[Due for payment 2025-07-14] [$125] LHN - Chat preview shows "You" on system message and changes to "Expensify" when opening chat

[vincdargento]

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Version Number: 9.1.45-18
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: N/A
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): ibellicotest+754@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: Motorola MotoG60 - Android 12 - Chrome / Windows 10 - Chrome
App Component: Left Hand Navigation (LHN)

Action Performed:

1. Open the Expensify app.
2. Open any private room or create one if necessary.
3. Mention an user that is not part of the room.
4. When a system message to invite the user appears, return to inbox.
5. Note that on chat preview, "You" is displayed at the beginning of system message.
6. Tap on the search icon on the top right corner.
7. Note that on chat preview, "You" is displayed at the beginning of system message.
8. Navigate to conversation again and return to inbox one more time.
9. Note that now, "Expensify" is displayed at the beginning of system message on chat preview.
10. Tap on the search icon on the top right corner.
11. Note that now, "Expensify" is displayed at the beginning of system message on chat preview.

Expected Result:

All the system messages generated by the app, should display the word "Expensify" before the message on chat preview on LHN and on "Search"

Actual Result:

When a system message to invite a member to a room is generated, the word "You" can be seen before the message on LHN and on "Search", and after reopening and closing chat again, the word changes to "Expensify" both on LHN and "Search".

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

• Android: App
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: App
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• iOS: mWeb Chrome
• Windows: Chrome
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• MacOS: Desktop

Screenshots/Videos

bug.mp4

View all open jobs on GitHub

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021923244879538951463
• Upwork Job ID: 1923244879538951463
• Last Price Increase: 2025-06-06
• Automatic offers:
• samranahm | Contributor | 107664286

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @VictoriaExpensify

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @VictoriaExpensify (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details. Please add this bug to a GH project, as outlined in the SO.

[VictoriaExpensify]

Yeah I agree we should fix this but it doesn't have a huge impact on the customer experience so I think we can treat this as a lower priority and decrease the bounty.

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021923244879538951463

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @getusha (External)

[melvin-bot]

Upwork job price has been updated to $125

[thelullabyy]

🚨 Edited by proposal-police: This proposal was edited at 2025-05-16 05:48:42 UTC.

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

• When a system message to invite a member to a room is generated, the word "You" is shown before the message in the LHN (Left Hand Navigation) and in "Search". After reopening and closing the chat, this word changes to "Expensify" in both views.

What is the root cause of that problem?

• We intentionally avoid showing whisper messages as the last message, as seen here:
  

  App/src/libs/ReportActionsUtils.ts

  Lines 903 to 909 in eecf578

  	// If a whisper action is the REPORT_PREVIEW action, we are displaying it.
  	// If the action's message text is empty and it is not a deleted parent with visible child actions, hide it. Else, consider the action to be displayable.
  	return (
  	shouldReportActionBeVisible(reportAction, reportAction.reportActionID, canUserPerformWriteAction) &&
  	!(isWhisperAction(reportAction) && !isReportPreviewAction(reportAction) && !isMoneyRequestAction(reportAction)) &&
  	!(isDeletedAction(reportAction) && !isDeletedParentAction(reportAction))
  	);

• However, in this scenario, the whisper message still appears as the last message because the logic here:
  

  App/src/libs/OptionsListUtils.ts

  Line 839 in eecf578

  return lastMessageTextFromReport || (report?.lastMessageText ?? '');

  falls back to report?.lastMessageText, which contains the system message like:
  Heads up, <mention-user/> ...

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

• Update this line:
  

  App/src/libs/SidebarUtils.ts

  Line 539 in eecf578

  const lastActorAccountID = report.lastActorAccountID || lastAction?.actorAccountID;

  const lastActorAccountID = lastAction?.actorAccountID || report.lastActorAccountID;

This change will make sure we can get the correct sender name (You).

• Then in

  App/src/libs/OptionsListUtils.ts

  Line 826 in eecf578

  }

  Add a case to handle ADDCOMMENT report actions:

} else if (isAddCommentAction(lastReportAction)) {
    lastMessageTextFromReport = getOriginalMessage(lastReportAction)?.html;
}

This change will make sure we can get the correct last message to display. This can also be fixed from BE side by returning the correct report.lastMessageText.

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

• Add test coverage for getOptionData when the last report action is ACTIONABLEMENTIONWHISPER, to ensure that the whisper message is not incorrectly displayed as the last message.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

• N/A