[Awaiting checklist] [$250] Expense- LHN shows Hidden and chat shows edited when deleting expense with reaction

[jponikarchuk]

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Version Number: v9.1.64-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: N/A
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): testpayment935@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: Windows and Android
App Component: Chat Report View

Action Performed:

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Send a message to any conversation
3. Open reply in thread but don't send any message and don't edit the parent message (important step)
4. React with any emoji on the parent message
5. Deleted the parent message inside the thread (important step)

Expected Result:

The thread will be closed and open the chat conversation as there is no thread inside

Actual Result:

Header shows skeleton
LHN report title shows Hidden
Parent message is empty and presented as edited

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

1.mp4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @ishpaul777

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @johncschuster (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.

[ganzz4]

🚨 Edited by proposal-police: This proposal was edited at 2025-06-17 19:38:39 UTC.

Proposal

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

When a user deletes a parent message while viewing its child thread, the application shows a skeleton header and "Hidden" state in the Left Hand Navigation (LHN) instead of properly navigating back to the parent chat.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The root cause is in the deleteReportComment function's navigation logic. The existing code uses Navigation.isActiveRoute() to check if the user is currently viewing a child thread, but this function fails when the current route contains query parameters like ?backTo=....

This causes the navigation logic to never trigger, leaving the user in a broken state when the parent message is deleted.

App/src/libs/actions/Report.ts

Lines 1997 to 2003 in 35f8663

	// if we are linking to the report action, and we are deleting it, and it's not a deleted parent action,
	// we should navigate to its report in order to not show not found page
	if (Navigation.isActiveRoute(ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportID, reportActionID)) && !isDeletedParentAction) {
	Navigation.goBack(ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportID));
	} else if (Navigation.isActiveRoute(ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportAction.childReportID)) && !isDeletedParentAction) {
	Navigation.goBack(undefined);
	}

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

We should modify the navigation logic in the deleteReportComment function in src/libs/actions/Report.ts to properly handle routes with query parameters:

} else if (reportAction.childReportID && !isDeletedParentAction) {
    // Check if we're currently viewing the child thread and navigate back to parent if so
    const activeRouteWithoutParams = Navigation.getActiveRouteWithoutParams();
    const childReportRoute = ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportAction.childReportID);
    
    // Compare routes after normalizing (removing leading/trailing slashes)
    const normalizeRoute = (route: string) => route.replace(/^\/+|\/+$/g, '');
    
    if (normalizeRoute(activeRouteWithoutParams) === normalizeRoute(childReportRoute)) {
        Navigation.goBack(ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportID));
    }
}

App/src/libs/actions/Report.ts

Lines 2001 to 2003 in 35f8663

	} else if (Navigation.isActiveRoute(ROUTES.REPORT_WITH_ID.getRoute(reportAction.childReportID)) && !isDeletedParentAction) {
	Navigation.goBack(undefined);
	}

Key improvements:

1. Use Navigation.getActiveRouteWithoutParams() to strip query parameters
2. Normalize both routes by removing leading/trailing slashes for reliable comparison
3. Navigate to specific parent report instead of generic undefined navigation

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

1. Test deleting parent message in thread: Create a message, open reply thread, delete the parent message, verify user is navigated back to main chat
2. Test with emoji reactions: Add emoji reaction to parent message, then delete it from thread, confirm proper navigation occurs
3. Test deleting regular messages: Delete non-parent messages to confirm normal deletion behavior still works

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

[ganzz4]

I've recorded a quick demo video showing the fix in action:

fix.mp4

[twisterdotcom]

Following my advice here: #63663 (comment).

This appears to be an exploitative bug, not one linked to a PR, regression test or customer report, so likely closing.

[ganzz4]

@twisterdotcom, this can be reproduced without any special setup.

A simple scenario:

• Send a message
• Open a thread on it
• Delete the original message from within the thread

The UI then enters a broken state.

While the issue description mentions reactions, they're not actually required — the bug occurs with basic message deletion in threads.

This is a fundamental navigation issue affecting core messaging behavior, not an exploitative edge case. It can happen during normal usage and may impact users more frequently than expected.

[twisterdotcom]

Okay, I see what you mean.