fix: replace $inc with read-modify-write $set for views counter

The Astra DB Table API does not support $inc (only $set, $unset, $push,
$pullAll are supported). The previous code attempted $inc, failed with
UNSUPPORTED_UPDATE_OPERATIONS_FOR_TABLE, logged a misleading "view tracking
disabled" warning, then fell through to a $set fallback — a wasted round
trip and a noisy false alarm on every view.

Fix: go directly to read-modify-write with $set. Removes the $inc attempt,
the complex two-if exception handler, and the _logged_views_disabled global.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: pmcfadin

app/services/video_service.py

@@ -88,10 +88,6 @@
     logging.getLogger().getEffectiveLevel(),
 )
 
-# Flag to track if we've logged the view tracking limitation warning
-_logged_views_disabled = False
-
-
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Helpers
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -388,67 +384,24 @@ async def record_video_view(
 ) -> None:
     """Increment the view counter stored directly in the *videos* table.
 
-    NOTE: View tracking is currently disabled. The 'views' column exists in the
-    CQL schema but is not yet exposed via the Astra DB Table API. This function
-    will gracefully no-op until API support is added.
-
-    The dedicated ``video_playback_stats`` counter table is no longer updated –
-    we instead mutate the new ``views`` bigint column in the primary table so
-    the entire workflow remains Data-API-only.
+    The Astra DB Table API does not support ``$inc``, so we use a read-modify-write
+    cycle: fetch the current ``views`` value and write back with ``$set``.
     """
 
     if db_table is None:
         db_table = await get_table(VIDEOS_TABLE_NAME)
 
-    try:
-        # Fast path – $inc is accepted on normal bigint columns
-        await db_table.update_one(
-            filter={"videoid": _uuid_for_db(video_id, db_table)},
-            update={"$inc": {"views": 1}},
-            upsert=True,
-        )
-    except DataAPIResponseException as exc:
-        global _logged_views_disabled
-        error_str = str(exc)
-
-        # Check if this is the known Table API limitation where the 'views' column
-        # exists in CQL schema but isn't exposed via the Table API yet
-        if (
-            "UNKNOWN_TABLE_COLUMNS" in error_str
-            or "UNSUPPORTED_UPDATE_OPERATIONS" in error_str
-        ):
-            # Log warning once per process lifecycle to avoid log spam
-            if not _logged_views_disabled:
-                logger.warning(
-                    "View tracking is currently disabled. The 'views' column exists in "
-                    "the CQL schema (docs/schema-astra.cql:95) but is not yet exposed "
-                    "via the Astra DB Table API. Views will not be tracked until API "
-                    "support is added. Error codes: UNKNOWN_TABLE_COLUMNS / "
-                    "UNSUPPORTED_UPDATE_OPERATIONS_FOR_TABLE"
-                )
-                _logged_views_disabled = True
-            pass  # Gracefully no-op for views counter; continue to activity tracking below
-
-        # Some deployments (Astra *tables*) currently reject $inc on bigint –
-        # fall back to a manual read-modify-write cycle.
-        if (
-            "Update operation not supported" in error_str
-            or "unsupported operations" in error_str
-        ):
-            current = (
-                await db_table.find_one(
-                    filter={"videoid": _uuid_for_db(video_id, db_table)}
-                )
-                or {}
-            )
-            new_count = int(current.get("views", 0)) + 1
-            await db_table.update_one(
-                filter={"videoid": _uuid_for_db(video_id, db_table)},
-                update={"$set": {"views": new_count}},
-                upsert=True,
-            )
-        else:
-            raise
+    # The Astra DB Table API does not support $inc. Use read-modify-write with $set.
+    current = (
+        await db_table.find_one(filter={"videoid": _uuid_for_db(video_id, db_table)})
+        or {}
+    )
+    new_count = int(current.get("views", 0)) + 1
+    await db_table.update_one(
+        filter={"videoid": _uuid_for_db(video_id, db_table)},
+        update={"$set": {"views": new_count}},
+        upsert=True,
+    )
 
     from app.services.user_activity_service import (
         record_user_activity,

tests/services/test_video_service.py

@@ -227,13 +227,11 @@ async def test_update_video_details_no_changes():
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_record_video_view_success():
+    """View counter uses read-modify-write ($set) — the Table API does not support $inc."""
     vid = uuid4()
 
-    # Mock the playback stats table passed explicitly
     mock_stats_table = AsyncMock()
-    mock_stats_table.update_one.return_value = AsyncMock()
-
-    # Mock the activity table returned via get_table
+    mock_stats_table.find_one.return_value = {"views": 5}
     mock_activity_table = AsyncMock()
 
     with (
@@ -245,15 +243,14 @@ async def test_record_video_view_success():
             new_callable=AsyncMock,
         ) as mock_record_user_activity,
     ):
-        # First call inside record_video_view is for VIDEO_PLAYBACK_STATS_TABLE_NAME
-        # but we already pass mock_stats_table, so get_table will be used only once
         mock_get_table.return_value = mock_activity_table
 
         await video_service.record_video_view(vid, db_table=mock_stats_table)
 
-        # Validate stats table increment
+        # Must read current value first, then write the incremented value
+        mock_stats_table.find_one.assert_awaited_once()
         mock_stats_table.update_one.assert_called_once_with(
-            filter={"videoid": vid}, update={"$inc": {"views": 1}}, upsert=True
+            filter={"videoid": vid}, update={"$set": {"views": 6}}, upsert=True
         )
 
         # Validate activity table log
@@ -263,12 +260,34 @@ async def test_record_video_view_success():
         mock_record_user_activity.assert_awaited_once()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_record_video_view_no_existing_row():
+    """When the video has no existing views row, count starts at 1."""
+    vid = uuid4()
+
+    mock_stats_table = AsyncMock()
+    mock_stats_table.find_one.return_value = None  # no row yet
+    mock_activity_table = AsyncMock()
+
+    with (
+        patch("app.services.video_service.get_table", new_callable=AsyncMock) as mock_get_table,
+        patch("app.services.user_activity_service.record_user_activity", new_callable=AsyncMock),
+    ):
+        mock_get_table.return_value = mock_activity_table
+        await video_service.record_video_view(vid, db_table=mock_stats_table)
+
+        mock_stats_table.update_one.assert_called_once_with(
+            filter={"videoid": vid}, update={"$set": {"views": 1}}, upsert=True
+        )
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_record_video_view_authenticated_user_activity():
     """Authenticated view calls record_user_activity with real user ID."""
     vid = uuid4()
     viewer_id = uuid4()
     mock_stats_table = AsyncMock()
+    mock_stats_table.find_one.return_value = None
     mock_activity_table = AsyncMock()
 
     with (
@@ -301,6 +320,7 @@ async def test_record_video_view_anonymous_user_activity():
 
     vid = uuid4()
     mock_stats_table = AsyncMock()
+    mock_stats_table.find_one.return_value = None
     mock_activity_table = AsyncMock()
 
     with (
@@ -331,6 +351,7 @@ async def test_record_video_view_user_activity_failure_does_not_break():
     """If record_user_activity raises, the video view still succeeds."""
     vid = uuid4()
     mock_stats_table = AsyncMock()
+    mock_stats_table.find_one.return_value = None
     mock_activity_table = AsyncMock()
 
     with (