Rate limit course list API.

This endpoint is likely being inefficient with how it's querying various parts of the code
and can take courseware down, it needs to be rate limited until optimized.

LEARNER-5527

lms/djangoapps/course_api/tests/test_views.py

@@ -7,13 +7,14 @@ from django.urls import reverse
 from django.test import RequestFactory
 from django.test.utils import override_settings
 from nose.plugins.attrib import attr
+from rest_framework import status
 from search.tests.test_course_discovery import DemoCourse
 from search.tests.tests import TEST_INDEX_NAME
 from search.tests.utils import SearcherMixin
 
 from xmodule.modulestore.tests.django_utils import ModuleStoreTestCase, SharedModuleStoreTestCase
 
-from ..views import CourseDetailView
+from ..views import CourseDetailView, CourseListUserThrottle
 from .mixins import TEST_PASSWORD, CourseApiFactoryMixin
 
 
@@ -100,6 +101,15 @@ class CourseListViewTestCase(CourseApiTestViewMixin, SharedModuleStoreTestCase):
         self.client.logout()
         self.verify_response()
 
+    def test_throttle_for_user(self):
+        """Make sure a user requests do not exceed the maximum number of requests"""
+        throttle = CourseListUserThrottle()
+        rate_limit, __ = throttle.parse_rate(throttle.rate)
+        self.setup_user(self.honor_user)
+        for attempt in xrange(rate_limit + 2):
+            expected_status = status.HTTP_429_TOO_MANY_REQUESTS if attempt >= rate_limit else status.HTTP_200_OK
+            self.verify_response(expected_status_code=expected_status, params={'username': self.honor_user.username})
+
 
 @attr(shard=9)
 class CourseListViewTestCaseMultipleCourses(CourseApiTestViewMixin, ModuleStoreTestCase):

lms/djangoapps/course_api/views.py

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import search
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
 from rest_framework.generics import ListAPIView, RetrieveAPIView
+from rest_framework.throttling import UserRateThrottle
 
 from edx_rest_framework_extensions.paginators import NamespacedPageNumberPagination
 from openedx.core.lib.api.view_utils import DeveloperErrorViewMixin, view_auth_classes
@@ -123,6 +124,28 @@ class CourseDetailView(DeveloperErrorViewMixin, RetrieveAPIView):
         )
 
 
+class CourseListUserThrottle(UserRateThrottle):
+    """Limit the number of requests users can make to the course list API."""
+    # The course list endpoint is likely being inefficient with how it's querying
+    # various parts of the code and can take courseware down, it needs to be rate
+    # limited until optimized. LEARNER-5527
+
+    THROTTLE_RATES = {
+        'user': '2/minute',
+        'staff': '10/minute',
+    }
+
+    def allow_request(self, request, view):
+        # Use a special scope for staff to allow for a separate throttle rate
+        user = request.user
+        if user.is_authenticated and (user.is_staff or user.is_superuser):
+            self.scope = 'staff'
+            self.rate = self.get_rate()
+            self.num_requests, self.duration = self.parse_rate(self.rate)
+
+        return super(CourseListUserThrottle, self).allow_request(request, view)
+
+
 @view_auth_classes(is_authenticated=False)
 class CourseListView(DeveloperErrorViewMixin, ListAPIView):
     """
@@ -196,6 +219,7 @@ class CourseListView(DeveloperErrorViewMixin, ListAPIView):
 
     pagination_class = NamespacedPageNumberPagination
     serializer_class = CourseSerializer
+    throttle_classes = CourseListUserThrottle,
 
     # Return all the results, 10K is the maximum allowed value for ElasticSearch.
     # We should use 0 after upgrading to 1.1+: