Fix commuter distance flicker after rate changes

[fedirjh]

Explanation of Change

When a workspace distance unit changed, the optimistic rate update converted the transaction's already rounded quantity into the new unit. For example, an exact 10 km route stored as 6.21 miles became 9.99 km optimistically, then changed to 10 km when the server response arrived. This caused the Original and Removed commuter distances to flicker between different values.

This change derives the converted quantity from the transaction's exact routeDistanceMeters value when available. Older transactions without that field retain the existing quantity-conversion fallback. The commuter exclusion, amount, and merchant are therefore calculated from the same exact route distance as the server.

Fixed Issues

$ #98231
PROPOSAL:

Tests

Prerequisite:

• Have accounts with commuter exclusion beta enabled

1. Enable distance rates in a workspace and create a second distance rate.
2. Enable "Exclude fixed distance" in the workspace distance settings.
3. Create a map distance expense.
4. Change the workspace distance unit.
5. Open the expense and select another distance rate.
6. Verify the Original and Removed commuter distances immediately show the correct converted values without flickering.
7. Verify the final values remain unchanged after the server response arrives.

Automated validation:

• bun run test -- --runInBand --watchman=false tests/unit/TransactionUtilsTest.ts

• bun x eslint src/libs/TransactionUtils/index.ts tests/unit/TransactionUtilsTest.ts

• bun run typecheck-tsgo reports only the two existing unrelated baseline errors.

• Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Offline tests

1. Complete steps 1–4 above, then go offline.
2. Open the expense and select another distance rate.
3. Verify the Original and Removed commuter distances immediately show the correct converted values without flickering.
4. Reconnect and verify the values remain unchanged after synchronization.

QA Steps

Same as Tests.

• 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 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)
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Screenshots/Videos

CleanShot.2026-08-11.at.22.29.32.mp4

Android: Native

Not tested yet.

Android: mWeb Chrome

Not tested yet.

iOS: Native

Not tested yet.

iOS: mWeb Safari

Not tested yet.

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Not tested yet.

[melvin-bot]

@marufsharifi 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]

[melvin-bot]

@Gonals 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]

[codecov]

Codecov Report

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

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
src/libs/TransactionUtils/index.ts	93.02% <100.00%> (+0.62%)	⬆️
... and 13 files with indirect coverage changes

[marufsharifi]

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 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
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• 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.

Screenshots/Videos

Android: HybridApp

Android: mWeb Chrome

iOS: HybridApp

iOS: mWeb Safari

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screen.Recording.2026-08-12.at.2.35.13.AM.mov

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[marufsharifi]

@fedirjh, could you please check the failed actions. thanks.

[fedirjh]

@marufsharifi This is ready.

[marufsharifi]

@MelvinBot Review

[MelvinBot]

Review

The logic change is sound — deriving the converted quantity from the exact routeDistanceMeters (with a rounding-tolerance guard for manual overrides) correctly eliminates the double-rounding flicker. But there's one blocking bug that's currently failing CI.

🔴 Dangling duplicate expression breaks typecheck (and ESLint/Oxfmt)

src/libs/TransactionUtils/index.ts:762-763

            Math.abs(quantity - DistanceRequestUtils.convertDistanceUnit(routeDistanceMeters, existingDistanceUnit)) > ROUNDING_TOLERANCE;
            Math.abs(quantity - DistanceRequestUtils.convertDistanceUnit(routeDistanceMeters, existingDistanceUnit)) > 0.01;   // ← leftover

The last commit (Apply suggestions from code review) extracted 0.01 into the ROUNDING_TOLERANCE constant but left the original line behind. Line 763 is now a standalone no-op expression statement (its result is discarded), and it lives outside the typeof narrowing that guards line 762 — so quantity/routeDistanceMeters are number | undefined there.

