draft: add endpoints to create and modify users

[viadanna]

Description

This PR adds endpoints to create and modify users.

Supporting information

Private Refs:

• https://tasks.opencraft.com/browse/BB-9993
• https://tasks.opencraft.com/browse/BB-10024

Testing instructions

1. Make a POST request to /api/user/v1/modify to create a user, e.g.

$ http POST http://local.openedx.io:8000/api/user/v1/modify --auth-type bearer --auth TOKEN username=test email=test@example.com password=12345678 name=Test
HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Allow: POST, PATCH, OPTIONS
Content-Language: en
Content-Length: 31
Content-Type: application/json
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:49:26 GMT
Server: WSGIServer/0.2 CPython/3.11.8
Set-Cookie: openedx-language-preference=en; Domain=local.openedx.io; expires=Wed, 29 Jul 2026 14:49:26 GMT; Max-Age=1209600; Path=/; SameSite=Lax
Set-Cookie: csrftoken=uVKV5sKqW6wkR7bzxV6Avju4QLpYIMuw; expires=Wed, 14 Jul 2027 14:49:26 GMT; Max-Age=31449600; Path=/; SameSite=Lax
Set-Cookie: lms_sessionid=1|2dh9womlw77dgrx1pivuj0sg9i9u5ybq|WWtn1GLVCf45|IjRjOTNkMjg0ZjVlOGY2NGUzMDQ4NjY1YzYxNzY2YjBmNTI2MmI5NWI4ZjY5ZWMzZTk4YWVjNTYwZjZlOWVkZWYi:1wk0vO:YUj--lO47gIYgyE3ECpwA9H3ats72cPfhsaAMISRph4; Domain=local.openedx.io; HttpOnly; Path=/; SameSite=Lax
Vary: Accept, Accept-Language, Cookie, origin
X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN

{
    "user_id": 6,
    "username": "test"
}

2. Make a PATCH request to modify an existing user, e.g.

$ http PATCH http://local.openedx.io:8000/api/user/v1/modify --auth-type bearer --auth TOKEN username=test first_name=Test last_name=User
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Allow: POST, PATCH, OPTIONS
Content-Language: en
Content-Length: 31
Content-Type: application/json
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:14:34 GMT
Server: WSGIServer/0.2 CPython/3.11.8
Set-Cookie: openedx-language-preference=en; Domain=local.openedx.io; expires=Wed, 29 Jul 2026 15:14:34 GMT; Max-Age=1209600; Path=/; SameSite=Lax
Set-Cookie: lms_sessionid=1|w489j3st009e06ej1fuqk52mbtjviq2r|ZXnG9qPRsD9K|ImI5ZTJlMjBkMDE3NmJkM2Q0YzM1YmU3Nzg3OGMyMjUwODQ1NWM4Zjc2NWRjNDZhMTc5Y2Q1YjAzMjhiMGRiNzIi:1wk1Ji:E-vJBuc200cn9TzEhbD3k3fTpUkuESZ6M7A8TzVq0HM; Domain=local.openedx.io; expires=Wed, 29 Jul 2026 15:14:34 GMT; HttpOnly; Max-Age=1209600; Path=/; SameSite=Lax
Vary: Accept, Accept-Language, origin, Cookie
X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN

{
    "user_id": 6,
    "username": "test"
}

Deadline

None, still a draft

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR introduces a new admin-only “modify user” API endpoint in user_api to support creating users (POST) and updating user attributes (PATCH) via /api/user/v1/modify.

Changes:

• Added UserModifyView with JWT/Bearer/Session authentication and IsAdminUser permission, implementing POST (create) and PATCH (update).
• Wired the new endpoint into user_api URL routing.
• Added initial HTTP-level tests covering user creation success and common validation failures.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 7 comments.

File	Description
openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/views.py	Adds UserModifyView implementing POST/PATCH behavior for user creation and updates.
openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/urls.py	Registers the new v1/modify route.
openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_views.py	Adds tests for the new create-user endpoint behavior.

---

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[samuelallan72]

@viadanna could you rebase this on latest master please, and resolve the conflicts? :)

[viadanna]

@viadanna could you rebase this on latest master please, and resolve the conflicts? :)

Done @samuelallan72

[samuelallan72]

I'm not sure what permissions we want here, but just flagging to double check since this api is pretty powerful - it can modify arbitrary users.

Also not sure how this fits with the new RBAC system?

[viadanna]

This was developed before the new RBCA system and will need further changes to adapt to it. But as you can see, it isn't being used by any of the user_api django app views, so it all needs updating, which falls outside the scope of the work.

[samuelallan72]

@viadanna I tested this out locally; please see comments inline 🙂