[Due for payment 2026-03-30] [$250] Approver page shows empty state when approver is selected when prevent self-approvals is ON

[nlemma]

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Version Number: 9.2.73-1
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: Exp
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): applausetester+sjnoinsddjsss22@applause.expensifail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Regression TC Execution
Device used: Mac 26.1 / Chrome
App Component: Workspace Settings

Action Performed:

Precondition:

• Invite another user to workspace.
• Rules are enabeld.

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to workspace settings > Workflows.
3. Click Add approval workflow.
4. Click Expenses from and select the invited member.
5. Click Approver and select the invited member.
6. Save the new workflow.
7. Go to Rules.
8. Enable Prevent self-approvals.
9. Go to Workflows.
10. Click on the added workflow in Step 6.
11. Click Approver field.

Expected Result:

Approver field should display the selected member so that user can deselect them.

Actual Result:

Approver field shows empty state when approver is still selected.

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

Bug7024132_1765209320069.17.mp4

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• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022014088520891772661
• Upwork Job ID: 2014088520891772661
• Last Price Increase: 2026-03-09

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @marufsharifi

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @heyjennahay (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.

[Nodebrute]

Proposal

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

Approver page shows empty state when approver is selected when prevent self-approvals is ON

What is the root cause of that problem?

ApproverSelectionList receives a list that doesn't include the selected approver, so it shows an empty state even though currentApprover exists in the workflow data. This filter prevents selecting new approvers who are in "Expenses from", but it also hides the currently selected approver. The selected approver should remain visible so the user can see and deselect them.

App/src/pages/workspace/workflows/approvals/WorkspaceWorkflowsApprovalsApproverPage.tsx

Line 65 in a1bb4bf

if (!isDefault && policy?.preventSelfApproval && membersEmail?.includes(email)) {

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

We can continue filtering new approvers who are in "Expenses from" list (to prevent self-approval) and we should allow currently selected approver to remain visible in the list (so the user can see and deselect them).
Change this too

 if (!isDefault && policy?.preventSelfApproval && membersEmail?.includes(email) && selectedApproverEmail !== email) {
                    return null;
                }

App/src/pages/workspace/workflows/approvals/WorkspaceWorkflowsApprovalsApproverPage.tsx

Line 65 in a1bb4bf

if (!isDefault && policy?.preventSelfApproval && membersEmail?.includes(email)) {

Optional: we can also stop user from deselecting the approver and make the list not interactive

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

[PiyushChandra17]

Proposal

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

Approver page shows empty state when approver is selected when prevent self-approvals is ON

What is the root cause of that problem?

1. When prevent self-approvals is enabled, we have this flag policy?.preventSelfApproval, this sets to true

2. We are checking if policy?.preventSelfApproval is truthy then we returning null, hence allApprovers shows empty array [], thats the reason we are showing empty state here

3. Also one check is missing approvalWorkflow.availableMembers.length === 0 in shouldShowEmptyListContent here

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

1. If self-approval is enabled, then this policy?.preventSelfApproval flag becomes true, Perhaps we need to update this condition:

if (!isDefault && policy?.preventSelfApproval && membersEmail?.includes(email) && currentApprover?.email !== email) {
    return null;
}

2. Update shouldShowEmptyListContent to check one more condition:

const shouldShowListEmptyContent = !!approvalWorkflow && !isApprovalWorkflowLoading && approvalWorkflow.availableMembers.length === 0;

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

n/A

Result

fix-approver-page-empty-state.mov

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]

@heyjennahay Uh oh! This issue is overdue by 2 days. Don't forget to update your issues!

[melvin-bot]

@heyjennahay 6 days overdue. This is scarier than being forced to listen to Vogon poetry!

[melvin-bot]

@heyjennahay Now this issue is 8 days overdue. Are you sure this should be a Daily? Feel free to change it!

[melvin-bot]

@heyjennahay 10 days overdue. Is anyone even seeing these? Hello?

[melvin-bot]

@heyjennahay this issue was created 2 weeks ago. Are we close to a solution? Let's make sure we're treating this as a top priority. Don't hesitate to create a thread in #expensify-open-source to align faster in real time. Thanks!

[heyjennahay]

@nlemma a question for you. Can you please re-perform this test but have 3 users on the workspace? I curious if the list will still be empty when there is someone other than the existing user (who cannot be an approver) and the owner (who is the default workflow approver)

[nlemma]

@heyjennahay The approver field shows User B, and the list shows User C only.

Screen.Recording.2025-12-23.at.20.08.40.mp4