[$250] Web - Opened report is not displayed in LHN unless pinned

[vincdargento]

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Version Number: v9.3.51-3
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://github.com/Expensify/Expensify/issues/350981
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): N/A
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team

Action Performed:

1. Sign in to staging.new.expenisfy.com with an account that has a workspace
2. Go offline
3. Create an expense/ report in the workspace chat
4. Open the expense report created in step 3

Expected Result:

The LHN shows the newly created Expense report towards the top of non-archived reports in LHN rather than at the bottom.

Actual Result:

Opened report is not displayed in LHN unless pinned

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @abzokhattab

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022039373602470334097
• Upwork Job ID: 2039373602470334097
• Last Price Increase: 2026-04-22

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

What is the root cause of that problem?

When an expense is created offline in a workspace chat, buildOptimisticReportPreview (ReportUtils.ts:7653-7683) creates a REPORT_PREVIEW action but does not set childVisibleActionCount. This property defaults to undefined, which downstream code coalesces to 0.

This has two cascading effects that prevent the report from appearing in the LHN:

1. canHideReport is always true for new reports: In shouldHideReport (ReportUtils.ts:9213-9218), the check (reportAction?.childVisibleActionCount ?? 0) > 0 evaluates to false for the optimistic REPORT_PREVIEW, so isChildReportHasComment is false and canHideReport = true.

2. Missing lastMessageText on the chat report: buildOnyxDataForMoneyRequest (IOU/index.ts:1959-1973) does not explicitly set lastMessageText on the parent chat report. Compare with buildOnyxDataForTrackExpense (IOU/index.ts:2649) which does. This forces generateIsEmptyReport (ReportUtils.ts:9078-9089) to fall back to scanning report actions via getLastVisibleMessage. If the reportAttributes derived value caches isEmpty: true before the optimistic report actions are available in Onyx, the LHN uses the stale cached value.

Additionally, in Focus/GSD mode, the optimistic data sets lastReadTime equal to lastVisibleActionCreated (IOU/index.ts:1966-1967), making the workspace chat appear "read" and excluded by the Focus mode filter (ReportUtils.ts:9722-9729).

The expense report itself has notificationPreference: HIDDEN (ReportUtils.ts:6950) by design. It relies on requiresAttention or isFocused in shouldOverrideHidden (SidebarUtils.ts:276-288) to appear in the LHN. Without properly computed requiresAttention from the derived value, it remains hidden. Pinning works because !!report.isPinned is one of the override conditions, which explains the workaround mentioned in the issue.

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

1. Set childVisibleActionCount: 1 on the optimistic REPORT_PREVIEW action in buildOptimisticReportPreview (ReportUtils.ts:7675). This ensures shouldHideReport returns false and canHideReport is false for newly created expense reports.

2. Set lastMessageText on the chat report in buildOnyxDataForMoneyRequest (IOU/index.ts:1964), matching the pattern used in buildOnyxDataForTrackExpense at line 2649. This ensures generateIsEmptyReport immediately returns false without needing to scan report actions, eliminating the timing dependency on the derived value cache.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

An alternative would be to adjust shouldDisplayReportInLHN to recognize optimistic expense reports and force them visible, but that would be a workaround rather than fixing the data that drives the existing filter logic. The proposed fix aligns the money request flow with the track expense flow, which already handles this correctly.

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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 - @abzokhattab (External)

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022039373602470334097

[KJ21-ENG]

Proposal

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

When creating an expense report offline from a workspace chat and opening it immediately, the new expense report can be missing from the LHN (unless manually pinned). Users can be inside the report, but it is not reliably visible in the report list.

What is the root cause of that problem?

This is caused by an optimistic-data gap in the money-request path.

1. The optimistic REPORT_PREVIEW created for the parent chat does not initialize childVisibleActionCount, so it defaults to 0 in downstream checks.
   

