[Due for payment 2026-05-15] Distance - "Please select a valid waypoint" after clear waypoints & saving manual distance

[mitarachim]

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Version Number: 9.3.68-0
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: #85493
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): onjonoijojojoisjiodjosd@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Mac 26.2 / Chrome
App Component: Money Requests

Action Performed:

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to workspace chat.
3. Create a distance expense.
4. Open the expense.
5. Click Distance.
6. Clear the waypoints.
7. Go to Manual tab.
8. Enter distance and save it.

Expected Result:

User should not be allowed to proceed without waypoints.

Actual Result:

User can proceed without waypoints, then "Please select a valid waypoint" shows up after saving the manual distance.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7146591_1778108967573.5.mp4

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[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #85493

[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 user clears waypoints and saves via the Manual tab, submitManualDistance unconditionally sends the current waypoints state to updateMoneyRequestDistance. After clearing, waypoints resolves to empty placeholders ({waypoint0: {keyForList: 'start_waypoint'}, waypoint1: {keyForList: 'stop_waypoint'}}) — see line 120-130. Since the backup transaction had real addresses, haveWaypointAddressesChanged returns true, bypassing the early return, so the empty waypoints get sent to the server. sanitizeWaypointsForAPI strips them down to empty objects {}, and the server rejects the request with a noRoute violation that surfaces as "Please select a valid address."

This was introduced by PR #85493.

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

In submitManualDistance in IOURequestStepDistance.tsx, treat cleared waypoints as unchanged so they are not sent to the API. Change the haveWaypointsChanged check to also account for empty waypoints:

const haveWaypointsChanged = !areTransactionWaypointsEmpty && haveWaypointAddressesChanged(transactionBackup?.comment?.waypoints, waypoints);

When areTransactionWaypointsEmpty is true (already computed at line 118), this forces haveWaypointsChanged to false, so the empty placeholder waypoints are never sent to the server — only the manual distance value is updated.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

1. Strip waypoints entirely in submitManualDistance before calling updateMoneyRequestDistance — more invasive, and the existing areTransactionWaypointsEmpty flag already captures the right condition.
2. Update isManualDistanceRequest to recognize {waypoint0: {}, waypoint1: {}} as empty — this would fix classification but wouldn't prevent the invalid waypoints from being sent to the server in the first place.

Investigation details

Data flow of the bug:

1. User opens distance expense edit → backup transaction created with original waypoints
2. User clears waypoints on Map tab → waypoints become empty placeholders
3. User switches to Manual tab, enters distance, saves
4. submitManualDistance runs → haveWaypointAddressesChanged(backup, empty) returns true
5. updateMoneyRequestDistance called with empty waypoints + distance
6. sanitizeWaypointsForAPI strips keyForList, leaving {} objects
7. Server rejects empty waypoints → returns noRoute violation → "Please select a valid address"

Key code locations:

• Empty waypoint default: IOURequestStepDistance.tsx:118-130
• Waypoints-changed check: IOURequestStepDistance.tsx:597-601
• API call with empty waypoints: IOURequestStepDistance.tsx:608-624
• noRoute error string: en.ts:8521

Possibly related: #89842 (Manual tab shows 0 mile after editing distance on Map tab) — may share a similar root cause around waypoint/distance state during tab switches.

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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.