Expense- App crash after deleting category in the list

[mitarachim]

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Version Number: v9.2.82-0
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/folder/13176818/test-cases/41237209
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): testpayment935@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Regression TC Execution
Device used: Windows 11 pro /Chrome
App Component: Workspace Settings

Action Performed:

1. Navigate to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Create Workspace
3. Go to category and open one of the category
4. Delete the item using RHP menu

Expected Result:

The App doesn't crash

Actual Result:

The App crash

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7033235_1766094834208!Log_crash.txt

Bug7033235_1766094834203.bandicam_2025-12-19_00-50-40-794.mp4

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[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @RachCHopkins (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 @arosiclair (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.

[nyomanjyotisa]

Proposal

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

Expense- App crash after deleting category in the list

What is the root cause of that problem?

The crash occurs in the requireFieldsPendingAction useMemo hook where the dependency array accesses policyCategory.pendingFields without optional chaining

App/src/pages/workspace/categories/CategorySettingsPage.tsx

Lines 132 to 139 in 894cbc2

	const requireFieldsPendingAction = useMemo(() => {
	if (policy?.isAttendeeTrackingEnabled) {
	// Pending fields are objects so we can't use nullish coalescing
	// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/prefer-nullish-coalescing
	return policyCategory?.pendingFields?.areAttendeesRequired || policyCategory?.pendingFields?.areCommentsRequired;
	}
	return policyCategory?.pendingFields?.areCommentsRequired;
	}, [policyCategory.pendingFields, policy?.isAttendeeTrackingEnabled]);

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

Add optional chaining to policyCategory.pendingFields in the dependency array to safely handle when policyCategory is undefined

    }, [policyCategory?.pendingFields, policy?.isAttendeeTrackingEnabled]);

App/src/pages/workspace/categories/CategorySettingsPage.tsx

Line 139 in 894cbc2

}, [policyCategory.pendingFields, policy?.isAttendeeTrackingEnabled]);

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

None