fix: prevent failed search retry flicker

[nabi-ebrahimi]

Explanation of Change

This PR fixes the Something went wrong page flicker for failed Search queries.

The reverted PR removed the broader Search refresh effect, which fixed the flicker but caused stale cached Search regressions. This version keeps the existing refresh behavior and only skips the refresh when the current Search snapshot already has errors.

This prevents Search from re-running the same failed offset: 0 query and clearing errors optimistically, while preserving successful cached Search refreshes for Reports/Draft.

Fixed Issues

$ #92462
PROPOSAL: #92462 (comment)

Tests

1. Go to Spend.
2. Click the magnifying glass icon.
3. Search type:chat category:abcd.
4. Verify the Something went wrong page appears.
5. Verify the page does not flicker back to the loading skeleton.
6. Verify no repeated /Search requests are sent for the same failed query.

• Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Offline tests

N/A. This change only prevents an already failed online Search snapshot from being retried and flickering. It does not change offline behavior.

QA Steps

Same as tests.

// TODO: These must be filled out, or the issue title must include "[No QA]."

• Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

PR Author Checklist

• I linked the correct issue in the ### Fixed Issues section above
• I wrote clear testing steps that cover the changes made in this PR
  • I added steps for local testing in the Tests section
  • I added steps for the expected offline behavior in the Offline steps section
  • I added steps for Staging and/or Production testing in the QA steps section
  • I added steps to cover failure scenarios (i.e. verify an input displays the correct error message if the entered data is not correct)
  • I turned off my network connection and tested it while offline to ensure it matches the expected behavior (i.e. verify the default avatar icon is displayed if app is offline)
  • I tested this PR with a High Traffic account against the staging or production API to ensure there are no regressions (e.g. long loading states that impact usability).
• I included screenshots or videos for tests on all platforms
• I ran the tests on all platforms & verified they passed on:
  • Android: Native
  • Android: mWeb Chrome
  • iOS: Native
  • iOS: mWeb Safari
  • MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• I verified there are no console errors (if there's a console error not related to the PR, report it or open an issue for it to be fixed)
• I followed proper code patterns (see Reviewing the code)
  • I verified that any callback methods that were added or modified are named for what the method does and never what callback they handle (i.e. toggleReport and not onIconClick)
  • I verified that comments were added to code that is not self explanatory
  • I verified that any new or modified comments were clear, correct English, and explained "why" the code was doing something instead of only explaining "what" the code was doing.
  • I verified any copy / text that was added to the app is grammatically correct in English. It adheres to proper capitalization guidelines (note: only the first word of header/labels should be capitalized), and is either coming verbatim from figma or has been approved by marketing (in order to get marketing approval, ask the Bug Zero team member to add the Waiting for copy label to the issue)
• If a new code pattern is added I verified it was agreed to be used by multiple Expensify engineers
• I followed the guidelines as stated in the Review Guidelines
• I tested other components that can be impacted by my changes (i.e. if the PR modifies a shared library or component like Avatar, I verified the components using Avatar are working as expected)
• If any new file was added I verified that:
  • The file has a description of what it does and/or why is needed at the top of the file if the code is not self explanatory
• If a new CSS style is added I verified that:
  • A similar style doesn't already exist
  • The style can't be created with an existing StyleUtils function (i.e. StyleUtils.getBackgroundAndBorderStyle(theme.componentBG))
• If new assets were added or existing ones were modified, I verified that:
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  • The assets load correctly across all supported platforms.
• If the PR modifies code that runs when editing or sending messages, I tested and verified there is no unexpected behavior for all supported markdown - URLs, single line code, code blocks, quotes, headings, bold, strikethrough, and italic.
• If the PR modifies a generic component, I tested and verified that those changes do not break usages of that component in the rest of the App (i.e. if a shared library or component like Avatar is modified, I verified that Avatar is working as expected in all cases)
• If the PR modifies a component related to any of the existing Storybook stories, I tested and verified all stories for that component are still working as expected.
• If the PR modifies a component or page that can be accessed by a direct deeplink, I verified that the code functions as expected when the deeplink is used - from a logged in and logged out account.
• If the PR modifies the UI (e.g. new buttons, new UI components, changing the padding/spacing/sizing, moving components, etc) or modifies the form input styles:
  • I verified that all the inputs inside a form are aligned with each other.
  • I added Design label and/or tagged @Expensify/design so the design team can review the changes.
• I added unit tests for any new feature or bug fix in this PR to help automatically prevent regressions in this user flow.
• If the main branch was merged into this PR after a review, I tested again and verified the outcome was still expected according to the Test steps.

