[#4670]Add bi-directional sync feature

[Zahed-Riyaz]

This PR in tackling issue #4760, enables syncing Challenge and Challenge Phase updates made via the EvalAI UI to the configured GitHub repository/branch. When a supported field changes in the UI, a corresponding commit is made to the repo to keep configuration in sync.

EvalAI-Starters side : Cloud-CV/EvalAI-Starters#129

How it works

• Post-save hooks in apps/challenges/models.py:
  • challenge_details_sync for Challenge
  • challenge_phase_details_sync for ChallengePhase
• Determines the changed field from update_fields or infers it from the request payload keys to make a minimal, single-field commit.
• Calls challenges.github_utils sync helpers to apply changes on GitHub.

Safeguards

• Skips sync for:
  • Bot-triggered saves (prevents recursion)
  • GitHub-sourced changes (prevents loops)
  • Repeated syncs within the same request (per-request dedupe)
• Requires github_repository, github_branch, and github_token to be set on Challenge.

Configuration

• Set on each Challenge:
  • github_repository (e.g., org/repo)
  • github_branch (defaults handled in code)
  • github_token (PAT with repo access)

Migrations

• 0113_add_github_branch_field_and_unique_constraint.py now:
  • Adds github_branch if missing (SQL)
  • Records the field in Django state (no-op DB)
  • Adds a partial unique index on (github_repository, github_branch) when both are non-empty
• Removed redundant 0116_challenge_github_branch.py so there’s a single source of truth.

Django signals

• Receivers:
  • challenge_details_sync on Challenge (post_save)
  • challenge_phase_details_sync on ChallengePhase (post_save)
• Behavior:
  • Trigger only on updates when github_repository and github_token are set.
  • Determine the changed field via update_fields or inferred request payload keys.
  • Commit a minimal, single-field change to GitHub through challenges.github_utils.
• Guards:
  • Skip bot-triggered saves and GitHub-sourced changes to prevent recursion/loops.
  • Per-request dedupe avoids duplicate commits in the same request.

GitHubSyncMiddleware

• Purpose: Resets per-request sync context and captures payload keys for changed-field inference.
• How:
  • On POST/PUT/PATCH, extracts JSON or form keys into a thread-local store.
  • Works with the signal receivers to identify the precise field changed.
  • Prevents re-entrant syncs within the same request.

Dependencies

• requests: Added/confirmed in requirements/common.txt to support GitHub API calls used by apps/challenges/github_interface.py and related utilities.

[Zahed-Riyaz]

Here is a video description of the feature :
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f9701bf2-3729-4998-8ec3-9d060362965e

[codecov]

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 56.81234% with 168 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 90.09%. Comparing base (3489634) to head (4a05fa5).
⚠️ Report is 2 commits behind head on master.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
apps/challenges/github_interface.py	44.27%	112 Missing ⚠️
apps/challenges/models.py	78.26%	25 Missing ⚠️
apps/challenges/github_utils.py	64.91%	20 Missing ⚠️
apps/challenges/github_sync_config.py	0.00%	5 Missing ⚠️
apps/base/utils.py	20.00%	4 Missing ⚠️
apps/challenges/serializers.py	66.66%	2 Missing ⚠️

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##           master    #4765      +/-   ##
==========================================
- Coverage   91.90%   90.09%   -1.82%     
==========================================
  Files          85       88       +3     
  Lines        7142     7531     +389     
==========================================
+ Hits         6564     6785     +221     
- Misses        578      746     +168     

Flag	Coverage Δ
backend	92.70% <56.81%> (-3.96%)	⬇️
frontend	87.25% <ø> (ø)

Flags with carried forward coverage won't be shown. Click here to find out more.

Components	Coverage Δ
Accounts & Authentication	100.00% <ø> (ø)
Challenges Management	89.72% <57.29%> (-5.63%)	⬇️
Job Processing	98.19% <ø> (ø)
Participants & Teams	100.00% <ø> (ø)
Challenge Hosts	100.00% <ø> (ø)
Analytics	100.00% <ø> (ø)
Web Interface	100.00% <ø> (ø)
Frontend (Gulp)	87.25% <ø> (ø)
All Models	94.38% <78.26%> (-3.21%)	⬇️
All Views	100.00% <ø> (ø)
All Serializers	98.50% <66.66%> (-0.32%)	⬇️
Utility Functions	96.51% <20.00%> (-0.29%)	⬇️
Core Configuration	82.35% <ø> (ø)

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
apps/challenges/urls.py	100.00% <ø> (ø)
apps/challenges/views.py	100.00% <ø> (ø)
apps/challenges/serializers.py	96.21% <66.66%> (-0.77%)	⬇️
apps/base/utils.py	95.74% <20.00%> (-2.79%)	⬇️
apps/challenges/github_sync_config.py	0.00% <0.00%> (ø)
apps/challenges/github_utils.py	64.91% <64.91%> (ø)
apps/challenges/models.py	91.33% <78.26%> (-4.49%)	⬇️
apps/challenges/github_interface.py	44.27% <44.27%> (ø)

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
apps/challenges/urls.py	100.00% <ø> (ø)
apps/challenges/views.py	100.00% <ø> (ø)
apps/challenges/serializers.py	96.21% <66.66%> (-0.77%)	⬇️
apps/base/utils.py	95.74% <20.00%> (-2.79%)	⬇️
apps/challenges/github_sync_config.py	0.00% <0.00%> (ø)
apps/challenges/github_utils.py	64.91% <64.91%> (ø)
apps/challenges/models.py	91.33% <78.26%> (-4.49%)	⬇️
apps/challenges/github_interface.py	44.27% <44.27%> (ø)

---

Continue to review full report in Codecov by Sentry.

Legend - Click here to learn more
Δ = absolute <relative> (impact), ø = not affected, ? = missing data
Powered by Codecov. Last update 3489634...4a05fa5. Read the comment docs.

🚀 New features to boost your workflow:

• ❄️ Test Analytics: Detect flaky tests, report on failures, and find test suite problems.
• 📦 JS Bundle Analysis: Save yourself from yourself by tracking and limiting bundle sizes in JS merges.