[Due for payment 2026-05-20] [$250] Expensify Card - Card in system message is not hyperlinked when accessed as a copilot

[lanitochka17]

If you haven’t already, check out our contributing guidelines for onboarding and email contributors@expensify.com to request to join our Slack channel!

---

Version Number: 9.3.62-8
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-22585/folder/13176890/41237378/1371128462
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): applausetester+bm1010@applause.expensifail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Web, android
App Component: Workspace Settings

Action Performed:

Preconditions:
Issue a virtual Expensify card to yourself.
Add a copilot with any access level to the account.

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Log in as the copilot.
3. Switch to the admin's account via the account switcher.
4. Navigate to the Workspace chat containing the system message about the issued card.

Expected Result:

"card" in the system message should be hyperlinked.

Actual Result:

"Card" in the system message is displayed as plain text and is not hyperlinked when viewed by a copilot.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7139580_1777322067025.bandicam_2026-04-27_23-29-22-105.mp4

View all open jobs on GitHub

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @mallenexpensify

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022049461076450224898
• Upwork Job ID: 2049461076450224898
• Last Price Increase: 2026-04-29

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

What is the root cause of that problem?

When a copilot connects as a delegate, Onyx.clear() wipes all data except a small preserved list — and neither CARD_LIST nor WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST is preserved (KEYS_TO_PRESERVE_DELEGATE_ACCESS). After clearing, openApp() reloads data, but WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST is only populated by card-specific API calls (e.g., navigating to card management pages), not by OpenApp.

When IssueCardMessage renders, useGetExpensifyCardFromReportAction tries to look up the card. For admin copilots it checks WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST (empty → undefined); for non-admin copilots it checks CARD_LIST (which only has cards assigned to the session user, not the card referenced in the message). Either way, expensifyCard resolves to undefined.

This causes isCardActive(undefined) to return false, so expensifyCardLink renders plain text instead of an <a> tag.

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

The fix should ensure the card data is available when rendering the system message in a delegate session. Two possible approaches:

1. Fetch card data on demand in IssueCardMessage: When expensifyCard is undefined and the report action contains a valid cardID, trigger a lazy fetch of the card details (similar to how card management pages load WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST). This would populate Onyx, and the hook would re-render with the correct data.

2. Decouple the hyperlink from card state: Change the link rendering logic in getCardIssuedMessage so that the hyperlink is always rendered when a valid cardID exists in the report action's original message, regardless of whether the full card object is loaded. The isCardActive check could be deferred to the destination page rather than gating the link itself.

Approach 2 is simpler and avoids an extra API call — the link destination can handle showing appropriate state if the card is closed/deactivated.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Adding CARD_LIST/WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST to KEYS_TO_PRESERVE_DELEGATE_ACCESS was considered but rejected — the preserved data would belong to the copilot's own account, not the delegator's, so it wouldn't help and could cause data conflicts.

---

Next Steps for Contributor+ team: Reply with @MelvinBot implement this to create a draft PR, @MelvinBot <your feedback> to refine this analysis, or explain why you are rejecting Melvin's proposal.

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @cretadn22 (External)

[MobileMage]

Proposal

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

When a copilot (delegate) accesses an admin's workspace and views a system message about a newly issued virtual Expensify card, the word "card" appears as plain text rather than a hyperlink to the card details page.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The hyperlink is only rendered when expensifyCard is a non-undefined, active card object. The card lookup happens in useGetExpensifyCardFromReportAction: when isPolicyAdmin(policy) is true, it looks up the card from the workspace card list (which contains the card); when false, it falls back to allUserCards (the card holder's personal card list). A copilot acting as a delegate for an admin does not have the workspace's policies in their own account with an admin policy.role, so isPolicyAdmin returns false for them. The copilot also doesn't own the card themselves, so allUserCards does not contain it either. This means expensifyCard is undefined for the copilot, isCardActive returns false, and the expensifyCardLink function skips the <a> tag and returns plain text.

App/src/hooks/useGetExpensifyCardFromReportAction.ts

Lines 9 to 27 in c0f0d68

	function useGetExpensifyCardFromReportAction({reportAction, policyID}: {reportAction?: ReportAction; policyID?: string}): Card | undefined {
	const allUserCards = useCardList();
	const allExpensifyCards = useWorkspaceCardList();
	const policy = usePolicy(policyID);
	const workspaceAccountID = policy?.workspaceAccountID ?? CONST.DEFAULT_NUMBER_ID;
	const cardIssuedActionOriginalMessage = isCardIssuedAction(reportAction) ? getOriginalMessage(reportAction) : undefined;
	const cardID = cardIssuedActionOriginalMessage?.cardID ?? CONST.DEFAULT_NUMBER_ID;
	if (!isPolicyAdmin(policy)) {
	return allUserCards?.[cardID];
	}
	// Issued Expensify Cards live on one of two Onyx keys: regular cards on the 2-segment key,
	// Travel Invoicing cards on the `_TRAVEL_US` variant. Check both.
	return (
	allExpensifyCards?.[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST}${workspaceAccountID}_${CONST.EXPENSIFY_CARD.BANK}`]?.[cardID] ??
	allExpensifyCards?.[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST}${workspaceAccountID}_${CONST.EXPENSIFY_CARD.BANK}_${CONST.TRAVEL.PROGRAM_TRAVEL_US}`]?.[cardID]
	);
	}

