Add clearPageTitle cleanup to useDocumentTitle to prevent stale tab title after RHP close by MelvinBot · Pull Request #86141 · Expensify/App

MelvinBot · 2026-03-23T21:14:43Z

Explanation of Change

PR #85473 removed the cleanup function from the useDocumentTitle hook to fix a race condition where the tab title would briefly flash "New Expensify" during navigation. However, removing cleanup entirely means the document title set by an RHP screen persists after the RHP is closed, because currentPageTitle is never cleared.

This PR adds a new clearPageTitle() function that resets the currentPageTitle module variable without triggering updateDocumentTitle(). The useDocumentTitle hook now returns this as its cleanup function. This avoids the original race condition (no setTimeout is queued during cleanup, so no "New Expensify" flash), while ensuring that when a screen loses focus, the stale title is cleared so it doesn't persist.

Fixed Issues

$ #86087
PROPOSAL: #86087 (comment)

Tests

Log into the app on web (Chrome)
Go to a workspace chat
Create two expenses
Open the expense report
Open any individual expense (this opens in the RHP and sets the tab title to the expense name)
Close the RHP
Verify the tab title reverts to the underlying page's title (not the expense detail title)
Navigate between different pages and verify the tab title updates correctly (no "New Expensify" flash)

Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Offline tests

This change only affects the browser tab title (document.title), which is a web-only, client-side operation. No offline-specific behavior changes.

QA Steps

Same as tests above — reproducible on staging web (Chrome/Safari).

Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

PR Author Checklist

Screenshots/Videos

Android: Native

N/A — This change only affects the browser tab title (document.title), which is web-only.

Android: mWeb Chrome

N/A — Browser tab titles are visible but the change is purely cosmetic metadata.

iOS: Native

N/A — This change only affects the browser tab title (document.title), which is web-only.

iOS: mWeb Safari

N/A — Browser tab titles are visible but the change is purely cosmetic metadata.

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

N/A — Manual testing required to verify tab title persistence during navigation.

… after RHP close When the RHP expense detail screen was closed, the document title persisted because the useDocumentTitle hook had no cleanup function to clear currentPageTitle. This adds a clearPageTitle function that resets the module variable without triggering updateDocumentTitle(), avoiding the race condition that the original cleanup caused. Co-authored-by: Yuwen Memon <yuwenmemon@users.noreply.github.com>

codecov · 2026-03-23T21:23:50Z

Codecov Report

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

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
src/pages/Search/SearchMoneyRequestReportPage.tsx	`0.00% <0.00%> (ø)`
... and 113 files with indirect coverage changes

yuwenmemon · 2026-03-23T22:01:03Z

@mananjadhav Do you mine reviewing and testing this one?

melvin-bot · 2026-03-23T22:01:07Z

@eh2077 @yuwenmemon One of you needs to 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]

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-03-23T22:10:43Z

src/libs/UnreadIndicatorUpdater/updateUnread/index.ts

+function clearPageTitle() {
+    currentPageTitle = '';


Avoid clearing shared title before deferred update executes

clearPageTitle() mutates the same currentPageTitle global that setPageTitle() relies on for its deferred setTimeout update. When two titled screens transition quickly (notably in split navigators), the outgoing screen’s focus cleanup can run after the incoming screen calls setPageTitle, so this cleanup resets currentPageTitle before the queued callback computes baseTitle. The tab title then falls back to CONFIG.SITE_TITLE and can stay wrong until another unread/title update occurs.

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mananjadhav · 2026-03-24T08:20:37Z

@MelvinBot I tried this change already and it doesn't work. There's a flicker and the focused tab doesn't have the title updated.

Moreover the title stops updating for all the tabs and switching report.

web-title.mov

I also feel we're missing the useDocumentTitle call in SearchMoneyRequestReportPage.tsx, wdyt?

MelvinBot · 2026-03-24T08:25:27Z

You're right on both counts. Good catch.

The flicker / title stops updating

The clearPageTitle() cleanup reintroduces the same race condition that PR #85473 originally fixed by removing cleanup. Here's what happens:

Screen A loses focus → cleanup fires → clearPageTitle() sets currentPageTitle = ''
Navigation state change triggers the debounced triggerUnreadUpdate (src/libs/UnreadIndicatorUpdater/index.ts)
triggerUnreadUpdate → updateUnread() → updateDocumentTitle() reads currentPageTitle which is now '', falls back to CONFIG.SITE_TITLE ("New Expensify") (updateUnread/index.ts:33)
Screen B gains focus → setPageTitle('new title') fires, but the stacked setTimeout(fn, 0) calls from steps 3 and 4 can execute in the wrong order, causing the flicker

The core issue is that clearPageTitle() only clears the module variable without updating document.title, but updateDocumentTitle() gets called independently by the UnreadIndicatorUpdater during navigation — and during that window it reads the empty currentPageTitle.

