Old WELCOME_EVENT is still actual for all company size

[jponikarchuk]

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Version Number: 9.3.42-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: N/A - new feature, doesn't exist in prod
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #85326
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): new public domain account
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Pull Request QA execution
Device used: Windows 11 / Chrome, Android 12
App Component: Other

Action Performed:

1. Log in with the suggestedFollowups beta enabled
2. Start onboarding with MANAGE_TEAM intent
3. Select company size SMALL (11-50 employees)
4. Complete onboarding and check the #admins room
5. Repeat with company size LARGE (1001+)
6. Repeat with company size MICRO (1-10)

Expected Result:

For all company size, new PREGENERATED_RESPONSE is available:
4. Concierge welcome message says "For a growing team like yours" (not "For a small team like yours")
Followup suggestions appear below the welcome message
5. Welcome message says "For an organization your size"
6. Welcome message says "For a small team like yours" (original phrasing preserved)

Actual Result:

For all company size, old WELCOME_EVENT is available:
Hey there, I'm your Expensify setup specialist. Now that you've created a workspace, make the most of your 30-day free trial by following the steps below!

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Video.mp4

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[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #85326

[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.

[OSBotify]

🔍 Investigation Summary

Classification: Backend bug
Causing PR: #85326 - "Expand PREGENERATED_RESPONSE to all company sizes and deprecate WELCOME_EVENT" by @marcochavezf (High confidence)
Related Issues: https://github.com/Expensify/Expensify/issues/610942

Recommendation: NEEDS INVESTIGATION

The frontend changes from PR #85326 are working correctly - the App is generating the bespoke welcome message for all company sizes and sending it to the backend via the bespokeWelcomeMessage parameter in the CompleteGuidedSetup API call. However, the backend is not using this parameter and is still falling back to the old WELCOME_EVENT path.

According to the PR description: "The backend WELCOME_EVENT fallback in Web-Expensify (UserAPI::queueAdminsRoomWelcome) remains untouched — older App versions that don't send bespokeWelcomeMessage will still fall back to the WELCOME_EVENT path. A follow-up PR will deprecate WELCOME_EVENT from the Concierge prompt once this ships."

This indicates that a backend PR is required to actually use the bespokeWelcomeMessage parameter being sent from the frontend. Without the backend changes, the feature cannot work.

Action needed: The backend team needs to deploy the corresponding changes to Web-Expensify to consume the bespokeWelcomeMessage parameter and stop using WELCOME_EVENT for users with the suggestedFollowups beta.

Labels: Removing DeployBlockerCash (this is a backend issue, not an App deploy blocker). Keeping this as a general deploy blocker until the backend changes are deployed.

📋 Detailed Analysis

Evidence

PR #85326 made frontend changes to:

1. Expand getBespokeWelcomeMessage() to generate tailored messages for all company sizes (not just MICRO)
2. Remove the companySize === MICRO guard so bespoke messages are generated for all sizes when suggestedFollowups beta is enabled
3. Send the bespokeWelcomeMessage parameter to the backend via the CompleteGuidedSetup API

The bug report shows that users are seeing the old WELCOME_EVENT message for all company sizes, which means the backend is not using the bespokeWelcomeMessage parameter being sent.

Verification

Frontend code is correct:

• src/libs/ReportUtils.ts: The prepareOnboardingOnyxData() function correctly generates bespokeWelcomeMessage for all company sizes when shouldUseFollowupsInsteadOfTasks is true
• src/libs/actions/Report/index.ts: The bespokeWelcomeMessage is correctly passed to the CompleteGuidedSetup API call
• Unit tests verify the correct behavior for all company sizes

Backend is missing:

• The PR description explicitly states that backend changes are needed in a follow-up PR
• The issue is only reproducible on staging (not production), and the feature doesn't exist in production yet
• This is a new feature that requires both frontend and backend changes to work

Root Cause

This is an incomplete feature deployment. The frontend changes shipped without the corresponding backend changes. The backend UserAPI::queueAdminsRoomWelcome method needs to be updated to:

1. Check if bespokeWelcomeMessage parameter is present in the API request
2. Use that message instead of generating a WELCOME_EVENT via the LLM
3. Only fall back to WELCOME_EVENT for older App versions that don't send the parameter

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

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

After PR #85326 merged, all company sizes (SMALL, LARGE, MICRO, etc.) still show the old WELCOME_EVENT message ("Hey there, I'm your Expensify setup specialist. Now that you've created a workspace...") instead of the new company-size-specific PREGENERATED_RESPONSE welcome messages when the suggestedFollowups beta is enabled during MANAGE_TEAM onboarding.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The root cause is a frontend-backend mismatch. PR #85326 correctly expanded the App frontend to generate and send bespokeWelcomeMessage for all company sizes (not just MICRO), but the backend in Web-Expensify was not updated to use bespokeWelcomeMessage for non-MICRO sizes.

Frontend (correct): In src/libs/ReportUtils.ts:11806, when shouldUseFollowupsInsteadOfTasks is true (MANAGE_TEAM intent + suggestedFollowups beta), getBespokeWelcomeMessage(companySize, userReportedIntegration) generates a tailored welcome message for ALL company sizes. This message is sent to the server as the bespokeWelcomeMessage parameter in the CompleteGuidedSetup API call (src/libs/actions/Report/index.ts:5081-5097).

Backend (the problem): The cleanup issue https://github.com/Expensify/Expensify/issues/614205 explicitly confirms: "currently only MICRO users get PREGENERATED_RESPONSE. Non-micro users still fall through to the old path." The backend's queueAdminsRoomWelcome() in UserAPI.php still gates PREGENERATED_RESPONSE on company size or ignores bespokeWelcomeMessage for non-MICRO users. When the backend ignores bespokeWelcomeMessage, it falls back to the WELCOME_EVENT code path, which creates the old generic welcome message that overwrites the frontend's optimistic bespoke action.

PR #85326's own description acknowledges this: "The backend WELCOME_EVENT fallback in Web-Expensify (UserAPI::queueAdminsRoomWelcome) remains untouched" and "A follow-up PR will deprecate WELCOME_EVENT from the Concierge prompt once this ships."

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

Backend fix in Web-Expensify (UserAPI.php): Update the queueAdminsRoomWelcome() function to use the PREGENERATED_RESPONSE path whenever bespokeWelcomeMessage is present in the CompleteGuidedSetup request parameters, regardless of company size. The current logic likely has a companySize === MICRO condition that should be removed — the presence of bespokeWelcomeMessage alone should be sufficient to determine the path.

This is partially tracked by https://github.com/Expensify/Expensify/issues/614205, which lists removing the WELCOME_EVENT code paths in UserAPI.php as a cleanup task. The fix here is a subset of that cleanup: ensure the PREGENERATED_RESPONSE path is used for all company sizes when the frontend sends bespokeWelcomeMessage.

No App-side changes are needed — the frontend is already correctly generating and sending bespoke messages for all company sizes.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

An alternative would be to have the frontend suppress the server's WELCOME_EVENT when a bespoke action was created optimistically (e.g., by filtering out WELCOME_EVENT actions from the admins room when bespokeWelcomeMessage was sent). However, this would be a workaround rather than a proper fix — the correct approach is to fix the backend to respect the bespokeWelcomeMessage parameter for all company sizes.

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Next Steps for Contributor+ team: Reply with @MelvinBot implement this to create a draft PR, @MelvinBot <your feedback> to refine this analysis, or explain why you are rejecting Melvin's proposal.

[marcochavezf]

In the vide we're using the gmail domain and that's no in the suggestedFollowups beta