Expense - Attachments are not stored in the correct report, empty report is shown

[jponikarchuk]

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Version Number: v9.1.99-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: #68692
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): agexptest+pr2608a@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: Samsung S23FE/ Android 15
App Component: Money Requests

Action Performed:

1. Launch the Expensify app
2. Log in with a Gmail account
3. Create an empty report in a workspace chat
4. Go to the expense report
5. Tap Add expense > Create expense > Complete the flow with any details
6. In the expense details page, tap the + button next to the composer > Add Attachment > Select any file > Submit
7. Go back to the workspace chat
8. Go to the report thread again
9. Tap More > Add expense > Create expense > Complete the flow with any details

Expected Result:

After steps 6 and 8, the expense details remain displayed.
After step 9, the attachment is displayed within the initial expense thread.

Actual Result:

After step 6, observe that the expense details have gone.
After step 8, observe that the expense details are displayed again.
After step 9, the attachment is displayed within the report thread instead of the initial expense thread.

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

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @DylanDylann

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @sonialiap (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.

[melvin-bot]

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

[melvin-bot]

Unable to auto-create job on Upwork. The BZ team member should create it manually for this issue.

[melvin-bot]

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

[DylanDylann]

Looking for proposals

[kaushiktd]

🚨 Edited by proposal-police: This proposal was edited at 2025-09-09 06:51:00 UTC.

Proposal

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

Attachments are not stored in the correct report, empty report is shown

What is the root cause of that problem?

In current code submitForm only uses reportID (parent report) for attachments here:

const submitForm = useCallback(
        (newComment: string) => {
            const newCommentTrimmed = newComment.trim();

            if (attachmentFileRef.current) {
                if (Array.isArray(attachmentFileRef.current)) {
                    // Handle multiple files
                    attachmentFileRef.current.forEach((file) => {
                        addAttachmentReportActions(reportID, file, newCommentTrimmed, true);
                    });
                } else {
                    // Handle single file
                    addAttachmentReportActions(reportID, attachmentFileRef.current, newCommentTrimmed, true);
                }
                attachmentFileRef.current = null;
            } else {
                Performance.markStart(CONST.TIMING.SEND_MESSAGE, {message: newCommentTrimmed});
                Timing.start(CONST.TIMING.SEND_MESSAGE);
                onSubmit(newCommentTrimmed);
            }
        },
        [onSubmit, reportID],
    );

This causes just created expense's attachments to always go to the parent report, ignoring the child expense thread.

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

Add lastPreviewAction to include all valid child actions in src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/ReportActionCompose.tsx

const validActionTypes = [
    CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.REPORT_PREVIEW,
    CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.IOU,
    CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.MODIFIED_EXPENSE,
    CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.CREATED,
    CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.SUBMITTED,
] as const;

function isValidChildAction(actionName: string): actionName is
    | typeof CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.REPORT_PREVIEW
    | typeof CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.IOU
    | typeof CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.MODIFIED_EXPENSE
    | typeof CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.CREATED
    | typeof CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.SUBMITTED {
    return (validActionTypes as readonly string[]).includes(actionName);
}

const lastPreviewAction = useMemo(() => {
    const action = getLastVisibleAction(reportID);
    if (action && isValidChildAction(action.actionName)) {
        return action;
    }
    return null;
}, [reportID]);

This ensures we capture all relevant child/expense thread actions and avoid null in most valid scenarios.

Update submitForm to use childReportID derived from lastPreviewAction here:

    const submitForm = useCallback(
        (newComment: string) => {
            const newCommentTrimmed = newComment.trim();
            const childReportID = lastPreviewAction?.childReportID ?? reportID;
            if (attachmentFileRef.current) {
                if (Array.isArray(attachmentFileRef.current)) {
                    // Handle multiple files
                    attachmentFileRef.current.forEach((file) => {
                        addAttachmentReportActions(childReportID, file, newCommentTrimmed, true);
                    });
                } else {
                    // Handle single file
                    addAttachmentReportActions(childReportID, attachmentFileRef.current, newCommentTrimmed, true);

                }
                attachmentFileRef.current = null;
            } else {
                Performance.markStart(CONST.TIMING.SEND_MESSAGE, { message: newCommentTrimmed });
                Timing.start(CONST.TIMING.SEND_MESSAGE);
                onSubmit(newCommentTrimmed);
            }
        },
        [onSubmit, reportID, lastPreviewAction?.childReportID],
    );

This ensures attachments are posted to the correct child expense thread, even immediately after creation.
Falls back safely to the parent report if no child report exists.

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

Submitting an attachment immediately after creating an expense → should land in the child report.
Submitting an attachment after navigating away and back → still attaches to the correct child thread.
Submitting without a child thread (e.g., normal chat) → falls back to parent report.
Attachments attach to the correct report.

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.