Onboarding-Onboarding modal is not shown after redirecting from OD

[mitarachim]

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

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Version Number: 9.3.62-7
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/41237671
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): N/A
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Regression TC Execution
Device used: MacBook Air 15.7.4 Chrome
App Component: Other

Action Performed:

1. Open a fresh incognito window
2. Go to OD - staging.expensify.com
3. Select "Manage my company's expenses 1-9"
4. Sign up with a new account without a "+" ([anything]@tstsg.com)
5. Click on "Get Started", then "Join"
6. Verify that you are redirected to NewDot and the onboarding modal is displayed

Expected Result:

The onboarding modal is displayed for a new user after being redirected from OD

Actual Result:

Onboarding modal is not shown for a new user after redirecting from OD

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7139559_1777319904060.No_onboarding_1.mp4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @Krishna2323

[melvin-bot]

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

[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.

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

What is the root cause of that problem?

When a new user signs up on OldDot and gets redirected to NewDot via /transition, the onboarding modal is skipped due to the isInvitedOrGroupMember check in useOnboardingFlow.ts:86-91.

OldDot's sign-up flow (selecting "Manage my company's expenses 1-9") sets nvp_introSelected with an inviteType, which makes wasInvitedToNewDotSelector return true. It may also create a workspace policy, making hasNonPersonalPolicy true. Either condition causes isInvitedOrGroupMember to be true, and the hook returns early at line 90 — never calling startOnboardingFlow().

Additionally, the OnboardingGuard also skips onboarding because isTransitioning is true (the browser URL still contains "transition" after auth completes) and isInvitedOrGroupMember is also true at the guard level (line 173). So both mechanisms that could trigger onboarding are blocked.

This is not reproducible in production because the current production build predates the code that introduced the isInvitedOrGroupMember skip in the useOnboardingFlowRouter hook and the new OnboardingGuard.

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

The isInvitedOrGroupMember check in useOnboardingFlow.ts (line 88-90) should not skip onboarding for users who haven't completed it (hasCompletedGuidedSetupFlow === false). Users coming from OldDot sign-up with nvp_introSelected set still need to go through the NewDot onboarding flow.

The fix should refine the skip condition so that isInvitedOrGroupMember only causes a skip when the user has actually completed onboarding or when the NVP_ONBOARDING data indicates they don't need it. One approach: check isOnboardingCompleted !== false before applying the isInvitedOrGroupMember early return in the hook. The same logic should be reviewed in OnboardingGuard.ts line 173/194 to ensure consistency.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

An alternative would be to fix the isTransitioning check timing so that once auth completes and the URL updates from /transition, the guard properly re-evaluates and redirects to onboarding. However, this is fragile and depends on URL update timing. Fixing the isInvitedOrGroupMember logic directly is more reliable since it addresses the core semantic issue: OldDot sign-up users with inviteType set are not the same as users who were genuinely invited to a workspace by another user and don't need onboarding.

Investigation details

Data flow for the bug:

1. User signs up on OldDot, selects "Manage my company's expenses 1-9"
2. OldDot sets nvp_introSelected with inviteType and may create a workspace policy
3. OldDot redirects to new.expensify.com/transition?shortLivedAuthToken=...
4. LogInWithShortLivedAuthTokenPage authenticates the user
5. AuthScreens mounts, useOnboardingFlowRouter hook runs
6. OnboardingGuard evaluates: isTransitioning=true → shouldSkipOnboarding=true → ALLOW (no redirect)
7. Hook evaluates: wasInvitedToNewDot=true (from nvp_introSelected.inviteType) → isInvitedOrGroupMember=true → early return at line 90
8. startOnboardingFlow() is never called → onboarding modal never appears

Key files:

• useOnboardingFlow.ts — Hook with the isInvitedOrGroupMember skip (line 86-91)
• OnboardingGuard.ts — Guard with same skip condition (line 173, 194)
• Onboarding.ts selectors — wasInvitedToNewDotSelector returns true when inviteType is set

Confidence: High — the code path is clear and both skip mechanisms are well-documented in the source.

Possibly related issue: Expensify/App#86498 — same symptom (onboarding not shown after OD redirect), reported in version 9.3.49-2 and reproducible in both staging and production. That issue may share the same root cause at the OnboardingGuard level, while this deploy blocker regression adds the isInvitedOrGroupMember skip in the hook as a second blocker.

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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.