refactor!: adopt frontend-lib-special-exams v5 and drop the redux store

[brian-smith-tcril]

Summary

Swaps @edx/frontend-lib-special-exams to v5 (openedx/frontend-lib-special-exams#176, published as 5.0.0), which reads the exam through React Query and takes its host services from a SpecialExamsProvider instead of frontend-platform and a redux slice. With the library's slice gone, learning's redux store goes too. Breaking for plugins: see "Plugins — breaking" below.

Part of #1946 and #2018; stacked above #2164 (the HTTP-boundary exam tests this swap is checked against). The redux packages leave in the next layer.

What changed

• package.json requires ^5.0.0; the lock change is that entry plus the v4 dependencies it no longer pulls in.
• src/generic/special-exams/SpecialExamsProvider.tsx fills the library's provider from learning's getConfig() values, authenticated HTTP client, logError and signed-in user. It is mounted where the library is used: around SequenceExamWrapper in Sequence and around OuterExamTimer in TabWithTimer.
• src/store.ts, the store prop on AppProvider and the tests' initializeStore() (15 test files) are removed.
• useExamAccess is three lines of TypeScript over the library's useIsExam and useExamAccessToken; its test is rewritten.
• The submitted-timed-exam plugin slot moves here from the library as src/plugin-slots/SubmittedTimedExamInstructionsSlot/, same slot id, passed to SequenceExamWrapper as submittedTimedExamInstructions; README and screenshots come with it.
• Tests use the library's backend mock from @edx/frontend-lib-special-exams/testing; learning's copy (src/tests/mockSpecialExams.ts, its test, specialExamsFactories.ts) is deleted, and the Jest mapper for the package is anchored so the subpath resolves.
• Sequence.specialExams.test.tsx takes the adaptations v5's timing needs (listed in the decision log) and asserts exactly one submit on expiry, which v5's listener fix makes possible.
• LearnerToolsSlot's README and comment no longer point plugins at the Redux store, which this layer makes unreachable.

Plugins — breaking

What stops working. AppProvider is no longer given a redux store, so it renders no react-redux Provider. A plugin that calls useSelector or useDispatch now throws (react-redux cannot find its context). The only state left in that store was the library's specialExams slice; course data has been read through React Query hooks for several layers, and plugin overrides moved to @src/generic/plugin-overrides already.

Who is affected. Plugins that read state.specialExams or dispatch to the store. Plugins that use the hooks and context the earlier layers introduced are unaffected.

What to use instead. Course data comes from the query hooks; overrides from usePluginOverrides() (see src/generic/plugin-overrides/README.md). For the one exam value a plugin was given, nothing changes in its configuration: the submitted-timed-exam slot keeps its id, org.openedx.frontend.special_exams.submitted_timed_exam_instructions.v1, and still passes timeIsOver to the plugin; it is now rendered by learning instead of the library. Its README moved to src/plugin-slots/SubmittedTimedExamInstructionsSlot/README.md, and the example that read the course id from the store now uses useParams().

Testing

• npm run lint and npm run types clean; npm test: 124 suites, 1,279 tests; npm run build compiles with webpack's two usual asset-size warnings.
• Sequence.specialExams.test.tsx (79 cases at the HTTP boundary, from test: cover the special-exams learner flows at the HTTP boundary #2164) passes against v5.
• The new slot test drives a real DIRECT_PLUGIN through Sequence → SequenceExamWrapper → the library → learning's slot: submitted on request, submitted by the timer, and with the default kept.
• CourseLicense.test.tsx (new) covers the license strings Studio produces; it was the app's largest untested file, rendered beside SequenceExamWrapper, and brings project coverage back above the base after this layer's deletions (decision 10).
• Manual smoke test against tutor local on 5.0.0: all six checks passed (doc below).

Manual testing

Manual testing — smoke test of v5 in learning (#2168)

A short in-browser pass over #2168 (learning on
@edx/frontend-lib-special-exams 5.0.0) against tutor local. The
HTTP-boundary tests already cover the exam states; this only checks what they
can't: the real app wiring (learning's SpecialExamsProvider in Sequence
and TabWithTimer, no redux store, the slot rendered by learning) against
the real LMS, with the dev server resolving the installed package.

Setup

• Learning on bsmith/special-exams-v5, npm ci, then npm run dev.
  Move module.config.js aside first: with it present the dev server
  aliases the library to the sibling checkout's source instead of the
  installed package.
• The timed DemoX subsection and learner from the baseline's setup
  (manual-testing-2018.md, Setup steps 1–4); give it a fresh short time
  limit or a new learner if the old attempt is already submitted.
• Devtools Console open throughout; Network filtered to
  proctoring|attempt.

