feat!: use provides for chromeless shell mode

Apps can now request chromeless mode (no header or footer) by
listing their route roles under providesChromelessRolesId in
their `provides` config. The shell checks these against active
roles at render time.

A new getProvidesAsStrings() runtime helper is added beside
getProvides(). The shell now exports providesChromelessRolesId
and providesCourseNavigationRolesId for use by consuming apps.

BREAKING CHANGE: The course navigation bar's provides data shape
is simplified from { courseNavigationRoles: string[] } to a
plain string[]. getProvidesAsRoles() is replaced by
getProvidesAsStrings() and moved from the shell into the runtime.

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: arbrandes

…0013-app-provides-for-inter-app-data.rst …provides-for-inter-app-configuration.rstdocs/decisions/0013-app-provides-for-inter-app-data.rst renamed to docs/decisions/0013-app-provides-for-inter-app-configuration.rst docs/decisions/0013-app-provides-for-inter-app-data.rst renamed to docs/decisions/0013-app-provides-for-inter-app-configuration.rst

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-App ``provides`` for Inter-App Data
-####################################
+App ``provides`` for Inter-App Configuration
+############################################
 
 Status
 ======
@@ -11,15 +11,15 @@ Context
 =======
 
 frontend-base applications currently communicate through two structured
-mechanisms: ``routes`` and ``slots``.  Both are defined in the ``App`` interface
-and consumed directly by frontend-base's runtime.
+mechanisms: ``routes``, ``slots``, and ``providers``.  All are defined in the
+``App`` interface and consumed directly by frontend-base's runtime.
 
-As the platform evolves, however, situations arise where apps need to share data
-with each other that frontend-base itself has no reason to understand.  A
-concrete example is the course navigation bar introduced in the header app.
-The header needs to know two things from other apps:
+As the platform evolves, however, situations arise where apps need to share
+configuration data with each other that frontend-base itself has no reason to
+understand.  A concrete example is the course navigation bar introduced in the
+header app. The header needs to know two things from other apps:
 
-1. Which apps want the course navigation bar to appear (currently a hardcoded
+1. Which apps want the course navigation bar to appear (previously a hardcoded
    list of roles in ``constants.ts``).
 
 2. Which URL patterns each app handles client-side, so the navigation bar can
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ runtime needs to interpret them directly.  It builds a router from ``routes``
 and renders widgets from ``slots``.  Any new field that frontend-base itself
 must consume deserves the same treatment: a dedicated, typed field.
 
-But for data that flows between apps - where frontend-base is just the conduit -
-a generic mechanism is more appropriate.
+But for generic configuration between apps - where frontend-base is just the
+conduit - a generic mechanism is more appropriate.
 
 
 Decision
@@ -55,25 +55,23 @@ Add an optional ``provides`` field to the ``App`` interface::
       provides?: Record<string, unknown>,
     }
 
-``provides`` is a flat key-value map where each key is an identifier agreed
-upon by the providing and consuming apps, and the value is whatever the
-consumer expects.  frontend-base stores this data and exposes it through a
-runtime function, but does not interpret it.  Any namespaced identifier can
-serve as a key.
+``provides`` is a flat key-value map where each key is a namespaced identifier
+agreed upon by the providing and consuming apps, and the value takes whatever
+shape the consuming app expects.  The runtime stores this data and exposes it
+through a runtime function, but does not interpret it.
 
 A runtime helper would look something like::
 
-    // Returns all `provides` entries matching the given key.
-    function getProvidedData(key: string): unknown[]
+    // Returns all `provides` entries matching the given identifier.
+    function getProvides(id: string): unknown[]
 
 
 Guidelines
 ==========
 
-1. ``provides`` is for inter-app data that frontend-base does not need to
-   interpret.  If frontend-base's runtime must consume the data to function
-   (as it does with routes and slots), a dedicated typed field on ``App`` is
-   the right choice.
+1. ``provides`` is for inter-app configuration that the runtime does not need
+   to interpret.  If it must consume the data to function (as it does with
+   routes and slots), a dedicated typed field on ``App`` is the right choice.
 
 2. Keys in ``provides`` should be their own namespaced identifiers, not
    duplicates of existing app, slot, or widget IDs.  This allows different
@@ -84,8 +82,8 @@ Guidelines
    consuming apps.  It is not enforced by frontend-base.  Consuming apps should
    validate or type-guard the data they receive.
 