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

The fix should be made in useGetExpensifyCardFromReportAction. When isPolicyAdmin(policy) returns false, the hook should still attempt to look up the card from the workspace card list before falling back to allUserCards. This way, a copilot who has admin access to the policy via delegation will find the card in the workspace list. Concretely, in the non-admin branch, after checking allUserCards, the hook should also check allExpensifyCards using the same two keys it checks in the admin branch — if a card is found there, return it. The resulting card object will be passed to getCardIssuedMessage, isCardActive will return true, and the link will render correctly for copilots just as it does for workspace admins.

App/src/hooks/useGetExpensifyCardFromReportAction.ts

Lines 17 to 26 in c0f0d68

	if (!isPolicyAdmin(policy)) {
	return allUserCards?.[cardID];
	}
	// Issued Expensify Cards live on one of two Onyx keys: regular cards on the 2-segment key,
	// Travel Invoicing cards on the `_TRAVEL_US` variant. Check both.
	return (
	allExpensifyCards?.[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST}${workspaceAccountID}_${CONST.EXPENSIFY_CARD.BANK}`]?.[cardID] ??
	allExpensifyCards?.[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST}${workspaceAccountID}_${CONST.EXPENSIFY_CARD.BANK}_${CONST.TRAVEL.PROGRAM_TRAVEL_US}`]?.[cardID]
	);

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

N/A

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022049461076450224898

[KJ21-ENG]

🚨 Edited by proposal-police: This proposal was edited at 2026-04-29 12:13:59 UTC.

Replaces my earlier proposal — sharpened the root cause to anchor on Onyx.clear(KEYS_TO_PRESERVE_DELEGATE_ACCESS) in src/libs/actions/Delegate.ts (which wipes both CARD_LIST and WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST on copilot connect, while OpenApp does not repopulate WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST), folded in verified observations from the attached video, addressed MelvinBot's overlapping analysis, and replaced the original Step 1 (which incorrectly assumed cardList / the derived nonPersonalAndWorkspaceCardList would already contain the issued card post-delegate-clear) with a state-independent fix.

Proposal

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

When a copilot logs in to their own account, switches to the admin's account via the account switcher (delegate access), and opens the workspace chat that contains the CARDISSUEDVIRTUAL system message ("issued a virtual Expensify Card! The card can be used right away."), the word card is rendered as plain text instead of as an <a> to the card details page. In the admin's own (non-copilot) session the same word is hyperlinked, so the copilot-as-admin view is the regression.

Verified from the attached video: the system message renders the assignee mention chip correctly (HTML rendering is working), and the trailing "card" word is unmistakably plain text — same colour and weight as "The" and "can be used right away.", with no underline or hover affordance. The repro path matches: switch into the bm8833 (Limited delegate) account, open applausetester+bm8833's expenses, scroll to the issued ... system message.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The system-message text is built by getCardIssuedMessage. For CARD_ISSUED_VIRTUAL the card token is interpolated through:

const isExpensifyCardActive = isCardActive(expensifyCard);
const expensifyCardLink = (text) =>
    shouldRenderHTML && isExpensifyCardActive
        ? `<a href='${environmentURL}/${navigateRoute}'>${text}</a>`
        : text;

So the anchor is gated on expensifyCard being a non-closed card object. expensifyCard is supplied by IssueCardMessage via useGetExpensifyCardFromReportAction, which reads from useCardList (ONYXKEYS.CARD_LIST) and useWorkspaceCardList (ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST).

• Trigger. When a copilot connects as a delegate, connectAsDelegate calls Onyx.clear(KEYS_TO_PRESERVE_DELEGATE_ACCESS), then openApp(). The preserve list at Delegate.ts:23-42 does not include CARD_LIST or COLLECTION.WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST, so both are wiped at delegate-switch time.
• Mechanism. OpenApp does not request workspace cards — WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST is only populated by card-specific writes from src/libs/actions/Card.ts (e.g., issuing/configuring a card, or opening the Expensify Card admin page). The delegate has not visited those pages, so post-clear WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST stays empty. CARD_LIST likewise does not contain workspace-issued Expensify Cards (those live on the workspace key). Therefore both branches of useGetExpensifyCardFromReportAction collapse to undefined: when isPolicyAdmin(policy) is true, allExpensifyCards[…BANK][cardID] is undefined; when false, allUserCards[cardID] is undefined.
• Impact. expensifyCard is undefined → isCardActive(undefined) === false → expensifyCardLink('card') returns plain text → the system message renders "The card can be used right away." with no anchor.

This is the only token swap in issuedCardVirtual that depends on session-scoped Onyx data; the assignee mention and the body copy are session-independent, which is why the mention chip renders correctly while only the card link breaks (matches the video exactly).