   App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

   Lines 7432 to 7478 in 1d43910

   	function buildOptimisticReportPreview(
   	chatReport: OnyxInputOrEntry<Report>,
   	iouReport: Report,
   	comment = '',
   	transaction: OnyxInputOrEntry<Transaction> = null,
   	childReportID?: string,
   	reportActionID?: string,
   	): ReportAction<typeof CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.REPORT_PREVIEW> {
   	const hasReceipt = hasReceiptTransactionUtils(transaction);
   	const message = getReportPreviewMessage(iouReport);
   	const created = DateUtils.getDBTime();
   	const reportActorAccountID = (isInvoiceReport(iouReport) || isExpenseReport(iouReport) ? iouReport?.ownerAccountID : iouReport?.managerID) ?? -1;
   	const delegateAccountDetails = getPersonalDetailByEmail(delegateEmail);
   	const isTestTransaction = isTestTransactionReport(iouReport);
   	const isTestDriveTransaction = !!transaction?.receipt?.isTestDriveReceipt;
   	const isScanRequest = transaction ? isScanRequestTransactionUtils(transaction) : false;
   	return {
   	reportActionID: reportActionID ?? rand64(),
   	reportID: chatReport?.reportID,
   	actionName: CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.REPORT_PREVIEW,
   	pendingAction: CONST.RED_BRICK_ROAD_PENDING_ACTION.ADD,
   	originalMessage: {
   	linkedReportID: iouReport?.reportID,
   	},
   	message: [
   	{
   	html: message,
   	text: message,
   	isEdited: false,
   	type: CONST.REPORT.MESSAGE.TYPE.COMMENT,
   	},
   	],
   	delegateAccountID: delegateAccountDetails?.accountID,
   	created,
   	accountID: iouReport?.managerID,
   	// The preview is initially whispered if created with a receipt, so the actor is the current user as well
   	actorAccountID: hasReceipt ? currentUserAccountID : reportActorAccountID,
   	childReportID: childReportID ?? iouReport?.reportID,
   	childMoneyRequestCount: 1,
   	isOptimisticAction: true,
   	childLastActorAccountID: currentUserAccountID,
   	childLastMoneyRequestComment: comment,
   	childRecentReceiptTransactionIDs: hasReceipt && !isEmptyObject(transaction) && transaction?.transactionID ? {[transaction.transactionID]: created} : undefined,
   	childOwnerAccountID: iouReport?.ownerAccountID,
   	childManagerAccountID: iouReport?.managerID,
   	...((isTestDriveTransaction || isTestTransaction) && !isScanRequest && {childStateNum: 2, childStatusNum: 4}),
   	};

   
   

   App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

   Lines 8966 to 8982 in 1d43910

   	function shouldHideReport(
   	report: OnyxEntry<Report>,
   	currentReportId: string | undefined,
   	isReportArchived: boolean | undefined,
   	visibleReportActionsData?: VisibleReportActionsDerivedValue,
   	): boolean {
   	const currentReport = getReportOrDraftReport(currentReportId);
   	const parentReport = getParentReport(!isEmptyObject(currentReport) ? currentReport : undefined);
   	const reportActions = allReportActions?.[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_ACTIONS}${report?.reportID}`] ?? {};
   	const reportID = report?.reportID;
   	const canPerformWrite = canUserPerformWriteAction(report, isReportArchived);
   	const isChildReportHasComment =
   	!!reportID &&
   	Object.values(reportActions ?? {})?.some(
   	(reportAction) => (reportAction?.childVisibleActionCount ?? 0) > 0 && isReportActionVisible(reportAction, reportID, canPerformWrite, visibleReportActionsData),
   	);
   	return parentReport?.reportID !== report?.reportID && !isChildReportHasComment;

2. In buildOnyxDataForMoneyRequest(), the optimistic merge for chat.report updates lastReadTime / lastVisibleActionCreated but does not set lastMessageText (unlike the track-expense flow). That means empty-state logic can temporarily treat the report as empty until actions settle.
   

   App/src/libs/actions/IOU/index.ts

   Lines 2018 to 2031 in 1d43910

   	if (chat.report) {
   	onyxData.optimisticData?.push({
   	// Use SET for new reports because it doesn't exist yet, is faster and we need the data to be available when we navigate to the chat page
   	onyxMethod: isNewChatReport ? Onyx.METHOD.SET : Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
   	key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT}${chat.report.reportID}`,
   	value: {
   	...chat.report,
   	lastReadTime: DateUtils.getDBTime(),
   	...(shouldCreateNewMoneyRequestReport ? {lastVisibleActionCreated: chat.reportPreviewAction.created} : {}),
   	// do not update iouReportID if auto submit beta is enabled and it is a scan request
   	...(isASAPSubmitBetaEnabled && isScanRequest ? {} : {iouReportID: iou.report.reportID}),
   	...outstandingChildRequest,
   	...(isNewChatReport ? {pendingFields: {createChat: CONST.RED_BRICK_ROAD_PENDING_ACTION.ADD}} : {}),
   	},

