[Due for payment 2025-07-30] [$250] Drafts are cleared when moving away from a chat

[m-natarajan]

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Version Number:
Reproducible in staging?: Needs Reproduction
Reproducible in production?: Needs Reproduction
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail:
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers):
Logs: https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/4856
Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:
Issue reported by: @puneetlath @JmillsExpensify
Slack conversation (hyperlinked to channel name): #Expensify Bugs

Action Performed:

1. Write a draft message in a DM
2. Go to another part of the product (e.g. Reports page)
3. Return to original DM with draft

Expected Result:

Drafted message displayed in DM

Actual Result:

Drafted message not displayed

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

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• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021945883082447414993
• Upwork Job ID: 1945883082447414993
• Last Price Increase: 2025-07-17

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @lschurr

[MelvinBot]

This has been labelled "Needs Reproduction". Follow the steps here: https://stackoverflowteams.com/c/expensify/questions/16989

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @lschurr (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.

[mkzie2]

🚨 Edited by proposal-police: This proposal was edited at 2025-07-18 10:14:50 UTC.

Proposal

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

Drafted message not displayed

What is the root cause of that problem?

I can reproduce this when I reload the page while viewing the report with a draft. The comment is undefined while the data is loading from Onyx, and it falls back to an empty string, and we update the draft here

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/SilentCommentUpdater/index.tsx

Line 14 in 457f8f0

const [comment = ''] = useOnyx(`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_DRAFT_COMMENT}${reportID}`, {canBeMissing: true});

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/SilentCommentUpdater/index.tsx

Line 37 in 457f8f0

updateComment(comment ?? '');

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

We should skip the update logic if the comment data is still loading

if (isLoadingOnyxValue(commentResult)) {
    return;
}

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/SilentCommentUpdater/index.tsx

Line 37 in 457f8f0

updateComment(comment ?? '');

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

NA

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

We can return early if the value is not changed since the updateComment is not only called when the user types in the composer but also updated in other useEffect. That can ensure unnecessary calling Onyx.merge

if (commentValue === commentRef.current) {
    return;
}

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/ComposerWithSuggestions/ComposerWithSuggestions.tsx

Line 377 in dfbbfcc

const updateComment = useCallback(

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[dukenv0307]

I can reproduce, @lschurr can you please assign me as C+ based on this comment: https://expensify.slack.com/archives/C02NK2DQWUX/p1752763353224079?

The first C+ to post on the GH issue with reliable reproduction steps and video or screenshots confirming reproduction will be assigned as C+.

Here are the steps:

1. Open any report
2. Write draft message
3. Reload page

Screen.Recording.2025-07-17.at.22.11.40.mov

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021945883082447414993