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

1. Decouple the link from the card-state lookup in getCardIssuedMessage. In src/libs/ReportActionsUtils.ts, change the expensifyCardLink predicate so it renders the anchor whenever shouldRenderHTML && cardID > 0 (a valid cardID is present in the report action's originalMessage) and the resolved expensifyCard is either undefined or in a non-closed state. Keep the closed-card path emitting plain text — that intentional behaviour stays. Source the cardID from the same cardIssuedActionOriginalMessage already destructured a few lines above. This makes the anchor render correctly for the delegate viewer (whose Onyx has no card record) without weakening the closed-card guard for the admin viewer.
2. Make useGetExpensifyCardFromReportAction resilient to a missing card record. In src/hooks/useGetExpensifyCardFromReportAction.ts, return undefined cleanly (no false admin-vs-non-admin assumption) when neither WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST nor CARD_LIST has the entry, so callers that need richer card info (Activate / Add missing details buttons) continue to gate on real data while the link rendering above falls back gracefully. No behaviour change for sessions that do have the card.
3. Add a Jest unit test in tests/unit/ReportActionsUtilsTest.ts covering getCardIssuedMessage for CARD_ISSUED_VIRTUAL with shouldRenderHTML: true under three states: (a) viewer with active card resolved → emits <a href='…'>card</a>, (b) viewer with no card record but valid cardID → emits the same <a> (the delegate case), (c) viewer with closed card → emits plain text. The destination route (ROUTES.SETTINGS_DOMAIN_CARD_DETAIL for non-admins, ROUTES.EXPENSIFY_CARD_DETAILS for admins) is already chosen by shouldNavigateToCardDetails, so the delegate lands on SETTINGS_DOMAIN_CARD_DETAIL and is handled by the existing destination page.

Scope boundaries. Files touched: src/libs/ReportActionsUtils.ts (only the expensifyCardLink predicate inside getCardIssuedMessage), src/hooks/useGetExpensifyCardFromReportAction.ts (return cleanup, no key-list expansion), and a new test in tests/unit/ReportActionsUtilsTest.ts. Platforms: all (web, mWeb, iOS, Android) — the regression is platform-agnostic since both files are shared. Explicitly not touched: the company-card branch (companyCardLink), CARD_REPLACED_VIRTUAL and other getCardIssuedMessage cases, the IssueCardMessage component's button rendering (Activate / Add missing details — those still correctly gate on a real card object), useNonPersonalCardList, sidebar/LHN preview text from SidebarUtils.getCardIssuedMessage callers, KEYS_TO_PRESERVE_DELEGATE_ACCESS in Delegate.ts, and any usePolicy/isPolicyAdmin semantics. No backend or API changes.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

• MelvinBot's proposal (comment 4343515385) overlaps significantly and is correct on the upstream cause — it correctly traces the failure to Onyx.clear(KEYS_TO_PRESERVE_DELEGATE_ACCESS) in Delegate.ts and to OpenApp not repopulating WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST, and its preferred fix (Approach 2: decouple the hyperlink from card-state lookup) matches the change proposed above. Where this proposal differs is granularity: cardID > 0 is a tighter predicate than "always render", it preserves the closed-card-renders-plain-text behaviour for the admin viewer, and it pairs the change with a unit test that locks in the three relevant render states. MelvinBot's Approach 1 (lazy-fetch card data on demand) is rejected here for the same reason — it would issue an extra API call from a chat-message render path on a hot list, and the link target page already handles the closed/deactivated state for the user.
• Fetch WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST in OpenApp for delegate sessions so the lookup succeeds. Rejected as too broad: it loads admin-only data into every delegate session, including delegates with non-admin roles who never need the workspace cards collection, just to get one anchor to render.
• Preserve CARD_LIST / WORKSPACE_CARDS_LIST in KEYS_TO_PRESERVE_DELEGATE_ACCESS. Rejected for the same reason MelvinBot rejects it — the preserved data would belong to the copilot's own account (the session being cleared), not the admin's, so it would not contain the admin's issued cardID and could mask itself as stale data after the role flip.
• Resolve the card via a delegatedAccess-scoped read from the admin's Onyx (e.g., re-keying useCardList per delegated account). Rejected as out of scope; it would require touching every consumer of useCardList / useWorkspaceCardList and changing session-scoped reads, while the actual user-visible gap is a single anchor that does not need full card data to render correctly.

[github-actions]

⚠️ @KJ21-ENG Your proposal is a duplicate of an already existing proposal and has been automatically withdrawn to prevent spam. Please review the existing proposals before submitting a new one.

[KJ21-ENG]

Updated my proposal — folded in verified video findings, sharpened the root cause to anchor on Onyx.clear(KEYS_TO_PRESERVE_DELEGATE_ACCESS) in Delegate.ts, and addressed the overlap with MelvinBot's analysis.

[Yatin-Bhatti]

🚫 Duplicated proposal withdrawn by 🤖 ProposalPolice.