Skip to content

[No QA] Support Dual-Initial Avatars in App - #94567

Merged
NicolasBonet merged 22 commits into
mainfrom
grgia-letter-avatars-app-clean
Jul 2, 2026
Merged

NicolasBonet merged 22 commits into
mainfrom
grgia-letter-avatars-app-clean

Conversation

@grgia

@grgia grgia commented Jun 25, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Explanation of Change

NO QA:

Confirmed on adhoc that avatars are the same. We will QA after the BE issues are merged. The App PR is safe for merge.


Deploy strategy — no beta gate

The backend emits letter-avatar URLs unconditionally for photo-less users, so the deploy is the launch.

  • Merge App first (it only renders/parses letters, inert until the backend emits), then Web + Auth together.
  • Ship Web and Auth close together (web first for auth integrations tests to pass); only one live produces inconsistent avatars for the same user.
  • Rollback: revert Web + Auth (App can stay; it renders only what it receives).
  • Safe without a gate: the full letter PNG set is pre-generated on the CDN, so URLs always resolve — NewDot renders initials client-side; email, push, OldDot, and older App clients load the matching PNG.

To test- check out
Auth - https://github.com/Expensify/Auth/pull/22494
Web - https://github.com/Expensify/Web-Expensify/pull/54007

image

Confirmed that other avatars not impacted:

image Screenshot 2026-06-26 at 13 59 27

Fixed Issues

$ #93784
PROPOSAL:

Tests

  • Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Offline tests

QA Steps

// 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:
    • The assets are optimized and compressed (for SVG files, run npm run compress-svg)
    • 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
Android: mWeb Chrome
iOS: Native
iOS: mWeb Safari
MacOS: Chrome / Safari

@grgia grgia self-assigned this Jun 25, 2026
@grgia

grgia commented Jun 25, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

@codex review

@chatgpt-codex-connector chatgpt-codex-connector Bot left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

💡 Codex Review

Here are some automated review suggestions for this pull request.

Reviewed commit: 39a1bef4fc

ℹ️ About Codex in GitHub

Codex has been enabled to automatically review pull requests in this repo. Reviews are triggered when you

  • Open a pull request for review
  • Mark a draft as ready
  • Comment "@codex review".

If Codex has suggestions, it will comment; otherwise it will react with 👍.

When you sign up for Codex through ChatGPT, Codex can also answer questions or update the PR, like "@codex address that feedback".

Comment thread src/libs/UserAvatarUtils.ts
grgia added 2 commits June 26, 2026 08:01
…dd cspell word

- Avatar now calls usePermissions(), which iterates Permissions keys and
  invokes each as a checker function. The Permissions test mock spread the
  module namespace ({default, isBetaEnabled}) instead of the default export,
  so the non-function 'default' key crashed usePermissions in LHN/Sidebar
  test render paths. Spread .default so only function checkers are exposed.
- Add 'uppercased' to cspell wordlist (used in a UserAvatarUtils comment).
@grgia

grgia commented Jun 26, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

@codex review

@chatgpt-codex-connector chatgpt-codex-connector Bot left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

💡 Codex Review

Here are some automated review suggestions for this pull request.

Reviewed commit: 423c7267d4

ℹ️ About Codex in GitHub

Codex has been enabled to automatically review pull requests in this repo. Reviews are triggered when you

  • Open a pull request for review
  • Mark a draft as ready
  • Comment "@codex review".

If Codex has suggestions, it will comment; otherwise it will react with 👍.

When you sign up for Codex through ChatGPT, Codex can also answer questions or update the PR, like "@codex address that feedback".

Comment thread src/libs/UserAvatarUtils.ts
grgia added 2 commits June 26, 2026 08:55
- Move UserInitialsAvatar static styles into StyleSheet and name the font-size ratio
- Note why the local default reads initials from the email, not the name
- Add a regression test that a generated letter URL is not a default avatar
@codecov

codecov Bot commented Jun 26, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Codecov Report

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

Files with missing lines Coverage Δ
src/CONST/index.ts 93.33% <ø> (+2.28%) ⬆️
src/components/Avatar.tsx 95.45% <100.00%> (+0.85%) ⬆️
src/components/UserInitialsAvatar.tsx 100.00% <100.00%> (ø)
src/libs/Avatars/letterAvatarPalette.ts 100.00% <100.00%> (+40.00%) ⬆️
src/libs/actions/PersonalDetails.ts 54.63% <ø> (+15.46%) ⬆️
...rc/pages/settings/Profile/Avatar/AvatarPreview.tsx 0.00% <0.00%> (ø)
src/libs/UserAvatarUtils.ts 95.31% <92.85%> (+4.64%) ⬆️
src/stories/UserInitialsAvatar.stories.tsx 0.00% <0.00%> (ø)
... and 1304 files with indirect coverage changes

@grgia

grgia commented Jun 26, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

@codex review

@chatgpt-codex-connector chatgpt-codex-connector Bot left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

💡 Codex Review

Here are some automated review suggestions for this pull request.

Reviewed commit: ea0fdb1672

ℹ️ About Codex in GitHub

Codex has been enabled to automatically review pull requests in this repo. Reviews are triggered when you

  • Open a pull request for review
  • Mark a draft as ready
  • Comment "@codex review".

If Codex has suggestions, it will comment; otherwise it will react with 👍.

When you sign up for Codex through ChatGPT, Codex can also answer questions or update the PR, like "@codex address that feedback".