Missing `useDocumentTitle` in `SearchMoneyRequestReportPage.tsx`

Yes, this is a gap. SearchMoneyRequestReportPage.tsx never calls useDocumentTitle, unlike ReportScreen.tsx (line 288) and 17 other screens that follow the pattern. This is a pre-existing issue on main, but the cleanup approach in this PR makes it worse — when SearchMoneyRequestReportPage opens in the RHP, the underlying screen's cleanup clears the title, and since SearchMoneyRequestReportPage never sets one, the title falls through to "New Expensify".

Suggested path forward

The approach in this PR (clearing the module variable on cleanup) fundamentally conflicts with the debounced UnreadIndicatorUpdater that reads currentPageTitle asynchronously. A better fix for the original issue (#86087 — stale title after RHP close) might be:

Add useDocumentTitle to SearchMoneyRequestReportPage.tsx (and any other screens missing it) so the title is properly set when the screen gains focus
Keep the no-cleanup approach from PR Remove useDocumentTitle cleanup to fix tab title race condition #85473 — each screen just overwrites the title on focus, avoiding the race condition entirely
The underlying page's useFocusEffect should re-fire when the RHP closes and it regains focus, which would naturally restore the correct title

I can't push code changes on this PR when directed by a non-author/non-assignee reviewer. To have me implement a revised fix, the PR assignee (yuwenmemon) should reply with a request tagging me.

mananjadhav · 2026-03-24T08:42:07Z

@MelvinBot Can you force push or recreate the PR? @yuwenmemon May be you can request?

MelvinBot · 2026-03-24T08:43:24Z

I can't force push — that's not allowed per repository policy (it rewrites commit history).

I could close this PR and create a new one with a revised approach, but I can only make code changes when directed by the PR author, an assignee, or an existing co-author. yuwenmemon — if you'd like me to close this PR and open a new one with a different approach (e.g., adding useDocumentTitle to SearchMoneyRequestReportPage.tsx instead of the clearPageTitle cleanup), just reply here tagging me and I'll take care of it.

yuwenmemon · 2026-03-24T17:35:05Z

@MelvinBot implement the improvement you suggested above

…uestReportPage The clearPageTitle approach caused a race condition with the debounced UnreadIndicatorUpdater, resulting in title flicker and titles stopping to update across tabs. Instead, keep the no-cleanup approach and add the missing useDocumentTitle call to SearchMoneyRequestReportPage so it properly sets the document title when focused. Co-authored-by: Yuwen Memon <yuwenmemon@users.noreply.github.com>

melvin-bot · 2026-03-24T17:42:46Z

@QichenZhu 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]

MelvinBot · 2026-03-24T17:42:54Z

I've pushed a revised approach based on mananjadhav's feedback:

What changed:

Reverted the clearPageTitle cleanup — this was causing the race condition with the debounced UnreadIndicatorUpdater, producing the flicker and breaking title updates across tabs
Added useDocumentTitle to SearchMoneyRequestReportPage.tsx — this was the missing piece. Now when this page gains focus, it sets the document title to the report name (same pattern as ReportScreen)

Why this works better: Instead of trying to clean up stale titles on blur (which races with the async updateDocumentTitle), each screen simply overwrites the title on focus. Adding useDocumentTitle to SearchMoneyRequestReportPage ensures the title is correctly set when navigating to/from this page, fixing the original issue (#86087) without the flicker side effect.

The PR now has a net change of only adding useDocumentTitle to SearchMoneyRequestReportPage.tsx (the updateUnread files and hook are back to matching main).

yuwenmemon · 2026-03-24T18:01:47Z

Okay @mananjadhav let's give it another spin

MelvinBot assigned yuwenmemon Mar 23, 2026

MelvinBot requested a review from a team March 23, 2026 21:14

MelvinBot mentioned this pull request Mar 23, 2026

Web - Tab name shows the title of expense details page after closing the report #86087

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yuwenmemon requested review from mananjadhav and shubham1206agra and removed request for shubham1206agra March 23, 2026 22:00

yuwenmemon marked this pull request as ready for review March 23, 2026 22:01

yuwenmemon requested a review from a team as a code owner March 23, 2026 22:01

melvin-bot bot requested review from eh2077, joekaufmanexpensify and yuwenmemon March 23, 2026 22:01

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chatgpt-codex-connector bot reviewed Mar 23, 2026

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MelvinBot commented Mar 23, 2026

Explanation of Change

Fixed Issues

Tests

Offline tests

QA Steps

PR Author Checklist

Screenshots/Videos

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mananjadhav commented Mar 24, 2026

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MelvinBot commented Mar 24, 2026

The flicker / title stops updating

Missing useDocumentTitle in SearchMoneyRequestReportPage.tsx

Suggested path forward

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mananjadhav commented Mar 24, 2026

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MelvinBot commented Mar 24, 2026

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yuwenmemon commented Mar 24, 2026

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codecov bot commented Mar 23, 2026 •

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Missing `useDocumentTitle` in `SearchMoneyRequestReportPage.tsx`