisite course
4. I see that I can access the course that is gated by the prerequisite course

Actual behavior

1. When I try to access the course that is gated by a prerequisite course before I completed the prerequisite course
2. I see that I cannot access the course
3. After I complete the prerequisite course content and have the required grade (or higher to access the gated course)
4. I see that I still cannot access the course that is gated by the prerequisite course

Steps to reproduce

Setup

1. As a staff user create a short prerequisite course (example: CR Test Course Prereq is a current course you could use - as of 6/16/2025)

2. Create or configure a course to use the course created in Step 1 as a prerequisite by:

3. In Studio, open your course.

4. On the Settings menu, select Schedule & Details.

5. On the Schedule & Details page, locate the Requirements section.

6. Under Prerequisite Course, select a course from the list.

7. Select Save Changes.

8. Log in as a student and enroll in both courses

9. Try to access the course that is gated by a prerequisite course

10. See that I cannot access the course

11. Complete the prerequisite course

12. See that you can access the course that is gated by a prerequisite course

Additional information

Recording
No response

[cmltaWt0]

@crathbun428
The issue can be reproduced but it's a desired behavior for the platform.

To be able to access the target Course you must do the following:

1. Add verified mode for a Prerequisite Course.
2. Enable and Activate Certificate.
3. Enroll a User to the Course in verified mode (unenroll and enroll you user again).
4. Pass the course.
5. Get the Certificate.
6. Access the Target Course.

The behavior is defined by the edx-milestones package. Particularly by the following model:

class UserMilestone(TimeStampedModel):
    """
    user_id = models.IntegerField(db_index=True)
    milestone = models.ForeignKey(Milestone, db_index=True, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    source = models.TextField(blank=True)
    collected = models.DateTimeField(blank=True, null=True)
    active = models.BooleanField(default=True, db_index=True)

The platform checks the collected field for a given user and allows or denies access.

To be able to get the collected status we have to get a Certificate as we can see in the following test:

@patch.dict(settings.FEATURES, {'ENABLE_PREREQUISITE_COURSES': True})
def test_course_milestone_collected(self):
    student = UserFactory()
    course = CourseFactory.create(org='edx', number='998', display_name='Test Course')
    pre_requisite_course = CourseFactory.create(org='edx', number='999', display_name='Pre requisite Course')
    # set pre-requisite course
    set_prerequisite_courses(course.id, [str(pre_requisite_course.id)])
    # get milestones collected by user before completing the pre-requisite course
    completed_milestones = milestones_achieved_by_user(student, str(pre_requisite_course.id))
    assert len(completed_milestones) == 0

    GeneratedCertificateFactory.create(
        user=student,
        course_id=pre_requisite_course.id,
        status=CertificateStatuses.generating,
        mode='verified'
    )
    # get milestones collected by user after user has completed the pre-requisite course
    completed_milestones = milestones_achieved_by_user(student, str(pre_requisite_course.id))
    assert len(completed_milestones) == 1
    assert completed_milestones[0]['namespace'] == str(pre_requisite_course.id)

Here we can see that Verified mode is required a prerequisites the Course.

GeneratedCertificateFactory.create(
        user=student,
        ...
        mode='verified'
    )

It's a business flow issue cause the backend logic was defined 11 years ago but probably there was no possibility to create an Audit course with Grading settings. Need to bring this to the Product WG to define a desired logic.

[crathbun428]

@cmltaWt0 - Thank you for this investigation! I can bring this to the Product WG. Not a release blocker, but definitely something we need to think through.