Comment thread src/libs/UserAvatarUtils.ts
@grgia grgia changed the title [wip] letter avatars app clean [No QA] Support Dual-Initial Avatars in App Jun 26, 2026
@grgia
grgia requested a review from thelullabyy June 26, 2026 13:13
@grgia

grgia commented Jun 26, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

@thelullabyy the BE PRs will actually send the letters, but the FE PR will be merged first

@github-actions

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

🚧 grgia has triggered a test Expensify/App build. You can view the workflow run here.

@github-actions

This comment has been minimized.

@grgia
grgia marked this pull request as ready for review June 26, 2026 13:34
@grgia
grgia requested a review from a team as a code owner June 26, 2026 13:34
…ion, fix typo

- Remove the unused CONST.BETAS.DEFAULT_LETTER_AVATARS flag (never referenced;
  the feature ships without a beta gate).
- Inline the letter-avatar render check to a single condition instead of a
  redundant shouldRenderLetterAvatar boolean plus a repeated truthiness test.
- Fix 'Weather' -> 'Whether' typo in AvatarPreview.
@grgia

grgia commented Jul 1, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

Almost, but not a strict no-op and I want to be upfront about it. Existing accounts get their avatar from the BE, which isn't emitting letter URLs yet, so they're unchanged until Auth + Web deploy. The exception is client-side defaults: getDefaultAvatarURL(..., accountEmail) builds a letter URL for optimistic/synthetic cases (optimistic invites, remove-photo, the Copilot list, the approval editor), so those render initials on App-alone. I'm intentionally leaving that in rather than gating it, so you'll see letters in those spots before the BE ships. Everything else stays on the current default until the BE emits.

@grgia

grgia commented Jul 1, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

@thelullabyy added claude responses to help explain the thought process without the other PRs

@grgia
grgia requested a review from thelullabyy July 1, 2026 16:01

@thelullabyy thelullabyy left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

LGTM

@melvin-bot
melvin-bot Bot requested a review from NicolasBonet July 2, 2026 10:55
@melvin-bot

melvin-bot Bot commented Jul 2, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown

@NicolasBonet 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]

@grgia

grgia commented Jul 2, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

@NikkiWines im sure you have loads on your plate, but incase you feel like taking review on these 3 avatar PRs, given you have some context- lemme know!

app - #94567
web - https://github.com/Expensify/Web-Expensify/pull/54007
auth - https://github.com/Expensify/Auth/pull/22494

@NicolasBonet

NicolasBonet commented Jul 2, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

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
  • 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
    • The component has a clear name that is non-ambiguous and the purpose of the component can be inferred from the name alone
    • 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.

Comment on lines +236 to +245
for (const character of name) {
// A non-ASCII codepoint has no pre-generated image, so fall back instead of skipping to a
// later ASCII letter, which would be a misleading initial for the name.
if ((character.codePointAt(0) ?? 0) >= 0x80) {
return '';
}
if (/[a-z0-9]/i.test(character)) {
return character.toUpperCase();
}
}

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Should we consider cases like Élodie Lee -> EL? I believe that we this we will only show L for that case and we might want to fallback some characters.

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Ooo great point, let me check what those characters entail

@NicolasBonet NicolasBonet left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

LGTM

@NicolasBonet

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

@grgia feel free to merge if all workflows are green!

@NicolasBonet
NicolasBonet merged commit 1062a2a into main Jul 2, 2026
38 checks passed
@NicolasBonet
NicolasBonet deleted the grgia-letter-avatars-app-clean branch July 2, 2026 21:53
@github-actions

github-actions Bot commented Jul 2, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

🚧 NicolasBonet has triggered a test Expensify/App build. You can view the workflow run here.

@OSBotify

OSBotify commented Jul 2, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

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

@OSBotify

OSBotify commented Jul 3, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

🚀 Deployed to staging by https://github.com/NicolasBonet in version: 9.4.27-1 🚀

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

@MelvinBot

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

📝 Help site review — changes required

Yes. This PR (with its Auth/Web counterparts) replaces the auto-assigned illustrated/"cartoon-style" default avatar with an initials-based letter avatar for photo-less users. Two existing help articles describe the old default-avatar behavior and are now inaccurate, so I've drafted the updates.

Draft PR: #95296

What changed:

  • Expensify Classic — Add profile photo: the FAQ "Why do I already have a profile picture I didn't add?" said a "randomly selected cartoon-style avatar is assigned to new accounts." Updated to describe the initials-on-color default, with the illustrated-avatar fallback for accounts that have no name or email (e.g. phone number-only accounts).
  • New Expensify — Account Settings: added an FAQ entry explaining what a user's avatar looks like when they haven't uploaded a photo.

The wording follows the client logic in getLetterAvatarURL — initials come from the first alphanumeric character of the first and last name (or the email when there's no name), the color is derived deterministically from the login so it stays consistent, and accounts with no derivable initial fall back to an illustrated avatar. Edits stay within the existing # FAQ sections and follow the HelpDot authoring/naming guidelines.

@grgia, please review the linked help site PR and confirm it reflects the current behavior. Then mark the linked help site PR Ready for review.

@jponikarchuk

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Deploy Blocker #95360 was identified to be related to this PR.

@OSBotify

OSBotify commented Jul 6, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

🚀 Deployed to production by https://github.com/grgia in version: 9.4.27-2 🚀

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

Bundle Size Analysis (Sentry):

@@ -102,12 +108,8 @@ function AvatarPreview({selected, avatarCaptureRef, setSelected, isAvatarCropMod
};

const onImageRemoved = () => {

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Doing this directly without saving the option led to #95360

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

7 participants