-4. ``provides`` should not be used as a back door to modify frontend-base's
-   behavior.  It is not a configuration mechanism for the runtime.
+4. ``provides`` should not be used as a back door to modify the runtime's
+   behavior.  It is not a configuration mechanism for the runtime itself.
 
 
 Consequences
@@ -107,28 +105,29 @@ Course navigation bar example
 As a concrete illustration, the Instructor Dashboard app could declare::
 
     const config: App = {
-      appId: 'org.openedx.frontend.app.instructor',
+      appId: 'org.openedx.frontend.app.instructorDashboard',
       provides: {
-        'org.openedx.frontend.provides.courseNavigationRoles.v1': {
-          courseNavigationRoles: ['org.openedx.frontend.role.instructor'],
-        },
+        'org.openedx.frontend.provides.courseNavigationRoles.v1': [
+          'org.openedx.frontend.role.instructorDashboard',
+        ],
       },
       routes: [...],
       slots: [...],
     };
 
 The header's course navigation bar widget collects ``provides`` entries keyed
-to its provides identifier from all registered apps.  From the provided roles
-it determines both when to render the navigation bar (by checking
-``getActiveRoles()``) and which tab URLs can be navigated client-side (by
-resolving roles to route paths via ``getUrlByRouteRole()``).
+to the course navigation roles identifier from all registered apps.  It expects
+the provided values to be role identifiers, from which it determines both when
+to render the navigation bar (by checking ``getActiveRoles()``) and which tab
+URLs can be navigated client-side (by resolving roles to route paths via
+``getUrlByRouteRole()``).
 
 
 Rejected alternatives
 =====================
 
-Slot operations
----------------
+Widget operations
+-----------------
 
 Each app could register its own widget into the course navigation bar slot
 with an ``active`` condition on its role.  The ``OPTIONS`` operation can even
@@ -157,3 +156,15 @@ with no standard way to discover them.  Providers are the right tool when data
 changes over time and consumers need to re-render.  The course navigation roles
 are fixed at registration time and never change, making ``provides`` a more
 natural fit.
+
+Reusing ``App.config``
+----------------------
+
+The existing ``App.config`` field has the same type (``Record<string, unknown>``)
+and could theoretically hold provided data.  However, ``config`` is per-app: it
+is retrieved by ``appId`` via ``getAppConfig()`` and is meant to hold settings
+*for* that app.  ``provides`` has a cross-app access pattern:
+``getProvides()`` collects entries from all apps that declared data under a
+given identifier.  Merging the two would require scanning every app's config
+for a specific key, blurring the distinction between settings an app consumes
+and data it exposes for others.

runtime/config/index.test.ts

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import * as subscriptions from '../subscriptions';
 import {
   addAppConfigs,
   getAppConfig,
-  getProvidedData,
+  getProvides,
   getSiteConfig,
   mergeSiteConfig,
   setSiteConfig,
@@ -352,10 +352,10 @@ describe('mergeSiteConfig', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  describe('getProvidedData', () => {
+  describe('getProvides', () => {
     it('should return empty array when no apps exist', () => {
       setSiteConfig({ ...defaultSiteConfig, apps: [] });
-      expect(getProvidedData('org.openedx.frontend.provides.testKey.v1')).toEqual([]);
+      expect(getProvides('org.openedx.frontend.provides.testProvidesId.v1')).toEqual([]);
     });
 
     it('should return empty array when no apps provide data for the consumer', () => {
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ describe('mergeSiteConfig', () => {
           { appId: 'app-two' },
         ],
       });
-      expect(getProvidedData('org.openedx.frontend.provides.testKey.v1')).toEqual([]);
+      expect(getProvides('org.openedx.frontend.provides.testProvidesId.v1')).toEqual([]);
     });
 
     it('should collect provided data from apps that declare it', () => {
@@ -376,19 +376,19 @@ describe('mergeSiteConfig', () => {
           {
             appId: 'app-one',
             provides: {
-              'org.openedx.frontend.provides.testKey.v1': { urlPattern: '/one/' },
+              'org.openedx.frontend.provides.testProvidesId.v1': { urlPattern: '/one/' },
             },
           },
           {
             appId: 'app-two',
             provides: {
-              'org.openedx.frontend.provides.testKey.v1': { urlPattern: '/two/' },
+              'org.openedx.frontend.provides.testProvidesId.v1': { urlPattern: '/two/' },
             },
           },
         ],
       });
 
