Spend - Applied columns are not shown when saving search

[jponikarchuk]

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Version Number: 9.3.62-1
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: N/A - new feature, doesn't exist in prod
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #88448
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): oijdsojsonjsosdosd@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Mac 26.2 / Chrome
App Component: Search

Action Performed:

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to Spend > All expenses.
3. Click Save.
   → Applied columns are not shown.
4. Click Display > Edit columns.
5. Check/uncheck any column > Save.
6. Click Display > Edit columns.
7. Click Reset columns > Save.
8. Click Save.
   → Applied columns are shown.

Expected Result:

In Step 3, applied columns should be shown when saving search.

Actual Result:

In Step 3, applied columns is not shown when saving search.
In Step 8, the same applied columns are only shown after changing and resetting columns.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Video.mp4

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[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #88448

[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: #88448 - "Add displays section in save search page" by @bernhardoj (High confidence)
Related Issues: #88044

Recommendation: REVERT

PR #88448 introduced the displays section in the Save Search page but has a bug where columns are not shown unless the user has explicitly modified and reset columns at least once. Reverting this PR would eliminate the broken behavior.

Assigned: @bernhardoj (PR author), @aimane-chnaif and @JS00001 (approving reviewers) from highest-confidence causing PR only
Labels: DeployBlockerCash kept (frontend App bug). No label changes were needed — DeployBlocker (web/backend) was not present, and DeployBlockerCash should remain.

Detailed Analysis

Evidence

• The melvin-bot automatically identified PR Add displays section in save search page #88448 as the cause (from the Fixed Issues link in the PR matching the reported regression).
• PR Add displays section in save search page #88448 adds a new "Display" section to SearchSavePage.tsx that is supposed to show the applied display options (groupBy, columns, sortBy, etc.) when a user opens the Save Search dialog.
• The bug occurs in the specific case of going to "All expenses" and immediately clicking Save, without first interacting with the Display > Edit columns flow.
• After the user edits and resets columns (triggering applyChanges in SearchColumnsPage.tsx), the columns field is explicitly written into the Onyx form (ONYXKEYS.FORMS.SEARCH_ADVANCED_FILTERS_FORM), and then it is visible in the Save dialog. This explains why the workaround (check/uncheck any column > save > reset columns > save) causes columns to appear.

Verification

• Affected files: src/pages/Search/SearchSavePage.tsx, src/components/Search/SearchPageHeader/useSearchFiltersBar.tsx, src/libs/SearchUIUtils.ts
• PR Add displays section in save search page #88448 directly modifies all three of these files.
• The new getAppliedDisplays function (lines 94-125 of SearchSavePage.tsx) reads searchAdvancedFiltersForm.columns from Onyx to build the display list.

Root Cause

The getAppliedDisplays function reads searchAdvancedFiltersForm.columns from the Onyx form to populate the columns display in the Save Search dialog. However, when a user navigates to "All expenses" and clicks Save without having interacted with the Edit columns flow, searchAdvancedFiltersForm.columns is undefined or empty — the default columns are not pre-populated into the Onyx form. Columns only get written to the form when the user explicitly applies a column selection via applyChanges in SearchColumnsPage.tsx.

As a result, the applied columns section always shows "None" on first save, even though columns are being used. The user sees columns only after explicitly going through the Edit columns and Reset columns flow, which forces the form to be updated. This is a significant user experience deterioration for a new feature in this staging release (does not exist in production yet).