[$250] Expense-In group chat, creating split distance expense cause unexpected error.

[nlemma]

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Version Number: V9.3.4-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: No
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: https://test-management.browserstack.com/projects/2219752/test-runs/TR-3028/folder/13177029/41237805/1131712694
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): dreamnitethedragon+yydyd373@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S - Android 13
App Component: Money Requests

Action Performed:

1. Launch app
2. Open group chat
3. Create a split distance expense

Expected Result:

In group chat, creating split distance expense musnt cause unexpected error.

Actual Result:

In group chat, creating split distance expense cause unexpected error.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7051492_1768611044731.Screenrecorder-2026-01-17-06-17-17-182.mp4

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• Last Price Increase: 2026-02-03

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @Pujan92

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @greg-schroeder (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 @Beamanator (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.

[OSBotify]

Investigation Summary: Frontend bug caused by PR 79279. This PR removed global allNextSteps Onyx subscription and requires explicit iouReportNextStep parameter passing throughout IOU flows. The PR modified 22 files touching critical money request functionality. Recommend REVERT due to the large scope affecting split distance expenses. Keeping DeployBlockerCash label. Full analysis: PR 79279 is included in staging v9.3.4-0 where the bug reproduces. The refactoring changed how IOU report next steps are accessed, requiring components to explicitly fetch and pass iouReportNextStep to update functions like updateSplitTransactions, updateMoneyRequestDistance, etc. The error in creating split distance expenses in group chats suggests an edge case where the required parameter is not properly fetched or passed, or where next step logic is used in a context where the parent report does not exist.

[Beamanator]

@ikevin127 @parasharrajat can y'all please take a look and see if this was caused by #79279?

[OSBotify]

Investigation Summary

Classification: Frontend bug
Causing PR: #79279 - "[Part 3] Remove Onyx.connect() for the key: ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.NEXT_STEP in src/libs/actions/IOU.ts" by @parasharrajat (High confidence)
Related Issues: None

Recommendation: REVERT

PR #79279 removed the global Onyx subscription for next steps and requires explicit parameter passing throughout the IOU flow. While the implementation works for most cases, it has a critical gap in handling split distance expenses in group chats where there is no IOU report.

Labels: Keeping DeployBlockerCash (Frontend bug affecting App deploy)

Detailed Analysis

Evidence

• Bug reproduces only on staging v9.3.4-0, not in production
• PR [Part 3] Remove Onyx.connect() for the key: ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.NEXT_STEP in src/libs/actions/IOU.ts  #79279 is included in the staging deploy (merged 2026-01-16 19:26:44)
• The error occurs specifically when creating split distance expenses in group chats
• PR author @parasharrajat has been tagged by @Beamanator to investigate

Verification

PR #79279 modified 22 files including critical money request flow components:

• /home/runner/work/App/App/src/pages/iou/SplitExpensePage.tsx
• /home/runner/work/App/App/src/libs/actions/IOU/index.ts
• All IOURequestStep*.tsx files (Distance, DistanceManual, DistanceMap, DistanceOdometer, etc.)

The PR correctly added iouReportNextStep fetching and passing in SplitExpensePage.tsx (line 115):

const [iouReportNextStep] = useOnyx(`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.NEXT_STEP}${getNonEmptyStringOnyxID(iouReport?.reportID)}`, {canBeMissing: true});

However, this code assumes iouReport exists, which is not always true for group chat splits.

Root Cause

Group chat split distance expenses differ from workspace splits:

1. In SplitExpensePage.tsx line 113-115, iouReport is obtained via useGetIOUReportFromReportAction:

const iouActions = getIOUActionForTransactions([originalTransactionID], expenseReport?.reportID);
const {iouReport} = useGetIOUReportFromReportAction(iouActions.at(0));
const [iouReportNextStep] = useOnyx(`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.NEXT_STEP}${getNonEmptyStringOnyxID(iouReport?.reportID)}`, {canBeMissing: true});

2. For group chat splits, the split bill action may not have an IOUReportID, resulting in iouReport being undefined

3. When iouReport?.reportID is undefined, getNonEmptyStringOnyxID returns an empty string, causing the Onyx subscription to fetch an invalid key

4. This results in iouReportNextStep being undefined when it gets passed to updateSplitTransactionsFromSplitExpensesFlow (line 222)

5. The undefined value flows through to updateSplitTransactions -> getUpdateMoneyRequestParams where it is used on line 4420:

const currentNextStep = iouReportNextStep ?? {};

6. While the code defaults to {}, the undefined iouReportNextStep for a context where it should exist may cause downstream issues or validation failures that result in the unexpected error

Why this worked before PR #79279:
The previous implementation used a global Onyx.connect() that subscribed to all next steps:

Onyx.connect({
    key: ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.NEXT_STEP,
    callback: (value, key) => {
        if (!key || !value) {
            return;
        }
        allNextSteps[key] = value;
    },
});

This meant allNextSteps would have entries for all reports, and the code could look up the next step even for edge cases. The new approach requires explicit fetching, which breaks when the report ID is unknown or undefined for group chat splits.