   
   

   App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

   Lines 8869 to 8879 in 1d43910

   	function generateIsEmptyReport(report: OnyxEntry<Report>, isReportArchived: boolean | undefined): boolean {
   	if (!report) {
   	return true;
   	}
   	if (report.lastMessageText) {
   	return false;
   	}
   	const lastVisibleMessage = getLastVisibleMessage(report.reportID, isReportArchived);
   	return !lastVisibleMessage.lastMessageText;

Because newly created expense reports are hidden-by-default unless they satisfy an override signal (attention/focus/pin), this transient optimistic state can suppress their LHN visibility. Pinning works because it forces the hidden override path.

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

1. In buildOptimisticReportPreview(), set childVisibleActionCount: 1 when creating the optimistic preview action.
2. In buildOnyxDataForMoneyRequest(), include lastMessageText/lastMessageHtml on the optimistic chat.report merge, mirroring the pattern already used in track-expense optimistic updates.
3. Add a regression test for the exact offline flow (create expense in workspace chat -> open expense report) asserting the new report appears in LHN without requiring pinning.
4. Keep the pin behavior unchanged; this fix should only make optimistic visibility consistent before server reconciliation.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

• Relaxing LHN hidden filters globally for new reports was considered, but that broadens sidebar behavior and can surface unwanted hidden reports.
• The safer fix is to correct optimistic data parity so existing LHN rules evaluate the new expense report correctly from first render.

[trasnake87]

Proposal

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

When creating an expense report offline in a workspace chat, the newly created expense report does not appear in the LHN (Left Hand Navigation) list unless the user pins it. It should be visible among the non-archived reports.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The root cause is in shouldDisplayReportInLHN in SidebarUtils.ts#L276-L288. When an expense report is created optimistically via buildOptimisticExpenseReport, the payee's notification preference is set to HIDDEN (ReportUtils.ts#L6950). This causes isHiddenForCurrentUser to return true at line 258. Normally when online, the server response updates the participant's notification preference to a visible value, but offline, no server response arrives, so the report stays HIDDEN.

The shouldOverrideHidden check at lines 276-284 does not account for expense reports — it only handles policy expense chats (report.isOwnPolicyExpenseChat), pinned reports, focused reports, system chats, drafts, errors, and reports requiring attention. Since none of these conditions apply to a newly created offline expense report (the submitter's own report doesn't requiresAttention), the function returns {shouldDisplay: false} at line 287, filtering the expense report out of the LHN entirely before shouldReportBeInOptionList is even evaluated. This is consistent with the "unless pinned" workaround — pinning sets report.isPinned which satisfies shouldOverrideHidden.

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

We should add expense reports to the shouldOverrideHidden condition in SidebarUtils.ts so they are not filtered out by the hidden check. Expense reports always start with HIDDEN notification preference by design, so they should always override that status to appear in the LHN:

// src/libs/SidebarUtils.ts, line 276-284
 const shouldOverrideHidden =
     !!draftComment ||
     hasErrorsOtherThanFailedReceipt ||
     isFocused ||
     isSystemChat ||
     !!report.isPinned ||
     // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/prefer-nullish-coalescing
     requiresAttention ||
-    (report.isOwnPolicyExpenseChat && !isReportArchived);
+    (report.isOwnPolicyExpenseChat && !isReportArchived) ||
+    isExpenseReport(report);

isExpenseReport is already imported in SidebarUtils.ts (line 173). This ensures expense reports always bypass the hidden-notification-preference filter while still being subject to all other LHN filtering logic in reasonForReportToBeInOptionList (e.g., zero-total submitted reports with only a CREATED action are still correctly hidden at line 9670 of ReportUtils.ts).

[trasnake87]

Contributor details
Your Expensify account email: trasnake87@gmail.com
Upwork Profile Link: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~010f770315ab181656

[melvin-bot]

✅ Contributor details stored successfully. Thank you for contributing to Expensify!

[FitseTLT]

I think this is a correct new behavior so the TC should be updated