That single line is the cause of all three failing checks:

• typecheck ❌ — TS18049: 'quantity' is possibly 'null' or 'undefined' and TS2345 at index.ts(763,...)
• ESLint (pending) — will fail @typescript-eslint/no-unused-expressions
• Oxfmt ❌ — diff on this file

Fix: delete line 763, then run npm run fmt:

        const hasManualDistanceOverride =
            typeof routeDistanceMeters === 'number' &&
            typeof quantity === 'number' &&
            !!existingDistanceUnit &&
            Math.abs(quantity - DistanceRequestUtils.convertDistanceUnit(routeDistanceMeters, existingDistanceUnit)) > ROUNDING_TOLERANCE;

Everything else looks good — Bun tests pass, the new manual-override and fallback-policy test cases are solid coverage, and the convertDistanceUnit(meters, unit) calls are used correctly.

Note on verification

I didn't run the UI flicker flow — the fix needs to compile clean first. Once line 763 is removed and CI is green, please re-verify the Original/Removed commuter distances no longer flicker per the test steps.

---

Next Steps: Reply with @MelvinBot implement this to have me push the one-line fix, or @MelvinBot <feedback> to refine.

[fedirjh]

@Gonals Fixed.

[marufsharifi]

@fedirjh, could you please check this. it first shows 60.84, then change to 60.3. thanks.

RF.webm

[marufsharifi]

@fedirjh, could you please take a look at this: #98371 (comment) when you get a chance. thanks.

[marufsharifi]

@fedirjh, Gentle bump. thanks.

[fedirjh]

could you please take a look at this: #98371 (comment) when you get a chance. thanks.

@marufsharifi Can you please share more context, the video seems corrupted:

[marufsharifi]

could you please take a look at this: #98371 (comment) when you get a chance. thanks.

@marufsharifi Can you please share more context, the video seems corrupted:

@fedirjh, i couldn't reproduce this again.

[marufsharifi]

All yours, @Gonals. Thanks!

[marufsharifi]

@Gonals, Could you please take a look at this in a free moment. Thanks.

[OSBotify]

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

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[github-actions]

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

[MelvinBot]

🤖 No help site changes are required for this PR — so I did not create a docs PR.

Why

This PR changes only how the optimistic (pre-server-response) quantity is derived when a distance rate's unit changes. It reads the exact routeDistanceMeters instead of re-converting the already-rounded quantity, in src/libs/TransactionUtils/index.ts:923-975.

Nothing that the help site documents changed:

Docs-relevant surface	Changed?
Feature capability or workflow	No — same steps, same result
Settings, tab names, button labels	No — no UI strings touched
Final values a user sees	No — they already matched the server; only the transient intermediate value did not
Permissions, limits, availability	No

The bug was a display flicker: Original and Removed commuter distances briefly showed a different number until the server responded. Help articles describe end-state behavior, not intermediate optimistic values, so there is nothing to correct.

Articles I checked

• docs/articles/new-expensify/workspaces/Set-distance-rates.md
• docs/articles/new-expensify/reports-and-expenses/Distance-Expenses.md
• docs/articles/expensify-classic/workspaces/Set-time-and-distance-rates.md
• docs/articles/expensify-classic/workspaces/Expense-Settings.md

I also grepped all of docs/articles for commuter exclusion, fixed distance per claim, and Exclude a fixed distance.

One thing worth flagging (pre-existing, not caused by this PR)

The commuter exclusion feature has no help site coverage at all. No article in docs/articles mentions it, including the two distance articles above. That is a documentation gap that existed before this PR, and writing it would mean documenting a feature rather than this fix.

Reply with @MelvinBot document the commuter exclusion workspace setting if you want me to open a draft PR for that instead. I would verify every label against the live UI before writing.

---

I skipped the "please review the linked help site PR" sign-off you asked for, because there is no linked help site PR to review. Let me know if you disagree with the assessment above and I will write the docs.

---

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🚀 Deployed to production by https://github.com/mountiny in version: 9.4.76-1 🚀

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

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