Scope Analysis: Reddit-Backed Discussion Removal

Django Apps to Remove

1. channels/ - Primary Discussion App

Purpose: Manages channels (subreddits), posts, comments, subscriptions Location: ./channels/

Key Components:

• Models (models.py, 390 lines):
  • RedditRefreshToken - OAuth tokens for Reddit
  • RedditAccessToken - Access tokens
  • Subscription - User subscriptions to posts/comments
  • Channel - Discussion channels (subreddit mirror)
  • ChannelInvitation - Invites to private channels
  • LinkMeta - Embedly thumbnails for links
  • Post - Discussion posts
  • Article - Article-type posts
  • Comment - Comments on posts
  • ChannelSubscription - Channel subscriptions
  • ChannelGroupRole - Moderator/contributor roles
  • ChannelMembershipConfig - Channel membership settings
  • SpamCheckResult - Akismet spam check results
• API (api.py, 1795 lines):
  • Reddit API integration (praw library)
  • Channel CRUD operations
  • Post CRUD operations
  • Comment CRUD operations
  • Voting functionality
  • Moderation actions
  • Subscription management
  • Role management (moderators, contributors)
• Tasks (tasks.py, 627 lines):
  • update_discussion_models - Sync from Reddit
  • update_discussion_channels - Update channel data
  • send_subscription_email - Email notifications
  • update_discussion_posts - Update post data
  • populate_post_subscription_memberships - Subscription sync
  • check_comments_for_spam - Spam checking
  • check_posts_for_spam - Spam checking
  • Multiple indexing tasks for search
• Views (views/):
  • channels.py - Channel list/detail
  • posts.py - Post list/detail
  • comments.py - Comment list/detail/more
  • contributors.py - Contributor management
  • moderators.py - Moderator management
  • subscribers.py - Subscriber management
  • invites.py - Channel invitations
  • frontpage.py - Frontpage feed
  • reports.py - Content reporting
• Serializers (serializers/):
  • channels.py - Channel serialization
  • posts.py - Post serialization
  • comments.py - Comment serialization
  • invites.py - Invitation serialization
• Utilities:
  • utils.py - Reddit slugify, markdown rendering
  • proxies.py - Proxy objects for Reddit data
  • spam.py - Akismet integration
  • backpopulate_api.py - Data backpopulation
  • membership_api.py - Membership management
• Factories (factories/):
  • reddit.py - Reddit test factories
  • models.py - Model factories for testing

2. discussions/ - Alternative Discussion Implementation

Purpose: Non-Reddit discussion implementation (newer) Location: ./discussions/

Key Components:

• Models (models.py):
  • Channel - Alternative channel model
  • Related models for non-Reddit discussions
• API (api/):
  • Alternative discussion API

Note: This appears to be a newer implementation. Verify if it’s in use before removing.

3. channels_fields/ - Discussion Field Management

Purpose: Custom field management for channels Location: ./channels_fields/

Key Components:

• Field group and role management
• Serializers for custom fields
• Permissions for field management

Frontend Components to Remove

Location: ./frontends/open-discussions/src/

1. Pages (pages/):

• ChannelAboutPage.js - Channel about page
• ChannelRouter.js - Channel routing
• PostDetailSidebar.js - Post detail sidebar
• HomePage.js - Frontpage (may need modification, not full removal)
• admin/CreateChannelPage.js - Channel creation
• admin/EditChannelBasicPage.js - Basic channel settings
• admin/EditChannelAppearancePage.js - Channel appearance
• admin/EditChannelContributorsPage.js - Contributor management
• admin/EditChannelModeratorsPage.js - Moderator management
• admin/EditChannelMembershipPage.js - Membership settings
• admin/ChannelModerationPage.js - Moderation interface

2. Components (components/):

• ChannelHeader.js - Channel header
• ChannelBanner.js - Channel banner
• ChannelAvatar.js - Channel avatar
• ChannelNavbar.js - Channel navigation
• Comment.js - Comment display
• CommentForm.js - Comment form
• CommentTree.js - Comment tree
• CommentVoteForm.js - Comment voting
• CommentReportDialog.js - Report comments
• CommentRemovalForm.js - Remove comments
• CreatePostForm.js - Create post
• EditPostForm.js - Edit post
• CompactPostDisplay.js - Compact post view
• ExpandedPostDisplay.js - Full post view
• PostList.js - Post list
• PostUpvoteButton.js - Post voting
• widgets/ChannelWidgetList.js - Channel widgets
• admin/CreateChannelForm.js - Create channel form
• admin/EditChannelBasicForm.js - Edit channel form
• admin/EditChannelAppearanceForm.js - Appearance form
• admin/EditChannelMembersForm.js - Members form
• admin/EditChannelNavbar.js - Channel admin nav

3. State Management (actions/, reducers/):

• actions/channel.js - Channel actions
• actions/post.js - Post actions
• actions/comment.js - Comment actions
• actions/posts_for_channel.js - Channel posts
• reducers/channels.js - Channel state
• reducers/posts.js - Post state
• reducers/comments.js - Comment state
• reducers/posts_for_channel.js - Channel posts state
• reducers/channel_avatar.js - Channel avatar state
• reducers/channel_contributors.js - Contributors state
• reducers/channel_invitations.js - Invitations state
• reducers/channel_subscribers.js - Subscribers state
• reducers/post_removed.js - Removed post state
• reducers/related_posts.js - Related posts state
• reducers/user_contributions.js - User posts/comments

4. API Layer (lib/api/):

• channels.js - Channel API calls
• posts.js - Post API calls
• comments.js - Comment API calls
• frontpage.js - Frontpage API
• moderation.js - Moderation API
• embedly.js - Embedly integration (for link previews)

