[rodmgwgu]

Closes #469

Problem

The Administrative Console needs to create, list, edit, copy, and remove custom roles, and to move a role's members to another role. ADR 0035 decides how custom roles are stored, but no ADR defines who can manage them or the REST API. The Roles and Permissions table also needs member counts, a last-updated date, search, and sorting, which the role catalog (ADR 0028) does not provide.

Approach

• Added ADR 0036, which defines:
  • Superuser-only writes for custom roles, with no new permission. Assigning and unassigning custom roles keeps the existing team-management permissions.
  • POST, GET, PATCH, and DELETE on /api/authz/v1/roles/<role>/, plus POST /api/authz/v1/roles/<role>/reassign/.
  • user_count and updated_at on every role, and search, sort_by, and order on the list. Search and sort run in Python so translated static role names match what the user sees.
  • Validation: one resource type per role, at least one permission, and display names unique across all roles ignoring case (409 when taken).
  • No server-side dependency closure. Incomplete permission sets are rejected with a 400 that lists the missing dependencies, following the rule ADR 0034 applies to schema roles.
  • Copying through the create wizard with a required name and no copy endpoint, so role IDs describe the role.
  • Removing a role with assignments requires choosing revoke or reassign, in one transaction.
• Added an addendum to ADR 0028 for the new role fields, query parameters, and Python-side pagination.

Manual testing instructions

Docs only. Both files pass python -m docutils --halt=warning.

Rollback plan

Revert this PR. Docs only. No code or migration.

Retro compatibility

No behavior change. This PR only records the decision. The implementation will follow in separate PRs.

AI Usage

Kiro assisted with research and ADR authoring, with human guidance on the decisions and validation against the existing ADRs.

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Merge checklist:

• Changelog record added — not needed for docs
• Documentation updated (not only docstrings)
• Fixup commits are squashed away
• Unit tests added/updated — not applicable
• Manual testing instructions provided — not applicable
• Noted any: Concerns, dependencies, migration issues, deadlines, tickets — references ADR 0034 from docs: add ADR for permission dependencies in the authorization schema #601 and ADR 0035 from docs: ADR Persist Custom Roles in the Authorization Definition Tables #603. Comments on Backend: roles catalog search, filter, sort, pagination #569, Backend: duplicate role #580, Frontend: Duplicate role (row + detail kebab) + toast #583, Frontend: Delete confirmation + reassign-before-delete modals #585, Backend: create custom role endpoint #589, and Backend: update custom role (metadata + permissions) endpoints #590 describe how this ADR changes those tickets.

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[mariajgrimaldi]

I think for security reasons none of these fields should be editable, not even the permissions, except maybe the description. Editing a role's permissions changes the access of every user who holds it right away, and nothing records who made the change or why. I explained this in more detail in ADR 0035. If roles stay immutable, PATCH would only accept description, and changing permissions would mean creating a new role.

[BryanttV]

LGTM! Thanks for this! Just one comment.

[BryanttV]

<role>, refers to role_id, correct? For example: custom_course_manager?

[rodmgwgu]

yes!, added clarification