Fix the Instructor Dashboard crash caused for feedback xblock

[salman2013]

Description

Fixes the Instructor Dashboard crash caused by an indirect import chain that pulls in openedx.core.djangoapps.content.search — an app not registered in INSTALLED_APPS on the LMS.

Resolves: openedx/FeedbackXBlock#164

Root Cause

When the AddFeedbackTab filter pipeline renders the Feedback tab on the Instructor Dashboard, filters.py imports get_lms_link_for_item directly from cms.djangoapps.contentstore.utils. This triggers the following import chain at module load time:

cms.djangoapps.contentstore.utils
  → cms/djangoapps/contentstore/toggles.py
    → openedx.core.djangoapps.content.search.api
      → SearchAccess (model)

The content.search app was introduced in 2024 and is only available in the CMS (Studio) context. Because it is not included in INSTALLED_APPS on the LMS, the import fails at runtime, breaking the entire Instructor Dashboard Feedback tab for Open edX platforms running Sumac or later.

For more details Ref: openedx/FeedbackXBlock#164

Fix

This PR replicates the fix from openedx/FeedbackXBlock#166: the direct import of get_lms_link_for_item from cms.djangoapps.contentstore.utils is replaced with a locally re-implemented version in feedback/utils.py. The new implementation uses SiteConfiguration.get_value_for_org (guarded by a try/except ImportError) to resolve the LMS base URL, decoupling the XBlock from CMS-only platform internals.

This makes the XBlock self-contained and compatible with both LMS and Studio environments.

How to Test

1. Install the XBlock from this branch.

2. To enable the FeedbackXBlock report in the instructor dashboard, you can use the tutor inline plugins: https://github.com/openedx/FeedbackXBlock?tab=readme-ov-file#tutor-configuration

3. Navigate to the Instructor Dashboard of a course using the Feedback XBlock.

4. Click the Feedback tab — it should render without errors.

Testing Results After Fix:

[openedx-webhooks]

Thanks for the pull request, @salman2013!

This repository is currently unmaintained.

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[codecov]

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 93.54839% with 4 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 80.81%. Comparing base (d4ad4ac) to head (aeeb453).
⚠️ Report is 5 commits behind head on main.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
src/feedback/utils.py	86.36%	1 Missing and 2 partials ⚠️
src/feedback/extensions/filters.py	0.00%	1 Missing ⚠️

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##             main      #22      +/-   ##
==========================================
+ Coverage   79.69%   80.81%   +1.11%     
==========================================
  Files          30       31       +1     
  Lines         778      839      +61     
  Branches       50       53       +3     
==========================================
+ Hits          620      678      +58     
- Misses        136      137       +1     
- Partials       22       24       +2     

Flag	Coverage Δ
unittests	80.81% <93.54%> (+1.11%)	⬆️

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[kdmccormick]

Thanks for porting the fix over! I have one request, but if you agree with it, then this is good to merge 👍🏻

[kdmccormick]

Importing from openedx-platform internals is a bad pattern that I want us to get away from, but as it stands now there is no other way for an XBlock to use SiteConfiguration

Could you add this warning and this clause which will make the code more resilient?

Suggested change

	try:
	# pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
	from openedx.core.djangoapps.site_configuration.models import SiteConfiguration
	except ImportError:
	return None
	# Hack: Import SiteConfiguration from openedx-platform.
	# Please note that XBlocks should not import core openedx-platform code. Do not
	# replicate this pattern elsewhere. If you need information from the platform, it's better
	# to catch an event, hook into a filter, or define and use an XBlock runtime service.
	try:
	# pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
	from openedx.core.djangoapps.site_configuration.models import SiteConfiguration
	except ImportError:
	if 'unittest' in sys.modules.keys():
	# Fail silently when testing. We can't install openedx-platform for tests.
	return None
	# Otherwise, fail loudly, so that we will notice if the openedx-platform import path changes.
	raise

note: you'll need to add import sys to the top of the module

[salman2013]

I agree with your suggested changes and have updated the code accordingly. Thanks.