[$250] Reports - Workspace chat link opens workspace chat with wrong UI when opened from Reports

[lanitochka17]

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Version Number: 9.2.32-0
Reproducible in staging?: Y
Reproducible in production?: Y
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: #72267
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): djiofjnidfojdojoidfj@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause - Internal Team

Action Performed:

Precondition:

• Account has a workspace

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Open FAB > Create expense > Manual
3. Submit an expense to any user (not workspace chat)
4. Open the expense report
5. Click More > Change workspace
6. Select a workspace
7. Go to Reports > Reports
8. Open the expense report
9. Click on the workspace link in "moved this report to the WORKSPACE LINK workspace"

Expected Result:

Workspace chat will open on Inbox because the link is a workspace chat link, not report link

Actual Result:

The workspace link opens the workspace chat on Reports, which leads to some abnormality that includes "This report has no expenses." in the workspace chat and the report preview appears as Comment section

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

Bug6976545_1760616103118.Screen_Recording_2025-10-16_at_19.51.33.mp4

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• Automatic offers:
• abzokhattab | Contributor | 109295214

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @NicMendonca

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @NicMendonca (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.

[abzokhattab]

Proposal

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

Workspace chat links opened from the Reports page incorrectly open in the Reports context instead of Inbox, causing UI issues like "This report has no expenses" appearing in workspace chats.

What is the root cause of that problem?

• The getReportURLForCurrentContext function generates URLs that preserve the current navigation context (Reports/Search)
• When clicking a workspace chat link from the Reports page, the function returns a search-context URL for the workspace chat
• Workspace chats are not designed to work in the Reports/Search context, which causes the UI abnormalities

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

update the getReportURLForCurrentContext function:
here

• Retrieve the report data for the given reportID using getReportOrDraftReport
• Check if the report is a workspace chat using isPolicyExpenseChat
• If the report is a workspace chat, always return the standard Inbox route (ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportID)) regardless of the current navigation context
• For non-workspace chats, maintain the existing behavior of preserving the search context when applicable

    const report = getReportOrDraftReport(reportID);
    const isWorkspaceChat = isPolicyExpenseChat(report);

    if (!isInSearchContext || isWorkspaceChat) {
        return `${environmentURL}/${ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportID)}`;
    }

This ensures workspace chats always open in Inbox where they function correctly, while other reports continue to work as expected in the Reports page.

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

update the getReportURLForCurrentContext test cases inside the ReportUtilsTest file to include a test for this case

       it('returns Inbox route for workspace chat even when in search context', async () => {
            // Create a workspace chat report
            const workspaceChatReportID = '999';
            const workspaceChat: Report = {
                ...createRandomReport(999),
                reportID: workspaceChatReportID,
                chatType: CONST.REPORT.CHAT_TYPE.POLICY_EXPENSE_CHAT,
                isOwnPolicyExpenseChat: true,
                type: CONST.REPORT.TYPE.CHAT,
            };

            // Set up Onyx with the workspace chat
            await Onyx.set(`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT}${workspaceChatReportID}`, workspaceChat);
            await flushPromises();

            // Mock being in search context
            mockIsSearchTopmostFullScreenRoute.mockReturnValue(true);
            mockGetActiveRoute.mockReturnValue('search?q=type:report');

            // Even in search context, workspace chats should return Inbox route
            expect(getReportURLForCurrentContext(workspaceChatReportID)).toBe(`${environmentURL}/${ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(workspaceChatReportID)}`);

            // Clean up
            await Onyx.clear();
        });

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

NA

[lorretheboy]

Proposal

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

Reports - Workspace chat link opens workspace chat with wrong UI when opened from Reports

What is the root cause of that problem?