Screenshots/Videos

Android: Native

Screen.Recording.2026-07-02.at.10.10.57.PM.mov

Android: mWeb Chrome

Screen_Recording_20260702_221409_Chrome.mp4

iOS: Native

Screen.Recording.2026-07-02.at.10.23.36.PM.mov

iOS: mWeb Safari

Screen.Recording.2026-07-02.at.10.29.05.PM.mov

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screen.Recording.2026-07-02.at.10.03.15.PM.mov

[nabi-ebrahimi]

Also the failing test is not related to our PR changes, thanks

[melvin-bot]

@QichenZhu Please copy/paste the Reviewer Checklist from here into a new comment on this PR and complete it. If you have the K2 extension, you can simply click: [this button]

[melvin-bot]

@blimpich Please copy/paste the Reviewer Checklist from here into a new comment on this PR and complete it. If you have the K2 extension, you can simply click: [this button]

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[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ Changes either increased or maintained existing code coverage, great job!

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
src/components/Search/index.tsx	45.43% <100.00%> (+44.70%)	⬆️
... and 27 files with indirect coverage changes

[QichenZhu]

Reviewer Checklist

• I have verified the author checklist is complete (all boxes are checked off).
• I verified the correct issue is linked in the ### Fixed Issues section above
• I verified testing steps are clear and they cover the changes made in this PR
  • I verified the steps for local testing are in the Tests section
  • I verified the steps for Staging and/or Production testing are in the QA steps section
  • I verified the steps cover any possible failure scenarios (i.e. verify an input displays the correct error message if the entered data is not correct)
  • I turned off my network connection and tested it while offline to ensure it matches the expected behavior (i.e. verify the default avatar icon is displayed if app is offline)
• I checked that screenshots or videos are included for tests on all platforms
• I included screenshots or videos for tests on all platforms
• I verified that the composer does not automatically focus or open the keyboard on mobile unless explicitly intended. This includes checking that returning the app from the background does not unexpectedly open the keyboard.
• I verified tests pass on all platforms & I tested again on:
  • Android: HybridApp
  • Android: mWeb Chrome
  • iOS: HybridApp
  • iOS: mWeb Safari
  • MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• If there are any errors in the console that are unrelated to this PR, I either fixed them (preferred) or linked to where I reported them in Slack
  https://expensify.slack.com/archives/C049HHMV9SM/p1782212176212669
• I verified proper code patterns were followed (see Reviewing the code)
  • I verified that any callback methods that were added or modified are named for what the method does and never what callback they handle (i.e. toggleReport and not onIconClick).
  • I verified that comments were added to code that is not self explanatory
  • I verified that any new or modified comments were clear, correct English, and explained "why" the code was doing something instead of only explaining "what" the code was doing.
  • I verified any copy / text that was added to the app is grammatically correct in English. It adheres to proper capitalization guidelines (note: only the first word of header/labels should be capitalized), and is either coming verbatim from figma or has been approved by marketing (in order to get marketing approval, ask the Bug Zero team member to add the Waiting for copy label to the issue)
• If a new code pattern is added I verified it was agreed to be used by multiple Expensify engineers
• I verified that this PR follows the guidelines as stated in the Review Guidelines
• I verified other components that can be impacted by these changes have been tested, and I retested again (i.e. if the PR modifies a shared library or component like Avatar, I verified the components using Avatar have been tested & I retested again)
• If a new component is created I verified that:
  • A similar component doesn't exist in the codebase
  • All props are defined accurately and each prop has a /** comment above it */
  • The file is named correctly
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  • The only data being stored in the state is data necessary for rendering and nothing else
  • For Class Components, any internal methods passed to components event handlers are bound to this properly so there are no scoping issues (i.e. for onClick={this.submit} the method this.submit should be bound to this in the constructor)
  • Any internal methods bound to this are necessary to be bound (i.e. avoid this.submit = this.submit.bind(this); if this.submit is never passed to a component event handler like onClick)
  • All JSX used for rendering exists in the render method
  • The component has the minimum amount of code necessary for its purpose, and it is broken down into smaller components in order to separate concerns and functions
• If any new file was added I verified that:
  • The file has a description of what it does and/or why is needed at the top of the file if the code is not self explanatory
• If a new CSS style is added I verified that:
  • A similar style doesn't already exist
  • The style can't be created with an existing StyleUtils function (i.e. StyleUtils.getBackgroundAndBorderStyle(theme.componentBG)
• If the PR modifies code that runs when editing or sending messages, I tested and verified there is no unexpected behavior for all supported markdown - URLs, single line code, code blocks, quotes, headings, bold, strikethrough, and italic.
• If the PR modifies a generic component, I tested and verified that those changes do not break usages of that component in the rest of the App (i.e. if a shared library or component like Avatar is modified, I verified that Avatar is working as expected in all cases)
• If the PR modifies a component related to any of the existing Storybook stories, I tested and verified all stories for that component are still working as expected.
• If the PR modifies a component or page that can be accessed by a direct deeplink, I verified that the code functions as expected when the deeplink is used - from a logged in and logged out account.
• If the PR modifies the UI (e.g. new buttons, new UI components, changing the padding/spacing/sizing, moving components, etc) or modifies the form input styles:
  • I verified that all the inputs inside a form are aligned with each other.
  • I added Design label and/or tagged @Expensify/design so the design team can review the changes.
• For any bug fix or new feature in this PR, I verified that sufficient unit tests are included to prevent regressions in this flow.
• If the main branch was merged into this PR after a review, I tested again and verified the outcome was still expected according to the Test steps.
• I have checked off every checkbox in the PR reviewer checklist, including those that don't apply to this PR.

