[$250] Track - Unexpected error deleting this expense appears when categorize expense

[jponikarchuk]

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Version Number: v9.2.29-1
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: https://test-management.browserstack.com/projects/2219752/test-runs/TR-1236/folder/13176877/41237354/945415942
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): applausetester+gm1038204@applause.expensifail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: Lenovo 80ES / Windows 10 Pro
App Component: Other

Action Performed:

1. Go to OD> Login with E account> Submit unreported expense
2. Go to ND> Navigate to Self DM chat> Create manual track distance
3. Select Categorize it from the whisper menu> Upgrade and finish the process ( workspace will be created)
4. Select any category and complete the process

Expected Result:

There should be no errors

Actual Result:

"Unexpected error deleting this expense" error appears when categorize expense

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

1.mp4

View all open jobs on GitHub

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021978153473233190254
• Upwork Job ID: 1978153473233190254
• Last Price Increase: 2025-12-09

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @QichenZhu

[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.

[mukhrr]

Expected Result:
There should be no errors

@lschurr what is detailed expected behavior here? We move expense to default WS after clicking Categorize ?

[mukhrr]

Proposal

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

When trying to categorize unreported expense we get error.

What is the root cause of that problem?

Wheb categorizing we are trying to get report policy id from unreported expense which is logically wrong.

App/src/libs/actions/IOU.ts

Lines 6395 to 6398 in 0400484

	const policyParams: TrackedExpensePolicyParams = {
	policyID: chatReport?.policyID,
	isDraftPolicy,
	};

As there is no report for expense, we make its policyId FAKE. And sending fake policy id causes the error from BE:

{
    "jsonCode": 500,
    "message": "Invalid empty PolicyID for the policy store",
    "requestID": "98d01c31cdd7dbe6-LAX",
    "onyxData": []
}

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

We need to give policyId of workspace on top when chatReport doesn't have real policyId.

    const policyParams: TrackedExpensePolicyParams = {
                    policyID: chatReport?.policyID === CONST.POLICY.ID_FAKE || !chatReport?.policyID ? participant.policyID : chatReport?.policyID,
                isDraftPolicy,
            };

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

N/A

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

I think there will still be a bug from BE side even after our fix. It responses with error preventing user from expected behavior:

{
    "jsonCode": 400,
    "message": "400 Unique Constraints Violation",
    "source": "auth-via-api",
    "onyxData": [],
    "requestID": "98d022663cd6d9ce-SJC"
}

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021978153473233190254

[melvin-bot]

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

[melvin-bot]

@QichenZhu Huh... This is 4 days overdue. Who can take care of this?