-      const result = getProvidedData('org.openedx.frontend.provides.testKey.v1');
+      const result = getProvides('org.openedx.frontend.provides.testProvidesId.v1');
       expect(result).toEqual([
         { urlPattern: '/one/' },
         { urlPattern: '/two/' },
@@ -402,17 +402,17 @@ describe('mergeSiteConfig', () => {
           {
             appId: 'app-one',
             provides: {
-              'org.openedx.frontend.provides.testKey.v1': { urlPattern: '/one/' },
-              'org.openedx.frontend.provides.otherKey.v1': { showBranding: true },
+              'org.openedx.frontend.provides.testProvidesId.v1': { urlPattern: '/one/' },
+              'org.openedx.frontend.provides.otherProvidesId.v1': { showBranding: true },
             },
           },
         ],
       });
 
-      const headerData = getProvidedData('org.openedx.frontend.provides.testKey.v1');
+      const headerData = getProvides('org.openedx.frontend.provides.testProvidesId.v1');
       expect(headerData).toEqual([{ urlPattern: '/one/' }]);
 
-      const footerData = getProvidedData('org.openedx.frontend.provides.otherKey.v1');
+      const footerData = getProvides('org.openedx.frontend.provides.otherProvidesId.v1');
       expect(footerData).toEqual([{ showBranding: true }]);
     });
 
@@ -424,14 +424,14 @@ describe('mergeSiteConfig', () => {
           {
             appId: 'app-two',
             provides: {
-              'org.openedx.frontend.provides.testKey.v1': { urlPattern: '/two/' },
+              'org.openedx.frontend.provides.testProvidesId.v1': { urlPattern: '/two/' },
             },
           },
           { appId: 'app-three', config: { VALUE: 'test' } },
         ],
       });
 
-      const result = getProvidedData('org.openedx.frontend.provides.testKey.v1');
+      const result = getProvides('org.openedx.frontend.provides.testProvidesId.v1');
       expect(result).toEqual([{ urlPattern: '/two/' }]);
     });
   });

runtime/config/index.ts

@@ -325,25 +325,39 @@ export function getActiveRoles() {
 }
 
 /**
- * Collects all `provides` entries from registered apps that match the given key.
+ * Collects all `provides` entries from registered apps that match the given identifier.
  * This enables inter-app data sharing without frontend-base needing to understand the data shape.
  *
- * @param key - The namespaced identifier for the provided data.
- * @returns An array of provided data objects from all apps that declared data for this key.
+ * @param id - The namespaced provides identifier.
+ * @returns An array of provided data from all apps that declared data for this identifier.
  */
-export function getProvidedData(key: string): unknown[] {
+export function getProvides(id: string): unknown[] {
   const { apps } = getSiteConfig();
   if (!apps) return [];
 
   const results: unknown[] = [];
   for (const app of apps) {
-    if (app.provides && app.provides[key] !== undefined) {
-      results.push(app.provides[key]);
+    if (app.provides && app.provides[id] !== undefined) {
+      results.push(app.provides[id]);
     }
   }
   return results;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Collects and flattens all `provides` entries for the given identifier
+ * as strings.  Each entry can be a single string or a string array; entries
+ * of other types are silently skipped.
+ *
+ * @param id - The namespaced provides identifier.
+ * @returns A flat array of strings from all apps that declared data for this identifier.
+ */
+export function getProvidesAsStrings(id: string): string[] {
+  return getProvides(id)
+    .filter((data): data is string | string[] => typeof data === 'string' || Array.isArray(data))
+    .flat();
+}
+
 /**
  * Get an external link URL based on the URL provided. If the passed in URL is overridden in the
  * `externalLinkUrlOverrides` object, it will return the overridden URL. Otherwise, it will return

runtime/index.ts

@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ export {
   getActiveWidgetRoles,
   getActiveRoles,
   getExternalLinkUrl,
-  getProvidedData
+  getProvides,
+  getProvidesAsStrings
 } from './config';
 
 export * from './constants';

shell/app.ts

@@ -1,15 +1,23 @@
-import { WidgetOperationTypes } from '../runtime';
+import { getActiveRoles, getProvidesAsStrings, WidgetOperationTypes } from '../runtime';
 import { App } from '../types';
 import { Footer } from './footer';
 import { Header } from './header';
+import { providesChromelessRolesId } from './constants';
 
