[$250] User is not redirected to the concierge chat after clearing the create chat error

[m-natarajan]

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Version Number: 9.3.27-2
Reproducible in staging?: Y
Reproducible in production?: Y
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack:
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers):
Logs: https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/4856
Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:
Issue reported by: @bernhardoj
Slack conversation (hyperlinked to channel name): #Expensify Bugs

Action Performed:

Turn on "Simulate failing network requests"
2. Go to Inbox
3. Press the global create button > Start chat
4. Start a chat with a user you never chatted with before. The chat creation should be failed.
5. Tap the create chat error clear button

Expected Result:

User redirected to the concierge chat

Actual Result:

User stay at the error report

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

Select the officially supported platforms where the issue was reproduced:

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

Screenshots/Videos

ios.mp4

ScreenRecording_02-27-2026.19-19-59_1.MP4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @TaduJR

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022027547153968189786
• Upwork Job ID: 2027547153968189786
• Last Price Increase: 2026-03-31

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @laurenreidexpensify (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.

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

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

When a 1:1 chat creation fails (e.g., with "Simulate failing network requests" enabled), tapping the error clear/dismiss button does not redirect the user to the Concierge chat. The user stays on the failed report screen.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The openReport function's failureData for new 1:1 chat creation is missing errorFields.createChat. When the API request fails, the failure handler only sets isLoadingInitialReportActions: false on the report metadata — it does not set any error fields on the report itself.

Specifically, at App/src/libs/actions/Report/index.ts:1660-1668, the failureData is:

failureData = [{
    onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
    key: REPORT_METADATA,
    value: { isLoadingInitialReportActions: false },
}];

Compare this with addWorkspaceRoom at line 3593-3601, which correctly includes errorFields.addWorkspaceRoom in its failureData.

Because errorFields.createChat is never set on failure, the OfflineWithFeedback component in ReportActionItemCreated (line 44) receives undefined for its errors prop, so no error banner is shown. And when the error IS somehow displayed and dismissed, clearCreateChatError (line 3688-3697) should call navigateToConciergeChatAndDeleteReport, but the missing error field means the flow doesn't work as intended.

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

Add errorFields.createChat to the failureData in openReport when creating a new report (isCreatingNewReport is true and shouldAddPendingFields is true). This should be added inside the if (isCreatingNewReport) block (around line 1413) as an additional push to the failureData array:

In App/src/libs/actions/Report/index.ts, inside the if (isCreatingNewReport) block, push to failureData:

• Set errorFields.createChat with getMicroSecondOnyxErrorWithTranslationKey('report.genericCreateReportFailureMessage') on the report (matching the pattern used by addWorkspaceRoom)

This ensures:

1. The error banner is shown via OfflineWithFeedback in ReportActionItemCreated when chat creation fails
2. When the user taps the dismiss button, clearCreateChatError is called. Since isOptimisticReport remains true (failureData doesn't change it), the condition errorFields.createChat && !isOptimisticReport evaluates to false, correctly falling through to navigateToConciergeChatAndDeleteReport which navigates to Concierge and deletes the failed optimistic report

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

An alternative would be to also modify clearCreateChatError to always navigate away after clearing errors (even for non-optimistic reports). However, the current conditional logic at line 3691 is intentional — for real (non-optimistic) reports that have a createChat error from the server, clearing the error without deleting the report is correct behavior. The root cause is simply the missing error field in the failure data.

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Next Steps for Contributor+ team: Reply with @MelvinBot implement this to create a draft PR, or @MelvinBot <your feedback> to refine this analysis.

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @hungvu193 (External)

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022027547153968189786

[ryntgh]

Proposal

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

User is not redirected to the concierge chat after clearing the create chat error

What is the root cause of that problem?

clearCreateChatError uses !isOptimisticReport in its condition. On native apps, isOptimisticReport return undefined in report metadata, so !undefined is true.

The function then clears the error and returns instead of calling navigateToConciergeChatAndDeleteReport.

App/src/libs/actions/Report/index.ts

Lines 3691 to 3696 in 5023f38

	if (report?.errorFields?.createChat && !isOptimisticReport) {
	clearReportFieldKeyErrors(report.reportID, 'createChat');
	return;
	}
	navigateToConciergeChatAndDeleteReport(report?.reportID, conciergeReportID, undefined, true);

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

We can only clear the error and return when isOptimisticReport is explicitly false. When it is true or undefined, navigate to concierge chat (and delete the report).

    if (report?.errorFields?.createChat && isOptimisticReport === false) {

App/src/libs/actions/Report/index.ts

Line 3691 in 5023f38

if (report?.errorFields?.createChat && !isOptimisticReport) {

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

N/A

[bernhardoj]

@MelvinBot This is most likely a react-native-onyx issue.

We add the createChat error here

App/src/libs/actions/IOU/index.ts

Lines 2439 to 2457 in 5023f38

	onyxData.failureData?.push(
	{
	onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
	key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT}${chat.report?.reportID}`,
	value: {
	iouReportID: chat.report?.iouReportID,
	lastReadTime: chat.report?.lastReadTime,
	lastVisibleActionCreated: chat.report?.lastVisibleActionCreated,
	pendingFields: null,
	hasOutstandingChildRequest: chat.report?.hasOutstandingChildRequest,
	...(isNewChatReport
	? {
	errorFields: {
	createChat: getMicroSecondOnyxErrorWithTranslationKey('report.genericCreateReportFailureMessage'),
	},
	}
	: {}),
	},
	},

and when creating the chat optimistically, we already set the isOptimisticReport to true.

