After moving expense to self DM, expense thread loads infinitely with empty header when offline

[mitarachim]

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Version Number: 9.1.59-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: No
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: Exp
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): dsoisdnjosjosd@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: Mac 15.4 / Chrome
App Component: Money Requests

Action Performed:

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to workspace chat.
3. Submit two expenses to the workspace chat.
4. Click on the expense preview.
5. Click More > Delete.
6. Delete the report.
7. Go to self DM.
8. Go offline.
9. Click on any expense preview.

Expected Result:

Transaction thread will open without loading (production behavior).

Actual Result:

Transaction thread loads infinitely with empty header.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug6851090_1749082829109.20250605_081706.mp4

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[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @VictoriaExpensify (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details. Please add this bug to a GH project, as outlined in the SO.

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @mollfpr (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.

[dmkt9]

Proposal

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

Transaction thread loads infinitely with empty header.

What is the root cause of that problem?

1. Due to the missing reportActions, it will result in infinite loading:
   

   App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionsView.tsx

   Lines 289 to 291 in 437acdd

   	if (isMissingReportActions) {
   	return <ReportActionsSkeletonView shouldAnimate={false} />;
   	}

2. Because when creating a REQUEST_MONEY request, neither optimisticTransactionThread nor optimisticCreatedActionForTransactionThread is available, and the parameters transactionThreadReportID and createdReportActionIDForThread are not sent with the request. This causes the created expense to have no transactionThreadReportID (i.e. =-1). When a report is deleted, a new reportID is generated for the transaction, which leads to an empty reportActions:
   

   App/src/libs/actions/IOU.ts

   Lines 5268 to 5280 in 437acdd

   	const {payerAccountID, payerEmail, iouReport, chatReport, transaction, iouAction, createdChatReportActionID, createdIOUReportActionID, reportPreviewAction, onyxData} =
   	getMoneyRequestInformation({
   	parentChatReport: isMovingTransactionFromTrackExpense ? undefined : currentChatReport,
   	participantParams,
   	policyParams,
   	transactionParams,
   	moneyRequestReportID,
   	existingTransactionID,
   	existingTransaction: isDistanceRequestTransactionUtils(existingTransaction) ? existingTransaction : undefined,
   	retryParams,
   	shouldGenerateOptimisticTransactionThread: false,
   	testDriveCommentReportActionID,
   	});

   
   

   App/src/libs/actions/IOU.ts

   Line 5349 in 437acdd

   const parameters: RequestMoneyParams = {

   
   

   App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts

   Lines 7536 to 7538 in 437acdd

   	const transactionThread = shouldGenerateOptimisticTransactionThread ? buildTransactionThread(iouAction, iouReport, existingTransactionThreadReportID) : undefined;
   	const createdActionForTransactionThread = !!existingTransactionThreadReportID || !shouldGenerateOptimisticTransactionThread ? null : buildOptimisticCreatedReportAction(payeeEmail);

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

1. Allow the creation of an optimistic transaction thread by passing shouldGenerateOptimisticTransactionThread = true to getMoneyRequestInformation and retrieve transactionThreadReportID and createdReportActionIDForThread:
   

   App/src/libs/actions/IOU.ts

   Lines 5268 to 5280 in 437acdd

   	const {payerAccountID, payerEmail, iouReport, chatReport, transaction, iouAction, createdChatReportActionID, createdIOUReportActionID, reportPreviewAction, onyxData} =
   	getMoneyRequestInformation({
   	parentChatReport: isMovingTransactionFromTrackExpense ? undefined : currentChatReport,
   	participantParams,
   	policyParams,
   	transactionParams,
   	moneyRequestReportID,
   	existingTransactionID,
   	existingTransaction: isDistanceRequestTransactionUtils(existingTransaction) ? existingTransaction : undefined,
   	retryParams,
   	shouldGenerateOptimisticTransactionThread: false,
   	testDriveCommentReportActionID,
   	});

const {
    payerAccountID,
    payerEmail,
    iouReport,
    chatReport,
    transaction,
    iouAction,
    createdChatReportActionID,
    createdIOUReportActionID,
    reportPreviewAction,
    onyxData,
    transactionThreadReportID,
    createdReportActionIDForThread,
} = getMoneyRequestInformation({
    parentChatReport: isMovingTransactionFromTrackExpense ? undefined : currentChatReport,
    participantParams,
    policyParams,
    transactionParams,
    moneyRequestReportID,
    existingTransactionID,
    existingTransaction: isDistanceRequestTransactionUtils(existingTransaction) ? existingTransaction : undefined,
    retryParams,
    shouldGenerateOptimisticTransactionThread: true,
    testDriveCommentReportActionID,
});

2. Add transactionThreadReportID and createdReportActionIDForThread to the parameters:
   

   App/src/libs/actions/IOU.ts

   Line 5372 in 437acdd

   receiptGpsPoints: gpsPoints ? JSON.stringify(gpsPoints) : undefined,

transactionThreadReportID,
createdReportActionIDForThread,

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

N/A

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

N/A

Reminder: Please use plain English, be brief and avoid jargon. Feel free to use images, charts or pseudo-code if necessary. Do not post large multi-line diffs or write walls of text. Do not create PRs unless you have been hired for this job.

[BlameGPT]

Possible culprit PRs for this issue

• Stop creating the transaction thread reports optimistically for RequestMoney #62080: This PR addresses creation and opening of transaction thread reports after expense creation and preview, which relates to the infinite loading of the transaction thread in the issue.
• Preview shows Deleted report when new report is created offline when workflows are disabled #63142: This PR involves offline behavior and expense previews in workspace chat, matching the offline steps and expense preview interactions in the issue.
• Fix "To" is shown briefly after moving expense to empty report #63064: This PR fixes issues related to moving expenses to empty reports and expense preview UI, which aligns with the issue's flow of moving expenses and previewing them offline.