The newParentReportID is the workspace chat report ID (policy expense chat), and when getReportURLForCurrentContext is called with this ID while in a search context, it generates a search route URL instead of a direct workspace chat URL

App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

Lines 12025 to 12071 in 809575d

	function getReportURLForCurrentContext(reportID: string | undefined): string {
	if (!reportID) {
	return `${environmentURL}/r/`;
	}
	const isInSearchContext = isSearchTopmostFullScreenRoute();
	if (!isInSearchContext) {
	return `${environmentURL}/${ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportID)}`;
	}
	// Navigation can return routes with a leading slash or missing when still mounting.
	// Normalize everything to match the path shape used by ROUTES helpers.
	const normalizeRoute = (route?: string) => {
	if (!route) {
	return undefined;
	}
	return route.startsWith('/') ? route.substring(1) : route;
	};
	const activeRoute = normalizeRoute(Navigation.getActiveRoute());
	let backToRoute: string | undefined;
	if (activeRoute) {
	const [, queryString = ''] = activeRoute.split('?');
	if (queryString) {
	const params = new URLSearchParams(queryString);
	const encodedBackTo = params.get('backTo');
	if (encodedBackTo) {
	// Prefer the backTo param when present; it points to the exact search state we left.
	backToRoute = normalizeRoute(decodeURIComponent(encodedBackTo));
	}
	}
	if (!backToRoute && activeRoute.startsWith(ROUTES.SEARCH_ROOT.route)) {
	// Otherwise keep the current search route (preserves tab + filters) as the return target.
	backToRoute = activeRoute;
	}
	}
	if (!backToRoute?.startsWith(ROUTES.SEARCH_ROOT.route)) {
	// Fall back to the generic search home when we can't recover a valid route.
	backToRoute = ROUTES.SEARCH_ROOT.route;
	}
	const relativePath = ROUTES.SEARCH_MONEY_REQUEST_REPORT.getRoute({reportID, backTo: backToRoute});
	return `${environmentURL}/${relativePath}`;
	}

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

For workspace chat reports (policy expense chats), we always use direct navigation instead of search context to ensure they open in the workspace chat context (Inbox tab)

Add here

function getReportURLForCurrentContext(reportID: string | undefined, reports: OnyxCollection<Report>)

...

    const report = getReport(reportID, reports);
    const isInSearchContext = isSearchTopmostFullScreenRoute();
    if (!isInSearchContext || isPolicyExpenseChat(report)) {
        return `${environmentURL}/${ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportID)}`;
    }

App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

Lines 12029 to 12032 in 809575d

	const isInSearchContext = isSearchTopmostFullScreenRoute();
	if (!isInSearchContext) {
	return `${environmentURL}/${ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportID)}`;
	}

Then update all places to call getReportURLForCurrentContext to include reports values getting from useOnyx

     const [allReports] = useOnyx(ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT, {canBeMissing: false});

Note: This is important since reports values from Onyx.connect often outdated after re-renders and we are going to deprecate it

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Reminder: Please use plain English, be brief and avoid jargon. Feel free to use images, charts or pseudo-code if necessary. Do not post large multi-line diffs or write walls of text. Do not create PRs unless you have been hired for this job.

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021979254999259299084

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @Krishna2323 (External)

[ShridharGoel]

Proposal

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

Workspace links inside the "moved this report to the WORKSPACE workspace" system message should open the workspace chat inside the Inbox view. Following that link after moving an expense report keeps the app on the Reports split view and shows a wrong UI.

What is the root cause of that problem?

getReportURLForCurrentContext always returns the search-context URL when the current route is search, even for workspace chats. When a user clicks the system message inside Reports, the navigation stays in that context and we render the workspace chat in the wrong pane.

App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

Lines 11975 to 12021 in 7165a14

	function getReportURLForCurrentContext(reportID: string | undefined): string {
	if (!reportID) {
	return `${environmentURL}/r/`;
	}
	const isInSearchContext = isSearchTopmostFullScreenRoute();
	if (!isInSearchContext) {
	return `${environmentURL}/${ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportID)}`;
	}
	// Navigation can return routes with a leading slash or missing when still mounting.
	// Normalize everything to match the path shape used by ROUTES helpers.
	const normalizeRoute = (route?: string) => {
	if (!route) {
	return undefined;
	}
	return route.startsWith('/') ? route.substring(1) : route;
	};
	const activeRoute = normalizeRoute(Navigation.getActiveRoute());
	let backToRoute: string | undefined;
	if (activeRoute) {
	const [, queryString = ''] = activeRoute.split('?');
	if (queryString) {
	const params = new URLSearchParams(queryString);
	const encodedBackTo = params.get('backTo');
	if (encodedBackTo) {
	// Prefer the backTo param when present; it points to the exact search state we left.
	backToRoute = normalizeRoute(decodeURIComponent(encodedBackTo));
	}
	}
	if (!backToRoute && activeRoute.startsWith(ROUTES.SEARCH_ROOT.route)) {
	// Otherwise keep the current search route (preserves tab + filters) as the return target.
	backToRoute = activeRoute;
	}
	}
	if (!backToRoute?.startsWith(ROUTES.SEARCH_ROOT.route)) {
	// Fall back to the generic search home when we can't recover a valid route.
	backToRoute = ROUTES.SEARCH_ROOT.route;
	}
	const relativePath = ROUTES.SEARCH_MONEY_REQUEST_REPORT.getRoute({reportID, backTo: backToRoute});
	return `${environmentURL}/${relativePath}`;
	}

