[Due for payment 2025-07-28] [$250] Public domain user is able to hit the back button in onboarding modal and get dropped into Concierge with onboarding incomplete

[m-natarajan]

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: 9.1.68-3
Reproducible in staging?: Y
Reproducible in production?: Y
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail:
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers):
Logs: https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/4856
Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:
Issue reported by: @anmurali
Slack conversation (hyperlinked to channel name): #Convert

Action Performed:

1. Go to staging.expensify.com
2. Use the Manage expenses for a small team (1-9)
3. Input a fake gmail account
4. Skip inputting a work email
5. Click back on the accounting modal

Expected Result:

Get taken back to the step before this, which is size selection

Actual Result:

Onboarding is interrupted, and user is dropped abruptly into Concierge

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

Select the officially supported platforms where the issue was reproduced:

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

Platforms Tested:

On which of our officially supported platforms was this issue tested:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Add any screenshot/video evidence

Recording.1298.mp4

View all open jobs on GitHub

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021935358676930957242
• Upwork Job ID: 1935358676930957242
• Last Price Increase: 2025-06-25
• Automatic offers:
• truph01 | Contributor | 107833019
• thelullabyy | Contributor | 107943701

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @sakluger

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @sakluger (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]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021935358676930957242

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @DylanDylann (External)

[thelullabyy]

Proposal

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

Onboarding is interrupted, and user is dropped abruptly into Concierge

What is the root cause of that problem?

Clicking on the skip button will bring the vsb user to the onboarding accounting page with forceReplace is true

App/src/pages/OnboardingWorkEmail/BaseOnboardingWorkEmail.tsx

Lines 75 to 79 in 53702a2

	if (isVsb) {
	Navigation.navigate(ROUTES.ONBOARDING_ACCOUNTING.getRoute(), {forceReplace: true});
	return;
	}

Then, if we click on the back button, the onboarding modal is closed because the work email page is removed from the navigation stack

App/src/pages/OnboardingAccounting/BaseOnboardingAccounting.tsx

Line 315 in 53702a2

shouldShowBackButton

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

We need to remove setOnboardingMergeAccountStepValue logic here, then isMergeAccountStepCompleted is only true after we complete the work email step. And remove forceReplace param here to allow going back to this step.

App/src/pages/OnboardingWorkEmail/BaseOnboardingWorkEmail.tsx

Lines 168 to 175 in 8fa239a

	setOnboardingMergeAccountStepValue(true);
	// Once we skip the private email step, we need to force replace the screen
	// so that we don't navigate back on back button press
	if (isVsb) {
	Navigation.navigate(ROUTES.ONBOARDING_ACCOUNTING.getRoute(), {forceReplace: true});
	return;
	}

We should do the same for the validation step

And we should hide the back button here if isMergeAccountStepCompleted is true and the user is vsb

const isVsb = onboarding?.signupQualifier === CONST.ONBOARDING_SIGNUP_QUALIFIERS.VSB
shouldShowBackButton={!isVsb || !onboarding?.isMergeAccountStepCompleted}

App/src/pages/OnboardingAccounting/BaseOnboardingAccounting.tsx

Line 315 in 53702a2

shouldShowBackButton

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

NA

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

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.

[DmitryChizhevsky-vs]

Problem

When a public domain user is in the onboarding flow and reaches the accounting modal, clicking the back button causes them to be dropped directly into Concierge chat with an incomplete onboarding flow. This happens because:

1. The navigation flow should go from Employees selection -> Accounting selection, but when a user clicks back on the Accounting screen, it's not properly returning to the Employees screen.

2. The navigateAfterOnboarding function is being called prematurely, which dismisses the onboarding modal and navigates to Concierge.

3. The issue specifically affects public domain users due to how the navigation flow is set up for them.

Solution

We need to modify the BaseOnboardingAccounting.tsx file to properly handle the back button navigation. Currently, it's using Navigation.goBack() which doesn't properly maintain the onboarding flow for public domain users.

Here's my proposed solution:

// In src/pages/OnboardingAccounting/BaseOnboardingAccounting.tsx

// Update the HeaderWithBackButton component's onBackButtonPress handler
<HeaderWithBackButton
    shouldShowBackButton
    progressBarPercentage={80}
    onBackButtonPress={() => {
        // Check if the user is from a public domain
        if (account?.isFromPublicDomain) {
            // Navigate back to the employees screen instead of using goBack
            Navigation.navigate(ROUTES.ONBOARDING_EMPLOYEES.route);
        } else {
            // For non-public domain users, continue using the standard goBack
            Navigation.goBack();
        }
    }}
/>

This solution ensures that when a public domain user clicks the back button on the accounting screen, they are properly navigated back to the employees selection screen rather than being dropped into Concierge.

The fix is targeted specifically at public domain users, as they're the ones experiencing this issue according to the bug report. For non-public domain users, the standard navigation behavior is maintained.

Testing Steps

1. Go to staging.expensify.com
2. Use "Manage expenses for a small team (1-9)"
3. Input a fake gmail account
4. Skip inputting a work email
5. On the employees selection screen, select an option and continue
6. On the accounting modal, click the back button
7. Verify that you are taken back to the employees selection screen, not dropped into Concierge

This solution addresses the specific issue without disrupting the existing navigation flow for other user types and ensures that the onboarding process remains complete and sequential.

[truph01]

Proposal

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

What is the root cause of that problem?

If isVsb is true, the App will navigate to Onboarding_Accounting page from Onboarding_Work_Email directly, and we are using forcrReplaced params that will remove Onboarding_Work_Email from the navigation stack

App/src/pages/OnboardingWorkEmail/BaseOnboardingWorkEmail.tsx

Lines 75 to 79 in 53702a2

	if (isVsb) {
	Navigation.navigate(ROUTES.ONBOARDING_ACCOUNTING.getRoute(), {forceReplace: true});
	return;
	}

--> When clicking back button, the onboarding modal is closed

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

I suggest adding the fallback route is ONBOARDING_EMPLOYEES, when going back in Onboarding_Accounting page

                onBackButtonPress={() => {
                    Navigation.goBack(ROUTES.ONBOARDING_EMPLOYEES.getRoute());
                }}

App/src/pages/OnboardingAccounting/BaseOnboardingAccounting.tsx

Line 317 in 53702a2

onBackButtonPress={Navigation.goBack}

Also, do the same thing in ONBOARDING_EMPLOYEES, to add a fallback route to ONBOARDING_PURPOSE

            onBackButtonPress={() => {
                Navigation.goBack(ROUTES.ONBOARDING_PURPOSE.getRoute());
            }}

App/src/pages/OnboardingEmployees/BaseOnboardingEmployees.tsx

Line 83 in b8ef627

onBackButtonPress={Navigation.goBack}

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

This is a navigation bug, so it seems unnecessary to add the unit test. But if we want, we can add test to verify the back button on the onboarding_accounting page works as expected

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

No

[DylanDylann]

@thelullabyy could you explain in detail why we should change the expectation?

This expected in the OP isn't correct, the vsb user shouldn't see the employee step because it's always 1-9 option. We should hide the back button for vsb user in the accounting step instead

IMO, it makes sense to allow users to select another option in the employee step again