[$250] Search - Description link in expense thread is rendered as HTML tags in search suggestion name

[lanitochka17]

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Version Number: 9.1.81-4
Reproducible in staging?: Y
Reproducible in production?: Y
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): hnuhbiiubhihi@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause - Internal Team

Action Performed:

1. Go to staging.expensify.com
2. Open 1:1 DM
3. Submit two expenses with google.com as description and no merchant
4. Open the expense report
5. Open any expense row
6. Send a message in the transaction thread
7. Close the RHP
8. Open the transaction thread from LHN
9. Click search icon

Expected Result:

The description link will not be rendered as HTML tags

Actual Result:

The description link is rendered as HTML tags in search suggestion name

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

Select the officially supported platforms where the issue was reproduced:

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

Platforms Tested:

On which of our officially supported platforms was this issue tested:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Add any screenshot/video evidence

Recording.3414.mp4

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Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021947979743828298497
• Upwork Job ID: 1947979743828298497
• Last Price Increase: 2025-07-30
• Automatic offers:
• nkdengineer | Contributor | 108238484

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @hoangzinh

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @dylanexpensify (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.

[nkdengineer]

🚨 Edited by proposal-police: This proposal was edited at 2025-07-28 02:38:38 UTC.

Proposal

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

The description link is rendered as HTML tags in search suggestion name

What is the root cause of that problem?

We are setting text name here

App/src/libs/OptionsListUtils.ts

Line 1020 in fdf8f5e

result.text = reportName;

And get the report name here

App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

Lines 4491 to 4495 in c15b065

	const amount = getTransactionAmount(transaction, !isEmptyObject(report) && isExpenseReport(report)) ?? 0;
	const formattedAmount = convertToDisplayString(amount, getCurrency(transaction)) ?? '';
	const comment = getMerchantOrDescription(transaction);
	return translateLocal('iou.threadExpenseReportName', {formattedAmount, comment});

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

We should use Parser.htmlToText to convert the html to text here

function getDescription(transaction: OnyxInputOrEntry<Transaction>): string {
    // Casting the description to string to avoid wrong data types (e.g. number) being returned from the API
    return Parser.htmlToText(transaction?.comment?.comment?.toString() ?? '');
}

App/src/libs/TransactionUtils/index.ts

Lines 576 to 579 in fdf8f5e

	function getDescription(transaction: OnyxInputOrEntry<Transaction>): string {
	// Casting the description to string to avoid wrong data types (e.g. number) being returned from the API
	return transaction?.comment?.comment?.toString() ?? '';
	}

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

We can add test to the function for getDescription or getTransactionReportName to cover this scenario

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

OR we can add Parser.htmlToText here

App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

Lines 4493 to 4495 in fdf8f5e

	const comment = getMerchantOrDescription(transaction);
	return translateLocal('iou.threadExpenseReportName', {formattedAmount, comment});

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[dylanexpensify]

@luacmartins I know you're not a biologist, but bug?

[luacmartins]

Yea, that's a bug

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021947979743828298497

[melvin-bot]

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