Onboarding - User redirected to first modal after page reload

[jponikarchuk]

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Version Number: v9.3.11-1
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: No
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: https://test-management.browserstack.com/projects/2219752/folder/13176677/test-cases/41237662
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): N/A
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Regression TC Execution
Device used: Windows 11, Chrome
App Component: Other

Action Performed:

1. Go to https://staging.new.expensify.com/
2. Sign up with a Gmail address
3. In 'What’s your work email?' page, click Skip
4. Select Manage my team's expenses > 1-10 employees
5. At 'Do you use any accounting software?' screen, refresh the page.

Expected Result:

After reloading the page during onboarding, the user should remain on 'Do you use any accounting software?' page.

Actual Result:

After reloading the page, the user is redirected back to the first modal page.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

1.mp4

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[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @stitesExpensify (DeployBlockerCash), see https://stackoverflowteams.com/c/expensify/questions/9980/ for more details.

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @CortneyOfstad (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]

💬 A slack conversation has been started in #expensify-open-source

[github-actions]

👋 Friendly reminder that deploy blockers are time-sensitive ⏱ issues! Check out the open `StagingDeployCash` deploy checklist to see the list of PRs included in this release, then work quickly to do one of the following:

1. Identify the pull request that introduced this issue and revert it.
2. Find someone who can quickly fix the issue.
3. Fix the issue yourself.

[OSBotify]

Investigation Summary

Classification: Frontend bug
Causing PR: Unable to determine with high confidence - appears to be a pre-existing issue or race condition
Related Issues: None found

Recommendation: NEEDS INVESTIGATION

The issue requires deeper investigation by the onboarding flow experts to identify the root cause.

Labels: Keeping DeployBlockerCash (App deploy is blocked)

Detailed Analysis

Evidence

The bug occurs when a user refreshes the page during onboarding at the "Do you use any accounting software?" step. After refresh, they are redirected to the first onboarding page instead of staying on the current page.

Code Analysis

The onboarding flow uses ONBOARDING_LAST_VISITED_PATH (stored in Onyx) to track the user's current position in the onboarding flow. On page refresh:

1. NavigationRoot.tsx initialState logic (line 141) checks if onboarding is incomplete
2. Calls getOnboardingInitialPath() with the stored path and onboarding state
3. getOnboardingInitialPath() validates the stored path and returns where to navigate

The issue appears to be that on page refresh, one of these scenarios occurs:

• ONBOARDING_LAST_VISITED_PATH is not persisted or loaded correctly
• Onboarding state values (currentOnboardingCompanySize, currentOnboardingPurposeSelected) are not available when getOnboardingInitialPath() runs
• The validation logic in getOnboardingInitialPath() (line 151-164) incorrectly determines the path is invalid

Investigation Attempts

• Searched staging deploy PRs for onboarding-related changes: No direct modifications found
• Checked NavigationRoot.tsx history: PR [HomePage] Foundation: Add Home Navigation (1/2) - Core #80504 and [No QA][Home Page] Foundation: Add Home Navigation (2/2) - Rename the home directory to inbox #80571 only renamed HOME to INBOX (unrelated)
• Reviewed OnboardingFlow.ts logic: No recent changes to path restoration logic
• Searched for similar issues: None found

Root Cause Hypothesis

This appears to be either:

1. A race condition where Onyx state isn't fully loaded when getOnboardingInitialPath() executes on page refresh
2. A pre-existing bug that was previously undetected
3. A subtle change in navigation or state management that affects onboarding persistence

Why This is a Frontend Bug

• The issue is in the App codebase (onboarding navigation and state management)
• Fix requires changes to NavigationRoot.tsx, OnboardingFlow.ts, or Onyx state persistence
• No backend API changes needed

Next Steps:

• Need help from @adamgrzybowski @luacmartins or other navigation/onboarding experts to identify the root cause
• Should investigate if this reproduces consistently or is a race condition
• May need to add additional logging to understand state at time of refresh