Checks

• 1. Non-exam unit. Open any non-exam DemoX unit as the learner →
  it renders; no console errors (in particular nothing from react-redux or
  "SpecialExamsProvider is required").
• 2. Course-home tab, no attempt. Open Progress or Dates → the page
  renders with no exam timer and no console errors.
• 3. Timed exam start. Open the timed subsection → entrance page;
  start it → the unit renders with the timer above it.
• 4. Outer timer. With the attempt running, open Progress → the exam
  timer shows there too.
• 5. Submit. Back in the exam: End My Exam → "Yes, submit my timed
  exam." → "You have submitted your timed exam." (the default heading, now
  rendered through learning's slot).
• 6. Staff. Open the timed subsection as staff → the unit renders
  with no exam instructions or timer.

Results

2026-10-14: all six checks passed, run against tutor local with the dev server
resolving the installed 5.0.0 package.

Decisions

Every choice in this layer, as built, with the reasons:

Full decision log

Decisions — adopt @edx/frontend-lib-special-exams v5 (#2018)

Layer 2 of the #2018 stack on master, above the HTTP-boundary tests
(#2163). Replaces the library with v5 (openedx/frontend-lib-special-exams#176,
published as 5.0.0); the redux packages leave in the layer above. The
shape was settled in plan-2018.md ("Learning side", "Sequencing"); the
entries below record it as built and what building it
decided (2026-10-09).

1. v5 comes from the published @edx/frontend-lib-special-exams 5.0.0
   (^5.0.0). The lock change is that entry plus the v4 dependencies it no
   longer pulls in (frontend-plugin-framework's tree among them): a targeted
   update from layer 1's lock with node_modules deleted first, not a
   regeneration, which the teardown layer does.
2. Learning's SpecialExamsProvider fills the library's provider
   (src/generic/special-exams/SpecialExamsProvider.tsx; it imports the
   library's as LibrarySpecialExamsProvider): getConfig() mapped to the
   camelCase config (getSpecialExamsConfig, also used by the test
   setup's backend mock), getAuthenticatedHttpClient(), frontend-platform's
   logError, and isAuthenticated from AppContext's
   authenticatedUser. It shares the library's name because it sits in the
   tree like learning's other XProviders and, inside learning, is the
   special exams provider. No useMemo on config (review 2026-10-09): it
   re-renders only when AppContext changes (sign-in, config, locale, the
   Paragon theme loading at startup), where a fresh config costs a
   re-render of the library's components and no refetch or effect, and
   reading getConfig() on each render follows a runtime CONFIG_CHANGED,
   which a [] memo would have missed.
   Mounted where the library is used, not at the app root (review
   2026-10-09): around SequenceExamWrapper in Sequence (whose children
   hold the unit, so useExamAccess is covered; the unit renders nowhere
   else in Sequence) and around OuterExamTimer in TabWithTimer. The two
   are on disjoint routes, so no page mounts it twice; the query cache
   belongs to the root QueryClient either way. This follows the Convert Learning to frontend-base #1905
   tabs-as-apps shape, where each app mounts what it needs, and keeps
   index.jsx and the seven tests that build their own AppProvider tree
   to the store removal alone. SequenceContent.test and Unit/index.test
   render a piece of Sequence's tree without Sequence, so they mount
   the provider in their render helpers.
3. The store is gone. src/store.ts, AppProvider's store prop and the
   test render's store option go; 15 test files drop their
   initializeStore() (and Sequence.specialExams.test.tsx the {} left
   where { store: initializeStore() } was; review 2026-10-15). With no
   store AppProvider renders no react-redux Provider, so a plugin calling
   useSelector or useDispatch now throws: the commit carries the !. The
   only in-repo state left in redux was the library's specialExams slice;
   the plugin store had already moved to @src/generic/plugin-overrides.
   LearnerToolsSlot's README and comment told plugins to query the Redux
   store; they say backend APIs and config instead (review 2026-10-15: this
   is the layer where the store stops being reachable, so the rewording moves
   down from chore: remove redux from package.json, update comments #2180, which only removes the packages; naming the query hooks
   in that README was considered and decided against while doing chore: remove redux from package.json, update comments #2180).
4. The backend mock comes from the library. src/tests/mockSpecialExams.ts,
   its test and src/tests/specialExamsFactories.ts are deleted;
   mockCourseRequests calls mockSpecialExams from
   @edx/frontend-lib-special-exams/testing with getSpecialExamsConfig(),
   and the exam test imports ExamScenario from there (lib decision 0b.5). The
   library's mock is learning's moved, so the scenarios and recorded requests
   are unchanged. Jest's mapper for the package is anchored
   ('^@edx/frontend-lib-special-exams$'): unanchored it also matched the
   /testing subpath and resolved it to the package root (lib decision 0b.7).
5. useExamAccess collapses to the two remaining hooks and is TypeScript,
   having been rewritten: { blockAccess: isExam && isPending, accessToken }.
   It no longer takes the unit id: Unit is keyed by unit id, so each unit
   mounts its own token query and refetches as staleTime: 0 (D3), which is
   today's fetch on every unit change, and the library's isPending covers
   that refetch, so each unit waits for its own token as in v4 (settled in
   review, lib decision 3.7). The test is rewritten around the two mocked
   hooks: not an exam, pending, token arrived, exam with no token
   needed. Errors are logged by the library now, not here.
6. Learning owns the submitted-timed-exam slot.
   src/plugin-slots/SubmittedTimedExamInstructionsSlot/ is the library's old
   slot component without useSelector: timeIsOver arrives as the prop
   SequenceExamWrapper passes its submittedTimedExamInstructions
   component, the slot id is unchanged
   (org.openedx.frontend.special_exams.submitted_timed_exam_instructions.v1),
   and the default heading keeps the library's message ids so the existing
   translations apply. The README and its three screenshots come from the
   library's history; the "Course Outline button" example read the course id
   from the redux store, which no longer exists, and now uses
   useParams(). The slot is listed in src/plugin-slots/README.md.
7. Slot host test (index.test.tsx, plan-2018): FPF unmocked, a
   DIRECT_PLUGIN configured for the slot id that prints the timeIsOver it
   received, and learning's Sequence rendered with the library's backend
   mock, so the path is Sequence → SequenceExamWrapper →
   SubmittedInstructions → this slot → FPF → plugin. Cases: submitted on
   request (plugin shown, default absent, timeIsOver: false), submitted by
   the timer (timeIsOver: true), and keepDefault: true (plugin beside the
   default heading). The fake timers are drained and the clock restored in
   afterEach, as Sequence.specialExams.test.tsx does, so a timed-out
   findByText cannot leave the next case on fake timers (review 2026-10-15;
   the first cut did both at the end of the timer case).
8. The exam tests take the five adaptations recorded in plan-2018
   ("Exam test adaptations found by running Sequence.specialExams.test.tsx
   against the v5 queries"): a non-exam sequence asks for the latest attempt
   and never the exam; the different-sequence timer is awaited; the
   masquerade unit is awaited behind its token; the probe reply is awaited
   before the fake timeout; and fake timers are drained before the clock swap.
   One assertion tightens: "when time runs out › submits the exam itself"
   expected one submit per timer mounted earlier in the file because v4 never
   removed its TIMER_LIMIT_REACHED listener; v5 does (lib decision 2.5), so
   it now expects exactly ['submit'].
9. Verification (on 5.0.0, with entry 10's test): lint and types
   clean; 124 suites, 1,279 tests pass; npm run build compiles with
   webpack's two usual asset-size warnings.
10. CourseLicense gains a test (CourseLicense.test.tsx; review
    2026-10-09). The layer deletes 121 fully covered lines (learning's copy of
    the backend mock and its factories, the old useExamAccess, store.ts)
    and adds none uncovered, so the same 246 misses became a larger share and
    Codecov's project check, at a 0% threshold, failed (95.85% → 95.76%).
    CourseLicense, which Sequence renders beside SequenceExamWrapper in
    the block this layer edits, had no test and the most uncovered lines in
    the app (23). Five cases cover the license strings Studio produces: none
    (the default prop), all rights reserved, Creative Commons with terms and a
    version, terms without a version (4.0 by default), and no terms (CC0 1.0).
    One line stays uncovered, parseLicense's !license fallback:
    Sequence, the only caller, passes license || undefined, so a missing
    license always arrives through the default prop.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 96.16%. Comparing base (9c7d31d) to head (a644272).

