Core Contributor News for Sprint: Feb 14th - Feb 27th, 2026

Working Groups Core Contributors
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Core Contributor News for Sprint: Feb 14th - Feb 27th, 2026

This sprint brought mostly positive experiences. 60% of participants rated their experience as good or great, while 40% reported a neutral experience or faced some challenges.

:tada: What are we celebrating?

@Marta_Demchyna

  • I’ve been exploring ways to boost the visual experience of the base theme, with a focus on the Profile and Account pages. I also started brainstorming possible mobile widgets.

@Muhammad_Sameer

  • None. Unfortunately, I couldn’t contribute earlier due to my job switch and needing time to adjust. However, I’m really excited to contribute once things settle down with my new team.

:sos_button: Who needs help?

@braden

  • If you’re knowledgeable about internationalization/localization, I could use input on https://github.com/openedx/openedx-platform/issues/38036 about how we can make the various language/locale settings simpler, better documented, and perhaps more consistent.

    I’ve developed new super-basic “Catalog Course” and “Course Run” models that are intended to be core models for courses and runs, used as foreign key targets for everything else - pathways, enrollments, grades, etc. If you have input on the design notes in the PR description, please share your thoughts. https://github.com/openedx/openedx-core/pull/479

:construction: What Pull Requests (PRs) need review?

As a CC, check for PRs that are stuck and need attention. Don’t have write access? No problem! You can still help by reviewing to move things forward. Ping Axim if there are issues merging after you review.

Below is a list of stalled PRs that need urgent attention. These are just some of the many PRs that require immediate review and action. In addition, there are several Draft PRs that need attention to move forward. Please take a moment to review and update them as needed so they don’t remain blocked. Thank you!

Stuck waiting for review

Draft PRs: Require review and updates to move forward:

Find a full list of PRs ready for review here, or focus on edx-platform PRs that need attention.

:memo: What are the Working Groups up to?

