feat: Improves meilisearch configuration step

openedx/core/djangoapps/content/search/apps.py

@@ -10,7 +10,13 @@ class ContentSearchConfig(AppConfig):
 
     default_auto_field = "django.db.models.BigAutoField"
     name = "openedx.core.djangoapps.content.search"
+    label = "search"
 
     def ready(self):
         # Connect signal handlers
+        # Connect post_migrate for Meilisearch index reconciliation.
+        # No sender= argument here; the handler filters by sender.label internally.
+        from django.db.models.signals import post_migrate  # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
+
         from . import handlers  # pylint: disable=unused-import  # noqa: F401
+        post_migrate.connect(handlers.handle_post_migrate)

openedx/core/djangoapps/content/search/handlers.py

@@ -47,7 +47,9 @@
 from xmodule.modulestore.django import SignalHandler
 
 from .api import (
+    is_meilisearch_enabled,
     only_if_meilisearch_enabled,
+    reconcile_index,
     upsert_content_object_tags_index_doc,
     upsert_item_collections_index_docs,
     upsert_item_containers_index_docs,
@@ -68,6 +70,37 @@
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+def handle_post_migrate(sender, **kwargs):
+    """
+    Reconcile Meilisearch index state after Django migrations run.
+
+    Filters on sender.label to only execute for the search app's post_migrate signal.
+    Tolerant of Meilisearch unavailability — logs a warning and continues.
+    """
+    from .apps import ContentSearchConfig  # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
+
+    if sender.label != ContentSearchConfig.label:
+        return
+
+    if not is_meilisearch_enabled():
+        return
+
+    try:
+        reconcile_index(status_cb=log.info, warn_cb=log.warning)
+    except ConnectionError as exc:
+        log.warning(
+            "Meilisearch reconciliation skipped during post_migrate: %s. "
+            "Will retry on next migrate run.",
+            exc,
+        )
+    except Exception as exc:  # pylint: disable=broad-except
+        log.warning(
+            "Meilisearch reconciliation failed during post_migrate: %s. "
+            "Will retry on next migrate run.",
+            exc,
+        )
+
+
 # Using post_delete here because there is no COURSE_DELETED event defined.
 @receiver(post_delete, sender=CourseOverview)
 def delete_course_search_access(sender, instance, **kwargs):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument

openedx/core/djangoapps/content/search/index_config.py

@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 """Configuration for the search index."""
 from .documents import Fields
 
+# The Meilisearch primary key for all documents in the index.
+INDEX_PRIMARY_KEY = Fields.id
+
 INDEX_DISTINCT_ATTRIBUTE = "usage_key"
 
 # Mark which attributes can be used for filtering/faceted search:

openedx/core/djangoapps/content/search/management/commands/reindex_studio.py

@@ -1,43 +1,100 @@
 """
-Command to build or re-build the search index for courses (in Studio, i.e. Draft
-mode), in Meilisearch.
+Command to queue incremental population of the Studio Meilisearch search index.
+
+Index creation, configuration, and schema reconciliation are handled
+automatically via the post_migrate signal. This command is solely
+responsible for enqueuing the population task in Celery.
 
 See also cms/djangoapps/contentstore/management/commands/reindex_course.py which
 indexes LMS (published) courses in ElasticSearch.
 """
+
+import logging
+
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.management import BaseCommand, CommandError
 
 from ... import api
+from ...tasks import rebuild_index_incremental
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """
-    Build or re-build the Meilisearch search index for courses and libraries in Studio.
+    Add all course and library content to the Studio search index.
+
+    This enqueues a Celery task that incrementally indexes all courses and
+    libraries. Progress is tracked via IncrementalIndexCompleted, so the task
+    can safely resume if interrupted.
+
+    Index creation and configuration are handled by post_migrate reconciliation
+    (runs automatically on ./manage.py cms migrate).
 
-    This is separate from LMS search features like courseware search or forum search.
+    If it's ever necessary to reset the incremental indexing state (force
+    the full re-index process to start from the beginning), use:
+
+    ./manage.py cms shell -c 'IncrementalIndexCompleted.objects.all().delete()'
+
+    This will delete all the IncrementalIndexCompleted records and will help in restarting the index population.
     """
 
-    # TODO: improve this - see https://github.com/openedx/edx-platform/issues/36868
+    help = "Add all course and library content to the Studio search index."
 
     def add_arguments(self, parser):
-        parser.add_argument("--experimental", action="store_true")  # kept for compatibility but ignored.
-        parser.add_argument("--reset", action="store_true")
-        parser.add_argument("--init", action="store_true")
-        parser.add_argument("--incremental", action="store_true")
-        parser.set_defaults(experimental=False, reset=False, init=False, incremental=False)
+        # Removed flags — provide clear error messages for operators with old automation.
+        parser.add_argument(
+            "--reset",
+            action="store_true",
+            default=False,
+            help="(Removed) Index reset is now handled by post_migrate reconciliation.",
+        )
+        parser.add_argument(
+            "--init",
+            action="store_true",
+            default=False,
+            help="(Removed) Index initialization is now handled by post_migrate reconciliation.",
+        )
+        parser.add_argument(
+            "--incremental",
+            action="store_true",
+            default=False,
+            help="(Removed) Incremental is now the default and only population mode.",
+        )
 
     def handle(self, *args, **options):
-        """
-        Build a new search index for Studio, containing content from courses and libraries
-        """
         if not api.is_meilisearch_enabled():
             raise CommandError("Meilisearch is not enabled. Please set MEILISEARCH_ENABLED to True in your settings.")
 