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##           master    #2168      +/-   ##
==========================================
+ Coverage   95.85%   96.16%   +0.31%     
==========================================
  Files         373      373              
  Lines        6146     6025     -121     
  Branches     1516     1484      -32     
==========================================
- Hits         5891     5794      -97     
+ Misses        246      222      -24     
  Partials        9        9              

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[arbrandes]

Pre-approved with two nits inline, plus:

src/plugin-slots/LearnerToolsSlot/README.md:23 (and the comment at index.jsx:31) still tells plugins to query the Redux store, which this PR removes. Worth pointing at the query hooks or backend APIs instead.

[arbrandes]

Nit: move the drain and jest.useRealTimers() into an afterEach, as Sequence.specialExams.test.tsx does. If the findByText times out, line 120 never runs and the next case runs under fake timers.

[arbrandes]

Nit: the {} can go; the other call sites just omit the options.

[brian-smith-tcril]

Addressed all comments in https://github.com/openedx/frontend-app-learning/compare/ff87a2a68d00858d422b578c10e7eb83af65ade7..a64427223b1bec45bf693a652e06e00c2d0a3a4e

src/plugin-slots/LearnerToolsSlot/README.md:23 (and the comment at index.jsx:31) still tells plugins to query the Redux store, which this PR removes.

Good catch, addressed by moving the comment change from the layer above this down to this layer.