[$250] Report- "Uncategorized" chip not highlighted in search field

[nlemma]

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Version Number: V9.2.59-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: N/a
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): Slottwo1 l@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: Redminote 10s android 13
App Component: User Settings

Action Performed:

Pre-condition: There are some expenses in the workspace created without any category.

Steps:

1. Go to https://staging.new.expensify.com/home and log in
2. Open Reports - Expenses
3. In the search field, type category:uncategorized
4. Select "category:uncategorized" from the suggestions and press Enter

Expected Result:

The filter chip for "uncategorized" should be highlighted in the search field whenever the search is applied.

Behavior should be consistent with other categories.

Actual Result:

Expenses with missing categories are correctly shown in the search results.

The filter chip for "uncategorized" is not highlighted in the search field.

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

Bug7005392_1763272035846.Screenrecorder-2025-11-16-11-04-23-28.mp4

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Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021990574684807979333
• Upwork Job ID: 1990574684807979333
• Last Price Increase: 2025-11-25

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @chiragsalian

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @CortneyOfstad (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.

[Eskalifer1]

🚨 Edited by proposal-police: This proposal was edited at 2025-11-21 12:55:29 UTC.

Proposal

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

Report- "Uncategorized" chip not highlighted in search field

What is the root cause of that problem?

We are no handling case for Uncategorized here:

App/src/libs/SearchAutocompleteUtils.ts

Lines 53 to 57 in 9121b09

	function getAutocompleteCategories(allPolicyCategories: OnyxCollection<PolicyCategories>) {
	const uniqueCategoryNames = new Set<string>();
	Object.values(allPolicyCategories ?? {}).map((policyCategories) => Object.values(policyCategories ?? {}).forEach((category) => uniqueCategoryNames.add(category.name)));
	return Array.from(uniqueCategoryNames);
	}

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

Simple add like that:

uniqueCategoryNames.add('Uncategorized');

We can add both of them from this const:

App/src/CONST/index.ts

Line 6770 in 763ca9e

CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE: 'none,Uncategorized',

PS: We can add this always or based on some conditions(for examplse if user have atleast 1 category)

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

We should add it:

uniqueCategoryNames.add(value);

For that we should add a new prop translate - function for translation and get value by new key(add for every file)

But i think backend doesnt work with translations in this case, So if the backend doesn't work that way, we need to choose the main solution.
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.

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021990574684807979333

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @Krishna2323 (External)

[CortneyOfstad]

Hey @Krishna2323! There is a proposal above for your review — thank you!

[Rkdev09]

Proposal

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

When a user searches for expenses with no category using category:uncategorized (or category:none), the results are correct, but the “Uncategorized” filter chip in the search field is not highlighted.

What is the root cause of that problem?

• In buildFilterFormValuesFromQuery, empty-category handling only flagged the chip when both synonyms (“none” and “Uncategorized”) were present, so using just one didn’t set the chip.
  

  App/src/libs/SearchQueryUtils.ts

  Lines 756 to 770 in 787ec30

  	if (filterKey === CONST.SEARCH.SYNTAX_FILTER_KEYS.CATEGORY) {
  	const categories = policyID
  	? getAllPolicyValues(policyID, ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.POLICY_CATEGORIES, policyCategories)
  	.map((item) => Object.values(item ?? {}).map((category) => category.name))
  	.flat()
  	: Object.values(policyCategories ?? {})
  	.map((item) => Object.values(item ?? {}).map((category) => category.name))
  	.flat();
  	const uniqueCategories = new Set(categories);
  	const emptyCategories = CONST.SEARCH.CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE.split(',');
  	const hasEmptyCategoriesInFilter = emptyCategories.every((category) => filterValues.includes(category));
  	// We split CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE into individual values to detect both are present in filterValues.
  	// If empty categories are found, append the CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE to filtersForm.
  	filtersForm[key as typeof filterKey] = filterValues.filter((name) => uniqueCategories.has(name)).concat(hasEmptyCategoriesInFilter ? [CONST.SEARCH.CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE] : []);
  	}

• In the input highlighter (filterOutRangesWithCorrectValue), CATEGORY validation only accepted real category names, not the empty-category synonyms, so the token wasn’t highlighted.
  

  App/src/libs/SearchAutocompleteUtils.ts

  Lines 179 to 180 in 787ec30

  	case CONST.SEARCH.SYNTAX_FILTER_KEYS.CATEGORY:
  	return categoryList.get().includes(range.value);

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

• In buildFilterFormValuesFromQuery: Treat presence of any empty-category synonym from CONST.SEARCH.CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE as selecting the empty category. This ensures the chip shows when the user types either “none” or “Uncategorized.”

if (filterKey === CONST.SEARCH.SYNTAX_FILTER_KEYS.CATEGORY) {
            const categories = policyID
                ? getAllPolicyValues(policyID, ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.POLICY_CATEGORIES, policyCategories)
                      .map((item) => Object.values(item ?? {}).map((category) => category.name))
                      .flat()
                : Object.values(policyCategories ?? {})
                      .map((item) => Object.values(item ?? {}).map((category) => category.name))
                      .flat();
            const uniqueCategories = new Set(categories);
            const emptyCategories = CONST.SEARCH.CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE.split(',');
            // Consider the empty category selected if ANY of its synonyms are present (e.g., "none" OR "Uncategorized")
            const filterValuesLower = new Set(filterValues.map((v) => v.toLowerCase()));
            const hasEmptyCategoriesInFilter = emptyCategories.some((category) => filterValuesLower.has(category.toLowerCase()));
            // If an empty category synonym is found, append CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE to filtersForm so the chip appears selected.
            filtersForm[key as typeof filterKey] = filterValues.filter((name) => uniqueCategories.has(name)).concat(hasEmptyCategoriesInFilter ? [CONST.SEARCH.CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE] : []);
        }

• In the input highlighter: Accept empty-category synonyms (from CONST.SEARCH.CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE) as valid CATEGORY values, so the token is highlighted in the search input.

case CONST.SEARCH.SYNTAX_FILTER_KEYS.CATEGORY:
            // Highlight if value is a known category OR one of the empty-category synonyms (e.g., "none", "Uncategorized")
            return categoryList.get().includes(range.value) || CONST.SEARCH.CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE.split(',').some((emptyVal) => emptyVal.toLowerCase() === range.value.toLowerCase());

• Note: Use the canonical values from CONST.SEARCH.CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE (no translation) to avoid mixing localized display strings into search syntax.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

• Adding “Uncategorized” to getAutocompleteCategories (or injecting a translated value) was considered, but it:
  • Doesn’t address chip/highlight logic.
  • Risks mixing localization with canonical search syntax.
• We could also normalize synonyms earlier in parsing, but leveraging CONST.SEARCH.CATEGORY_EMPTY_VALUE in mapping and highlighting is simpler, localized, and consistent.