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

Detect when the target report is a policyExpenseChat and bypass the search-specific route builder, updating navigation to the regular /r/:reportID route. This moves workspace chats into the central Inbox pane regardless of where the link was clicked.

The updated code looks like this:

function getReportURLForCurrentContext(reportID: string | undefined): string {
    if (!reportID) {
        return `${environmentURL}/r/`;
    }
    const report = allReports?.[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT}${reportID}`]; // New
    const shouldBypassSearchContext = isPolicyExpenseChat(report); // New

    const isInSearchContext = isSearchTopmostFullScreenRoute();
    if (!isInSearchContext || shouldBypassSearchContext) { // Updated
        return `${environmentURL}/${ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportID)}`;
    }

    // .... existing code
}

We should also update tests/unit/ReportUtilsTest.ts to assert that policyExpenseChat links now bypass the search URL.

New unit test can be added:

it('opens workspace chats outside of the search context', async () => {
    const reportID = 'workspaceChatReportID';
    mockIsSearchTopmostFullScreenRoute.mockReturnValue(true);
    mockGetActiveRoute.mockReturnValue('search?q=type:report');
    await Onyx.merge(`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT}${reportID}`, {
        reportID,
        chatType: CONST.REPORT.CHAT_TYPE.POLICY_EXPENSE_CHAT,
    });
    await flushPromises();
    expect(getReportURLForCurrentContext(reportID)).toBe(`${environmentURL}/${ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportID)}`);
    await Onyx.clear();
});

[bernhardoj]

Proposal

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

WS chat link from MOVED action message opens the WS chat within Reports page.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The MOVED action message is built from this function and the link is from getReportURLForCurrentContext.

App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

Lines 6524 to 6528 in cc0751e

	return translateLocal('iou.movedAction', {
	shouldHideMovedReportUrl: !isDM(report),
	movedReportUrl: getReportURLForCurrentContext(movedReportID),
	newParentReportUrl: getReportURLForCurrentContext(newParentReportID),
	toPolicyName,

getReportURLForCurrentContext returns the URL depends on whether the user is on Reports tab or not. If true, then it will return the search money request report page URL.

App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

Lines 12019 to 12020 in cc0751e

	const relativePath = ROUTES.SEARCH_MONEY_REQUEST_REPORT.getRoute({reportID, backTo: backToRoute});
	return `${environmentURL}/${relativePath}`;

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

getReportURLForCurrentContext already does it job well, what we need is to remove the usage of getReportURLForCurrentContext when building the workspace URL (newParentReportUrl).

App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

Lines 6524 to 6528 in cc0751e

	return translateLocal('iou.movedAction', {
	shouldHideMovedReportUrl: !isDM(report),
	movedReportUrl: getReportURLForCurrentContext(movedReportID),
	newParentReportUrl: getReportURLForCurrentContext(newParentReportID),
	toPolicyName,

newParentReportUrl: `${environmentURL}/${ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(newParentReportID)}`,

For movedReportUrl, it will only be used if shouldHideMovedReportUrl is false, which is true inside the DM (when we move from DM to WS, the DM will also receive the MOVED action).

There is no way to access the DM chat from the Reports > Reports tab, but we can still access it from Reports > Chats.

If we don't want it to open on search money request report, then we can also apply the same fix to movedReportUrl.