[$250] Assign Random Avatars to Invited Members Without Expensify Accounts

[m-natarajan]

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Version Number: 9.1.79-11
Reproducible in staging?: Y
Reproducible in production?: Y
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail:
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers):
Logs: https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/4856
Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:
Issue reported by: @laurenreidexpensify
Slack conversation (hyperlinked to channel name): #Expensify Bugs

Action Performed:

1. Navigate to a workspace and go to the Members tab
2. Click “Invite” to add new members
3. Enter an email or phone number not currently registered with Expensify
4. Proceed to the confirmation screen
5. Observe that the avatar for the new invitee

Expected Result:

The invitee is assigned a non-grey, random avatar, which matches the one they will see after joining Expensify.

Actual Result:

The invitee's avatar is displayed as grey, even though they will receive a random avatar upon signup.

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
• MacOS: Desktop

Platforms Tested:

On which of our officially supported platforms was this issue tested:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Add any screenshot/video evidence

View all open jobs on GitHub

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021944648490419775185
• Upwork Job ID: 1944648490419775185
• Last Price Increase: 2025-07-21
• Automatic offers:
• twilight2294 | Contributor | 108146145

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @twilight2294

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @kadiealexander (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.

[twilight2294]

Proposal

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

Assign Random Avatars to Invited Members Without Expensify Accounts

What is the root cause of that problem?

Feature request

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

We need to update getAvatarsForAccountIDs to use RandomAvatarUtils as fallback if there is not avatar present for the current user

App/src/libs/OptionsListUtils.ts

Lines 468 to 470 in e766c7f

	function getAvatarsForAccountIDs(accountIDs: number[], personalDetails: OnyxEntry<PersonalDetailsList>, defaultValues: Record<string, number> = {}): Icon[] {
	const reversedDefaultValues: Record<number, string> = {};

App/src/libs/RandomAvatarUtils.ts

Lines 59 to 61 in e766c7f

	const getAvatarForContact = (name?: string | null) => {
	if (!name) {
	return DEFAULT_AVATAR;

function getAvatarsForAccountIDs(accountIDs: number[], personalDetails: OnyxEntry<PersonalDetailsList>, defaultValues: Record<string, number> = {}): Icon[] {
    const reversedDefaultValues: Record<number, string> = {};

    Object.entries(defaultValues).forEach((item) => {
        reversedDefaultValues[item[1]] = item[0];
    });

    return accountIDs.map((accountID) => {
        const login = reversedDefaultValues[accountID] ?? '';
        const userPersonalDetail = personalDetails?.[accountID] ?? {login, accountID};
        const fallBackAvatar = RandomAvatarUtils.getAvatarForContact(login);
        
        return {
            id: accountID,
            source: userPersonalDetail.avatar,
            type: CONST.ICON_TYPE_AVATAR,
            name: userPersonalDetail.login ?? '',
            fallbackIcon: fallBackAvatar,
        };
    });
}

Also update the API to use this avartar , note that we also need to update the selection list on the previous screen to use this random avatar and also send it to the api while inviting the users

we need to update AddMembersToWorkspace so that it accepted the avatar created on the frontend

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

N/A

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

N/A

[FitseTLT]

This is expected the same behavior applies for start chat too. The user will have a random avatar after an account is created to the new user in server and that happens only after we confirm on the invitation process. This is correct iMO.

[kadiealexander]

We should populate random icons instead of grey boxes for these users. They don't have to be assigned to the user as such, but we should show our branding here.

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021944648490419775185

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @Pujan92 (External)