         if options["reset"]:
-            api.reset_index(self.stdout.write)
-        elif options["init"]:
-            api.init_index(self.stdout.write, self.stderr.write)
-        elif options["incremental"]:
-            api.rebuild_index(self.stdout.write, incremental=True)
+            raise CommandError(
+                "The --reset flag has been removed. "
+                "Index reset is now handled automatically by post_migrate reconciliation. "
+                "Run: ./manage.py cms migrate"
+            )
+
+        if options["init"]:
+            raise CommandError(
+                "The --init flag has been removed. "
+                "Index initialization is now handled automatically by post_migrate reconciliation. "
+                "Run: ./manage.py cms migrate"
+            )
+
+        if options["incremental"]:
+            log.warning(
+                "The --incremental flag has been removed. "
+                "Incremental population is now the default behavior of this command."
+            )
+
+        result = rebuild_index_incremental.delay()
+
+        if settings.CELERY_ALWAYS_EAGER:
+            self.stdout.write("Indexing complete!")
         else:
-            api.rebuild_index(self.stdout.write)
+            self.stdout.write(
+                f"Studio search index population has been queued (task_id={result.id}). "
+                "Population will run incrementally in a Celery worker. "
+                "Monitor progress in Celery worker logs. "
+                "In order to reset the incremental indexing state, please run: "
+                "./manage.py cms shell -c 'IncrementalIndexCompleted.objects.all().delete()'"
+            )

openedx/core/djangoapps/content/search/tasks.py

@@ -184,3 +184,36 @@ def delete_course_index_docs(course_key_str: str) -> None:
 
     # Delete children index data for course blocks.
     api.delete_docs_with_context_key(course_key)
+
+
+@shared_task(
+    base=LoggedTask,
+    autoretry_for=(MeilisearchError, ConnectionError),
+    max_retries=3,
+    retry_backoff=True,
+)
+@set_code_owner_attribute
+def rebuild_index_incremental() -> None:
+    """
+    Celery task to incrementally populate the Studio Meilisearch index.
+
+    Uses IncrementalIndexCompleted to track progress and resume from where
+    it left off if interrupted. Safe to call multiple times — already-indexed
+    contexts are skipped.
+
+    If a rebuild is already in progress (lock held), the task exits gracefully.
+    """
+    log.info("Starting incremental Studio search index population...")
+
+    try:
+        api.rebuild_index(status_cb=log.info, incremental=True)
+    except RuntimeError as exc:
+        # rebuild_index -> _using_temp_index or lock contention
+        if "already in progress" in str(exc).lower():
+            log.warning(
+                "Studio index population skipped: a rebuild is already in progress. Will retry later if re-enqueued."
+            )
+            return
+        raise
+
+    log.info("Incremental Studio search index population complete.")

openedx/core/djangoapps/content/search/tests/test_api.py

@@ -449,19 +449,32 @@ def test_reset_meilisearch_index(self, mock_meilisearch) -> None:
 
     @override_settings(MEILISEARCH_ENABLED=True)
     def test_init_meilisearch_index(self, mock_meilisearch) -> None:
-        # Test index already exists
+        # Test index already exists, is populated, and correctly configured
+        mock_index = Mock()
+        mock_index.primary_key = "id"
+        mock_index.get_stats.return_value = Mock(number_of_documents=100)
+        mock_index.get_settings.return_value = {
+            "distinctAttribute": "usage_key",
+            "filterableAttributes": list(api.INDEX_FILTERABLE_ATTRIBUTES),
+            "searchableAttributes": list(api.INDEX_SEARCHABLE_ATTRIBUTES),
+            "sortableAttributes": list(api.INDEX_SORTABLE_ATTRIBUTES),
+            "rankingRules": list(api.INDEX_RANKING_RULES),
+        }
+        mock_meilisearch.return_value.get_index.return_value = mock_index
+
         api.init_index()
         mock_meilisearch.return_value.swap_indexes.assert_not_called()
         mock_meilisearch.return_value.create_index.assert_not_called()
         mock_meilisearch.return_value.delete_index.assert_not_called()
 
-        # Test index already exists and has no documents
-        mock_meilisearch.return_value.get_stats.return_value = 0
+        # Test index already exists and is empty but correctly configured
+        mock_index.get_stats.return_value = Mock(number_of_documents=0)
         api.init_index()
         mock_meilisearch.return_value.swap_indexes.assert_not_called()
         mock_meilisearch.return_value.create_index.assert_not_called()
         mock_meilisearch.return_value.delete_index.assert_not_called()
 
+        # Test index does not exist — should create it
         mock_meilisearch.return_value.get_index.side_effect = [
             MeilisearchApiError("Testing reindex", Mock(text='{"code":"index_not_found"}')),
             MeilisearchApiError("Testing reindex", Mock(text='{"code":"index_not_found"}')),