Screenshots/Videos

Android: HybridApp

Screen_recording_20260706_161351.webm

Android: mWeb Chrome

android-web.webm

iOS: HybridApp

Simulator.Screen.Recording.-.iPhone.17.-.2026-07-06.at.16.13.26.mov

iOS: mWeb Safari

ios-web.mov

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screen.Recording.2026-07-06.at.4.21.18.PM.mov

[QichenZhu]

Please fix the unit tests. Thanks!

[trjExpensify]

Ah nice, I think I raised this one. 👍

[OSBotify]

✋ This PR was not deployed to staging yet because QA is ongoing. It will be automatically deployed to staging after the next production release.

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🚀 Deployed to staging by https://github.com/blimpich in version: 9.4.29-0 🚀

platform	result
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🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

[MelvinBot]

🤖 Help site review — no changes required.

I reviewed the changes in this PR against the help site files under App/docs/articles.

Conclusion: No help site updates are needed.

Why: This is an internal bug fix. It changes only src/components/Search/index.tsx — skipping the Search refresh effect when the current Search snapshot already has errors, so a failed query isn't re-run and the Something went wrong page no longer flickers back to the loading skeleton. The rest of the diff is test coverage in tests/ui/SearchPageTest.tsx.

There are no new or changed user-facing features, settings, tab names, button labels, or workflows. The existing Search help articles (e.g. Use-Search-Operators-to-Filter-and-Analyze.md, Use-Search-Shortcuts.md, Search-and-Download-Expenses.md) document how to use Search — they don't describe error-state or retry behavior, so none of them become inaccurate as a result of this change.

Because no documentation is affected, I did not create a draft help site PR.

@nabi-ebrahimi, please review the linked help site PR and confirm it reflects the current behavior. Then mark the linked help site PR Ready for review — note that no help site PR was created here since no docs changes were required. If you believe a docs update is warranted, let me know what behavior should be documented and I'll open one.

[OSBotify]

🚀 Deployed to staging by https://github.com/blimpich in version: 9.4.31-0 🚀

platform	result
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

[MelvinBot]

🤖 Help site review: no changes required.

I reviewed the changes in this PR against the help site articles under App/docs/articles. No documentation updates are needed, so I did not open a draft docs PR.

Why: This is an internal bug fix, not a feature or behavior change users would look up. It only prevents an already-failed Search snapshot from re-running the same offset: 0 query, which was causing the Something went wrong page to flicker back to the loading skeleton. The change is confined to a useEffect guard in src/components/Search/index.tsx plus a test update. There are no new or changed feature names, tabs, settings, or buttons, and no help article documents this error-retry/flicker behavior.

If you believe a specific article should mention this behavior, let me know which one and I'll draft the update.

@nabi-ebrahimi, please review the linked help site PR and confirm it reflects the current behavior. Then mark the linked help site PR Ready for review — note that in this case no help site PR was created because no docs changes are required.

[OSBotify]

🚀 Deployed to production by https://github.com/grgia in version: 9.4.31-0 🚀

platform	result
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

Bundle Size Analysis (Sentry):

• Android