Decide & stage removal of waffle flag: `enableCourseOptimizerCheckPrevRunLinks`

[farhan]

• Flag name: enableCourseOptimizerCheckPrevRunLinks
• Flag details: Gates the "previous run links" sub-feature of the Course Optimizer — detects and updates internal links pointing to a previous course run after a rerun. Rendered inside the optimizer page, so it pairs naturally with enableCourseOptimizer (Decide & stage removal of waffle flag: enableCourseOptimizer #3112).
• Removal date: It has been passed (2026-02-25).
• Current status: Currently disabled by default; can be enabled via the waffle flag contentstore.enable_course_optimizer_check_prev_run_links.

Note: Since this feature is rendered within the Course Optimizer page, it's advisable to coordinate removal of this flag alongside enableCourseOptimizer (#3112).

Feature Details

This flag controls a sub-feature of Course Optimizer: it gates the Previous Run Links section, which detects and replaces internal links that still point to a previous course run after a rerun.

Since enableCourseOptimizerCheckPrevRunLinks lives inside the Course Optimizer page, it has no effect unless enableCourseOptimizer is also on.

What to do in this ticket

1. Involve stakeholders / product owners to discuss and decide on the future of this flag.
2. If we decide to enable it by default:
   1. Enable it by default in openedx-platform.
   2. Roll it out and gather feedback from the community.
   3. As a follow-up step, remove the waffle flag controlling this feature — provided we confirm it should remain an out-of-the-box feature.

References

• Original feature PR: feat: Enhance Course Optimizer Page with Previous Run Links and Improved UI #2356
• Flag PR: feat: Enhance course optimizer to detect previous run links and expand scanning scope openedx-platform#37104

/cc @pganesh-apphelix @djoseph-apphelix @Faraz32123 — what are your thoughts on the removal of this flag?

[farhan]

I did a quick (shallow) end-to-end test of the feature. Here are my testing notes:

Testing Steps

1. Enable both waffle flags

Since enableCourseOptimizerCheckPrevRunLinks is a sub-feature of Course Optimizer, both flags must be enabled:

• contentstore.enable_course_optimizer — enables the Course Optimizer page itself
• contentstore.enable_course_optimizer_check_prev_run_links — enables the Previous Run Links section within it

Set both to Yes for everyone in the waffle-flags table:

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2. Navigate to the feature (Studio course page → Tools → Course Optimizer)

Same entry point as the parent feature. See #3112 for navigation screenshots.

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3. Scan the course

With only enable_course_optimizer on (sub-flag off), the page shows only the Broken Links section. Enabling the sub-flag reveals the Previous Run Links section below it:

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4. Feature page (both sections)

Full view of the Course Optimizer with both Broken Links and Previous Run Links sections populated after a scan:

[farhan]

FYI @feanil — testing notes and references (@claude assisted) have been added. This is ready to forward to the product wg for feature decision.

My experience summary:
This feature looks like a good candidate to enable by default to me.