feat: add view permissions for advanced settings, certificates, group configurations, and library updates

[wgu-taylor-payne]

Description

Add four new read-only view permissions for the Advanced Settings, Certificates, Group Configurations, and Library Updates pages:

• courses.view_advanced_settings — allows viewing advanced settings without edit access
• courses.view_certificates — allows viewing certificates without edit access
• courses.view_group_configurations — allows viewing group configurations without edit access
• courses.view_library_updates — allows viewing library updates without edit access

All four permissions are granted to all four course roles (Admin, Staff, Editor, Auditor). Previously, users without the corresponding manage_* permissions were completely blocked from even viewing these pages. The intended behavior (per #283) is read-only access for all course roles, with only Admin/Staff retaining write access (Editor also retains manage_group_configurations and manage_library_updates).

Changes

• constants/permissions.py — Added COURSES_VIEW_ADVANCED_SETTINGS, COURSES_VIEW_CERTIFICATES, COURSES_VIEW_GROUP_CONFIGURATIONS, and COURSES_VIEW_LIBRARY_UPDATES permission constants
• constants/roles.py — Added all four view permissions to all four course role permission lists
• engine/config/authz.policy — Added 16 Casbin policy rules (4 permissions × 4 roles)
• docs/concepts/core_roles_and_permissions/course_roles.rst — Updated permission descriptions and matrix table
• Tests — Added test coverage verifying view/manage permission split (editor/auditor get view but not manage where applicable)
• Version bump — 1.22.0 → 1.23.0 (minor: new backwards-compatible functionality)

Manual testing

1. Assign a user the course_editor or course_auditor role on a course
2. Verify is_user_allowed(user, 'courses.view_advanced_settings', course_scope) returns True
3. Verify is_user_allowed(user, 'courses.manage_advanced_settings', course_scope) returns False
4. Same pattern for view_certificates / manage_certificates
5. For view_group_configurations: auditor gets view=True, manage=False; editor gets both=True
6. For view_library_updates: auditor gets view=True, manage=False; editor gets both=True
7. Repeat with course_staff and course_admin roles (should have all permissions)

Merge checklist:

• Version bumped
• Changelog record added
• Documentation updated (not only docstrings)
• Fixup commits are squashed away
• Unit tests added/updated
• Manual testing instructions provided
• Noted any: Concerns, dependencies, migration issues, deadlines, tickets

Notes: This is purely additive — no migrations needed, no breaking changes. Users who previously had manage_* implicitly also get view_* since their roles receive both. Downstream enforcement changes in openedx-platform depend on this PR being merged and released first.

Related to #328, #329, #386, and #387.

AI Usage

Kiro was used in implementing this PR. I guided the process by defining the scope, confirming the approach (single PR, view/manage split pattern), and reviewing each step — Kiro researched the codebase, planned the implementation, generated the permission constants/roles/policies/docs, and ran the full test suite iteratively until all 1301 tests passed. I reviewed the generated code and tests, trimmed redundant test cases after discussing what was already covered by other test layers, and verified the changes end-to-end in a local Tutor environment by assigning users to all four course roles and confirming the correct allow/deny behavior.

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[BryanttV]

Hi @wgu-taylor-payne, thanks for this! Could we also include this new permission in the PR? #386

[wgu-taylor-payne]

Hi @wgu-taylor-payne, thanks for this! Could we also include this new permission in the PR? #386

@BryanttV I've added that permission. Thanks.

[BryanttV]

I tested this on my local, and it works as expected! All 4 course roles have the 4 new permissions. Thanks!