Working Group Latest Updates
BizDev The BizDev WG meeting will focus on aligning priorities and restructuring the group for 2026, consolidating focus areas into fewer, clearer pillars with defined ownership. Key discussions include defining an effective execution model, improving the market–product feedback loop, and clarifying data-sharing boundaries and AI positioning. The session will conclude by agreeing on concrete next steps and expectations for Q1 2026 to ensure outcomes, not just updates. Last meeting notes → 2026-04-02 Partnership development Meeting
Build-Test-Release (BTR) The Named Release Planning meeting reviewed feedback on the proposed release process changes and agreed to continue refining the proposal within the BTR group. The goal is to produce a clearer document outlining how the updated release process will work. The team also called for volunteers to support Verawood roles and reviewed items from the Ulmo.1 retrospective. Last meeting notes → 2026-09-03 BTR Meeting Minutes
Governance WG Between late November 2025 and mid-February 2026, the Governance Working Group (now async-first) advanced three key initiatives: the Notifications Admin MVP (updated per TOC feedback and now in community review), the Open edX Handbook migration (structure finalized and GitHub board created for content transfer), and the Communication Tools evaluation (recommendations shared for forum discussion). The Notifications proposal aims to improve how the community gathers feedback, while the Handbook project is transitioning from planning into structured migration and iterative content development. The communication tools review sparked active debate about replacing proprietary tools and, more broadly, encouraged a shift toward better use of existing platforms—especially prioritizing forum discussions for long-term visibility and transparency. Latest meeting notes → Dec 2025 to Feb 12 2026 — Open edX Governance WG
Core Product No current updates available. Last meeting notes → 2026-02-10 Core Product Meeting Notes
Data The meeting announced the release of Aspects v3, compatible with the Ulmo named release, and a planned upgrade to Superset 6.0.1. The group also discussed a community survey to understand how institutions are using analytics and data tools like Aspects. Finally, an early overview was shared of Learner Pathways × Aspects, part of the broader modular learning and data strategy planned for a future release beyond Verawood. Latest meeting notes → 2026-03-04 Meeting notes
Deprecation The DEPR working group discussed improving the project board by adding an “Abandoned” status, setting default 6-month review dates, and defining clearer criteria for closing, rejecting, or reviving tickets, including a new help-wanted label. Ongoing cleanup includes resolving lingering DEPR scope questions (e.g., legacy waffle flags), handling repo ownership transfers from 2U, and rewriting the Legacy Libraries DEPR with a full migration plan (Verawood as the last supported release). Progress updates also covered old Studio/LMS UI removal, tracking and reducing feature toggles, and dedicating time to systematically review long-stalled draft tickets. Last meeting notes → DEPR Meetings Notes (2026)
Documentation No current updates available. Last meeting notes → 2026-02-04 Docs WG
Educators No current updates available. Last meeting notes → 2025-11-10 Educators
Frontend The Frontend Working Group reviewed progress on React Query migrations and frontend-base improvements, including a high-priority login redirect fix and performance optimizations using useReducer. A major discussion centered on improving developer experience around source aliases, transpilation, and how to test PRs locally after publishing compiled packages. The group agreed to move forward with compiling TypeScript before publishing and to explore better CI-based solutions for distributing PR artifacts without disrupting the main release flow. Latest meeting notes → 2026-02-12 Frontend Working Group Meeting Notes
Large Instances The DevOps collaboration meeting reviewed recent infrastructure updates, including successful Harmony dependency upgrades deployed to production clusters and ongoing evaluation of Ingress-Nginx replacement options. OpenCraft shared progress deploying the Picasso + Harmony + Drydock stack for PR sandboxes, improving visibility and debugging for contributors. The group also discussed Kubernetes storage options, security vulnerability scanning tools (e.g., Trivy, Checkov, KICS), and potential integration of image security checks into the build pipeline. Last meeting notes → Large Instances Meeting Notes 2026-02-17
Learning Tools (LTI) No current updates available. Latest meeting notes → 2025-11-25 Meeting notes
Maintenance The group discussed recruiting more maintainers, advancing the openedx-platform rename, and moving toward pyproject.toml as a step toward Ruff and uv adoption. They also raised concerns about Verawood performance testing and the unclear React 18 support window, with potential need to upgrade to React 19. Key follow-ups include updating docs builds, centralizing Renovate config, and merging the tutor-mfe Catalog MFE PR. Latest meeting notes → 2026-02-19 Meeting notes
Marketing No current updates available. Last meeting notes →Agenda, Oct 14th, 2025
Mobile No current updates available. Latest meeting notes →Agenda, 2026-01-30
Technical Oversight Committee The Technical Oversight Committee discussed major strategic topics including the opportunity to develop a university-focused distribution of Open edX, emphasizing modular architecture, strong APIs, and plugin-based extensions for features like classrooms, SIS integration, and multi-tenancy at national scale. The committee also explored the future of digital credentials following 2U’s withdrawal from maintaining the credentials service, debating whether to deprecate it or rebuild a more open, standards-compatible solution potentially connected to a learner record store or external wallets. Overall consensus reinforced the vision of Open edX as a platform rather than a single product, enabling different ecosystems and products—such as university LMS solutions—to be built on top of a smaller, more extensible core. Latest meeting notes → TOC Meeting Notes - 2025-01-14
Translation The Translation Working Group discussed leadership transition plans and upcoming improvements to translation best practices, documentation, and community coordination. Transifex AI is now being used to automatically translate new strings and languages, with high-quality translations auto-reviewed while lower-quality ones require human review. The group also reviewed the GitHub board and outlined next steps, including recruiting a new WG leader and improving workflow and notification management. Latest meeting notes → 2026-02-18 Translation WG Meeting
Design The session focused on a design share-out and feedback round for Unicon’s Competency Alignment UI proposal. Phillip Ball presented updated designs in Figma, showcasing a new approach to the Alignment UI and proposed updates to taxonomies. The discussion gathered early feedback to refine the design direction before next iterations. Last meeting notes → 2026-02-05 - Design Working Group Meeting

:date: What events are coming up?

  • We are excited to announce that Western Governors University (WGU) will be hosting the Open edX Conference 2026. May 19 – 22, 2026 • Salt Lake City, Utah

    • Register now and join the Open edX community in reimagining what’s possible in learning!

  • Join a working group meeting using the community calendar.

:rocket: What are we working on?

:handshake: Want to participate in Core Contributor Governance?

  • Participate to the work of the Contributor Coordination Working Group. The group works asynchronously using the working group tasks board, and we’d love your input there. You can review and comment on existing threads there, or post your own topic to discuss with the group by creating your own ticket on the board (“+ Add item” in “New topics and issues to discuss”).

:speech_balloon: Anything to add?

Share your thoughts in Slack (openedx.slack.com) or the comments below!

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