App/src/libs/actions/IOU/index.ts

Lines 2104 to 2112 in 5023f38

	if (isNewChatReport) {
	onyxData.optimisticData?.push({
	onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
	key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_METADATA}${chat.report?.reportID}`,
	value: {
	isOptimisticReport: true,
	},
	});
	}

But when openReport or updateLastVisitTime functions is called, it overwrites the reportMetadata that contains isOptimisticReport, even though we use MERGE operation.

App/src/libs/actions/Report/index.ts

Lines 4930 to 4935 in 5023f38

	function updateLastVisitTime(reportID: string) {
	if (!isValidReportIDFromPath(reportID)) {
	return;
	}
	Onyx.merge(`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_METADATA}${reportID}`, {lastVisitTime: DateUtils.getDBTime()});
	}

App/src/libs/actions/Report/index.ts

Lines 1162 to 1209 in 5023f38

	function openReport(
	reportID: string | undefined,
	introSelected: OnyxEntry<IntroSelected>,
	reportActionID?: string,
	participantLoginList: string[] = [],
	newReportObject?: OptimisticChatReport,
	parentReportActionID?: string,
	isFromDeepLink = false,
	participantAccountIDList: number[] = [],
	isNewThread = false,
	transaction?: Transaction,
	transactionViolations?: TransactionViolations,
	parentReportID?: string,
	shouldAddPendingFields = true,
	optimisticSelfDMReport?: Report,
	) {
	if (!reportID) {
	return;
	}
	const optimisticReport = reportActionsExist(reportID)
	? {}
	: {
	reportName: allReports?.[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT}${reportID}`]?.reportName ?? CONST.REPORT.DEFAULT_REPORT_NAME,
	};
	const optimisticData: Array<
	OnyxUpdate<
	| typeof ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_METADATA
	| typeof ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT
	| typeof ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION
	| typeof ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION_VIOLATIONS
	| typeof ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_ACTIONS
	| typeof ONYXKEYS.NVP_INTRO_SELECTED
	| typeof ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.POLICY
	| typeof ONYXKEYS.NVP_ONBOARDING
	| typeof ONYXKEYS.PERSONAL_DETAILS_LIST
	>
	> = [
	{
	onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
	key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_METADATA}${reportID}`,
	value: {
	isLoadingInitialReportActions: true,
	isLoadingOlderReportActions: false,
	hasLoadingOlderReportActionsError: false,
	isLoadingNewerReportActions: false,
	hasLoadingNewerReportActionsError: false,

[MelvinBot]

Thanks for the feedback bernhardoj — I investigated the code references you shared and here's what I found:

Your observation about the IOU flow is valid. In IOU/index.ts:2439-2457, errorFields.createChat IS correctly set in failureData, and isOptimisticReport: true IS correctly set in optimistic data at IOU/index.ts:2104-2112. This part of the code handles IOU-triggered chat creation properly.

However, for the specific "Start chat" flow in this issue (Create button → Start chat → select new user), the code path is different:

1. NewChatPage.tsx:401 → navigateToAndOpenReport → openReport with newReportObject
2. The IOU code is not involved in this flow
3. openReport's failureData (Report/index.ts:1660-1668) only sets {isLoadingInitialReportActions: false} — no errorFields.createChat

Regarding the Onyx MERGE overwrite you described: I traced the Onyx internals (Onyx.js:386-402) and found that fastMerge in utils.js:9-96 does correctly preserve existing keys during a standalone MERGE. However, there IS a race condition that can cause isOptimisticReport to be lost:

1. IOU's API.write() fires Onyx.update(optimisticData) asynchronously (fire-and-forget at API/index.ts:90)
2. Navigation to ReportScreen happens synchronously before the Onyx cache is updated
3. updateLastVisitTime (Report/index.ts:4934) fires from ReportScreen's useEffect — its Onyx.merge finds no value in cache yet, so the result is just {lastVisitTime: ...} without isOptimisticReport
4. fetchReport guard at ReportScreen.tsx:535 sees isOptimisticReport as undefined → incorrectly calls openReport

So it's not that MERGE overwrites existing keys — it's that the async Onyx operations haven't completed before the UI reads the state. This is a valid race condition that would affect the IOU-triggered chat creation flow.

Summary — there appear to be two related bugs:

Flow	Root Cause	Missing
"Start chat" (this issue's steps)	openReport failureData incomplete	errorFields.createChat not set on failure
IOU-triggered chat creation	Race condition in async Onyx operations	isOptimisticReport lost due to timing

Both result in the same symptom: user stays on the error report instead of being redirected to concierge.

If you believe the issue's reproduction steps primarily hit the IOU flow rather than the direct "Start chat" flow, I'd appreciate the clarification — that would shift the fix target toward addressing the Onyx race condition as you suggested.

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Next Steps for Contributor+ team: Reply with @MelvinBot implement this to create a draft PR, or @MelvinBot <your feedback> to refine this analysis.