5. Factories (factories/):

• channels.js - Channel test data
• posts.js - Post test data
• comments.js - Comment test data
• embedly.js - Embedly test data

6. Type Definitions (flow/):

• discussionTypes.js - Flow types for discussions

7. Utilities (lib/, util/):

• lib/reddit_objects.js - Reddit object utilities
• Any markdown or comment rendering utilities specific to discussions

Dependencies in Other Apps

Search App (search/)

Preserves: Podcast and course search Removes: Post and comment search

Files to Modify:

• constants.py:
  • Keep: PODCAST_TYPE, PODCAST_EPISODE_TYPE, COURSE_TYPE, PROGRAM_TYPE, etc.
  • Remove: POST_TYPE, COMMENT_TYPE imports from channels.constants
  • Remove: CONTENT_OBJECT_TYPE mapping
  • Keep: PODCAST_OBJECT_TYPE, COURSE_OBJECT_TYPE, etc.
• serializers.py:
  • Remove: OSPostSerializer, OSCommentSerializer
  • Remove: Imports from channels.models
  • Keep: OSPodcastSerializer, OSPodcastEpisodeSerializer, course serializers
• search_index_helpers.py:
  • Remove: serialize_post_for_bulk, serialize_comment_for_bulk
  • Remove: gen_post_id, gen_comment_id
  • Remove: Reddit object indexing
  • Keep: Podcast and course indexing
• api.py:
  • Remove: Channel-based search filtering
  • Keep: General search API
• tasks.py:
  • Remove: Post/comment indexing tasks
  • Keep: Podcast/course indexing tasks

Notifications App (notifications/)

Files to Modify:

• notifiers/comments.py:
  • REMOVE ENTIRE FILE - Comment notifications
  • Remove imports from channels

Mail App (mail/)

Files to Modify:

• Remove discussion-related email templates
• Remove subscription email logic
• Keep: General notification emails

Profiles App (profiles/)

Files to Modify:

• views.py:
  • Remove: Post and comment display in profiles
  • Remove imports from channels.models
  • Keep: User profile display
• api.py:
  • Remove: Channel role queries
  • Keep: General profile API

URL Patterns to Remove

Django URLs (open_discussions/urls.py, channels/urls.py):

# Remove these patterns:
- r"^c/(?P<channel_name>...)" - All channel routes
- r"^manage/c/..." - Channel management routes
- r"^create_post/" - Post creation
- r"^channel/" - Channel redirect
- All patterns in channels.urls
- All patterns in channels_fields.urls

Frontend Routes (Router.js, App.js):

// Remove routes for:
- /c/:channel_name - Channel pages
- /c/:channel_name/:post_id/:slug - Post detail
- /create_post - Post creation
- /manage/c/... - Channel management

Database Tables to Remove

From channels app:

• channels_redditrefreshtoken
• channels_redditaccesstoken
• channels_subscription
• channels_channel
• channels_channelinvitation
• channels_linkmeta
• channels_post
• channels_article
• channels_comment
• channels_channelsubscription
• channels_channelgrouprole
• channels_channelmembershipconfig
• channels_spamcheckresult

From discussions app:

• Verify current usage before listing

From channels_fields app:

• All custom field tables

Configuration to Remove

Environment Variables (.env, settings):

• OPEN_DISCUSSIONS_REDDIT_URL - Reddit instance URL
• OPEN_DISCUSSIONS_REDDIT_CLIENT_ID - Reddit OAuth client
• OPEN_DISCUSSIONS_REDDIT_SECRET - Reddit OAuth secret
• AKISMET_API_KEY - Spam checking (if only used for discussions)
• AKISMET_BLOG_URL - Spam checking

Django Settings (open_discussions/settings.py):

• Remove from INSTALLED_APPS:
  • 'channels'
  • 'channels_fields'
  • 'discussions' (verify usage first)
• Remove middleware:
  • 'open_discussions.middleware.channel_api.ChannelApiMiddleware'
• Remove Celery beat schedules:
  • Discussion update tasks
  • Spam check tasks
  • Subscription email tasks

Python Dependencies (pyproject.toml, poetry.lock):

• praw - Reddit API wrapper
• prawcore - Reddit API core
• akismet - Spam detection (if only used for discussions)
• base36 - Reddit ID encoding

External Service Dependencies to Remove

1. Reddit Instance - No longer needed
2. Akismet - If only used for discussion spam
3. Embedly - If only used for post link previews (verify usage in other areas)

Search Index Cleanup

OpenSearch/Elasticsearch:

• Remove indices or documents for:
  • POST_TYPE documents
  • COMMENT_TYPE documents
• Keep indices for:
  • PODCAST_TYPE
  • PODCAST_EPISODE_TYPE
  • COURSE_TYPE
  • PROGRAM_TYPE
  • VIDEO_TYPE
  • PROFILE_TYPE
  • User lists

Testing Artifacts to Remove

• All test files in channels/ app
• All test files in discussions/ app
• All test files in channels_fields/ app
• Frontend test files for removed components
• Cassettes (betamax recordings) for Reddit API calls

Files Count Summary

Backend (Python):

• channels/ app: ~50 files
• discussions/ app: ~10 files
• channels_fields/ app: ~15 files
• Modifications in other apps: ~20 files

Frontend (JavaScript/TypeScript):

• Components: ~40 files
• Pages: ~15 files
• Actions/Reducers: ~20 files
• API layer: ~8 files
• Factories/Tests: ~30 files

Total Estimated Files: ~200+ files to remove or modify

Next Steps

Proceed to 02-frontend-removal.md for detailed frontend removal instructions.