-const inactive = [
-  'org.openedx.frontend.role.login',
-  'org.openedx.frontend.role.register',
-  'org.openedx.frontend.role.resetPassword',
-  'org.openedx.frontend.role.confirmPassword',
-  'org.openedx.frontend.role.welcome'
-];
+/*
+ * Returns false when the current route should be chromeless (no header or
+ * footer).  Apps request chromeless mode by listing their route roles under
+ * providesChromelessRolesId in their `provides` entry, e.g.:
+ *
+ *   provides: { [providesChromelessRolesId]: ['org.openedx.frontend.role.authn'] }
+ *
+ * The widget is disabled when any of those roles is currently active.
+ */
+function isChromeVisible(): boolean {
+  const activeRoles = getActiveRoles();
+  const chromelessRoles = getProvidesAsStrings(providesChromelessRolesId);
+  return !chromelessRoles.some(role => activeRoles.includes(role));
+}
 
 const app: App = {
   appId: 'org.openedx.frontend.app.shell',
@@ -20,7 +28,7 @@ const app: App = {
       op: WidgetOperationTypes.APPEND,
       component: Header,
       condition: {
-        inactive,
+        callback: isChromeVisible,
       }
     },
     {
@@ -29,7 +37,7 @@ const app: App = {
       op: WidgetOperationTypes.APPEND,
       component: Footer,
       condition: {
-        inactive,
+        callback: isChromeVisible,
       }
     },
   ]

shell/constants.ts

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export const providesChromelessRolesId = 'org.openedx.frontend.provides.chromelessRoles.v1';

shell/header/app.tsx

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import MobileNavLinks from './mobile/MobileNavLinks';
 import messages from '../Shell.messages';
 import CourseTabsNavigation from './course-navigation-bar/CourseTabsNavigation';
 import { isCourseNavigationRoute } from './course-navigation-bar/utils';
-import { appId, courseNavigationBarSlotId, courseTabsNavigationWidgetId } from './constants';
+import { appId } from './constants';
 
 const config: App = {
   appId,
@@ -139,8 +139,8 @@ const config: App = {
       }
     },
     {
-      slotId: courseNavigationBarSlotId,
-      id: courseTabsNavigationWidgetId,
+      slotId: 'org.openedx.frontend.slot.header.courseNavigationBar.v1',
+      id: 'org.openedx.frontend.widget.header.courseNavigationBar.v1',
       op: WidgetOperationTypes.APPEND,
       component: CourseTabsNavigation,
       condition: {

shell/header/constants.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,2 @@
 export const appId = 'org.openedx.frontend.app.header';
-export const courseNavigationBarSlotId = 'org.openedx.frontend.slot.header.courseNavigationBar.v1';
-export const courseTabsNavigationWidgetId = 'org.openedx.frontend.widget.header.courseTabsNavigation.v1';
-export const courseNavigationRolesProvidesKey = 'org.openedx.frontend.provides.courseNavigationRoles.v1';
+export const providesCourseNavigationRolesId = 'org.openedx.frontend.provides.courseNavigationRoles.v1';

shell/header/course-navigation-bar/CourseTabsNavigation.tsx

@@ -13,13 +13,18 @@ interface ResolvedTab extends CourseTab {
   clientPath: string | null,
 }
 
-// Returns the tabId of the tab whose pathname is the longest prefix match
-// against the current path. Uses react-router's matchPath for segment-aware
-// matching. For example, given tabs with paths /course/ (tabId: "outline")
-// and /course/dates/ (tabId: "dates"):
-//   /course/dates/foo  -> "dates"   (longest prefix match)
-//   /course/outline    -> "outline"
-//   /courseware         -> null      (not a segment boundary)
+/*
+ * Returns the tabId of the tab whose pathname is the longest prefix match
+ * against the current path. Uses react-router's matchPath for segment-aware
+ * matching.
+ *
+ * For example, given tabs with paths /course/ (tabId: "outline")
+ * and /course/dates/ (tabId: "dates"):
+ *
+ *   /course/dates/foo  -> "dates"   (longest prefix match)
+ *   /course/outline    -> "outline"
+ *   /courseware        -> null      (not a segment boundary)
+ */
 const getActiveTabId = (currentPath: string, tabs: ResolvedTab[]): string | null => {
   let best: ResolvedTab | null = null;
   for (const tab of tabs) {