[Due for payment 2025-08-20] [$250] Search - "To: first and last name" queries dont return matching options

[jponikarchuk]

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Version Number: v9.1.87-2
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: #65810
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): N/A
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: All platforms
App Component: Search

Action Performed:

Precondition: The user has submitted an expense to another user who has first and last name.

1. Go to ND stage: https://staging.new.expensify.com/
2. Log in with a Gmail account that includes a +
3. Click on Search (magnifying glass icon)
4. Type: "To: [first name and some letters of the last name]"

Expected Result:

The matching option should be displayed.

Actual Result:

There is not matching option displayed.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

1.mp4

View all open jobs on GitHub

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021950625277870566806
• Upwork Job ID: 1950625277870566806
• Last Price Increase: 2025-07-30

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @alexpensify

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @alexpensify (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.

[ganzz4]

Proposal

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

When users type search queries with partial names in the format to:FirstName PartialLastName, the search autocomplete does not show matching suggestions for users like "FirstName LastName".

What is the root cause of that problem?

The autocomplete parser treats spaces as token separators, so when a user types to:FirstName PartialLastName, the parser interprets:

1. to:FirstName as a complete filter
2. PartialLastName as the beginning of a new, unrelated token

This causes the autocomplete system to return null for the current autocomplete context, preventing any suggestions from being displayed. The system doesn't recognize that "PartialLastName" is a continuation of the name field value.

Original problematic code in SearchAutocompleteList.tsx:

App/src/components/Search/SearchAutocompleteList.tsx

Lines 254 to 263 in 0de214a

	const autocompleteSuggestions = useMemo<AutocompleteItemData[]>(() => {
	const {autocomplete, ranges = []} = autocompleteParsedQuery ?? {};
	const autocompleteKey = autocomplete?.key;
	const autocompleteValue = autocomplete?.value ?? '';
	const alreadyAutocompletedKeys = ranges
	.filter((range) => {
	return autocompleteKey && range.key === autocompleteKey;
	})
	.map((range) => range.value.toLowerCase());

Original problematic code in SearchRouter.tsx:

App/src/components/Search/SearchRouter/SearchRouter.tsx

Lines 352 to 353 in 0de214a

	const trimmedUserSearchQuery = getQueryWithoutAutocompletedPart(textInputValue);
	const newSearchQuery = `${trimmedUserSearchQuery}${sanitizeSearchValue(item.searchQuery)}\u00A0`;

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

1. Enhance continuation detection in SearchAutocompleteList: Add logic to detect when a user is continuing to type after a name field by checking if there's text following a completed field range and treating it as a continuation of that field's value.

const autocompleteSuggestions = useMemo(() => {
    const {autocomplete, ranges = []} = autocompleteParsedQuery ?? {};
    let autocompleteKey = autocomplete?.key;
    let autocompleteValue = autocomplete?.value ?? '';
    
    // If autocomplete is null but we have ranges, check if user is continuing to type after any field
    if (!autocomplete && ranges.length > 0) {
        const lastRange = ranges[ranges.length - 1];
        const afterLastRange = autocompleteQueryValue.substring(lastRange.start + lastRange.length);
        const continuationMatch = afterLastRange.match(/^\s+(\w+)/);
        
        if (continuationMatch) {
            autocompleteKey = lastRange.key;
            autocompleteValue = `${lastRange.value} ${continuationMatch[1]}`;
        }
    }
}, []);

App/src/components/Search/SearchAutocompleteList.tsx

Lines 254 to 263 in 0de214a

	const autocompleteSuggestions = useMemo<AutocompleteItemData[]>(() => {
	const {autocomplete, ranges = []} = autocompleteParsedQuery ?? {};
	const autocompleteKey = autocomplete?.key;
	const autocompleteValue = autocomplete?.value ?? '';
	const alreadyAutocompletedKeys = ranges
	.filter((range) => {
	return autocompleteKey && range.key === autocompleteKey;
	})
	.map((range) => range.value.toLowerCase());

2. Improve autocomplete replacement logic in SearchRouter: Update the suggestion selection logic to properly replace the entire field value (including partial continuations) rather than appending to the existing text, preventing duplication issues like "to:FirstName PartialLastName"FirstName LastName".

// Extract field key from mapKey to enable proper replacement for continuation cases
const fieldKey = item.mapKey?.includes(':') ? item.mapKey.split(':')[0] : null;
const keyIndex = fieldKey ? textInputValue.toLowerCase().lastIndexOf(`${fieldKey}:`) : -1;

const trimmedUserSearchQuery = keyIndex !== -1 && fieldKey
    ? textInputValue.substring(0, keyIndex + fieldKey.length + 1)
    : getQueryWithoutAutocompletedPart(textInputValue);

const newSearchQuery = `${trimmedUserSearchQuery}${sanitizeSearchValue(item.searchQuery)}\u00A0`;

App/src/components/Search/SearchRouter/SearchRouter.tsx

Lines 352 to 353 in 0de214a

	const trimmedUserSearchQuery = getQueryWithoutAutocompletedPart(textInputValue);
	const newSearchQuery = `${trimmedUserSearchQuery}${sanitizeSearchValue(item.searchQuery)}\u00A0`;

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

1. Basic partial name matching: Test that typing to:FirstName PartialLastName shows suggestions for users like "FirstName LastName"
2. Full name replacement: Verify that selecting a suggestion replaces the entire partial input (e.g., to:FirstName PartialLastName becomes to:FirstName LastName)
3. Multiple word continuations: Test scenarios like to:FirstName PartialLastName finding "FirstName LastName"

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Result:

Result.mp4

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021950625277870566806

[melvin-bot]

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

[alexpensify]

@ZhenjaHorbach, when you get a chance, please review whether this proposal will fix the issue. Thanks!

[ZhenjaHorbach]

@ZhenjaHorbach, when you get a chance, please review whether this proposal will fix the issue. Thanks!

I will check today or tomorrow !

[lorretheboy]

Proposal

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

Search - "To: first and last name" queries dont return matching options

What is the root cause of that problem?

The problem is that when a user types to:John Smi, the parser correctly identifies John as a complete token for the to field, but Smi is treated as free text (not part of the autocomplete context). This causes the autocomplete to be null instead of providing suggestions for continuing the name.

App/src/components/Search/SearchAutocompleteList.tsx

Line 254 in 0de214a

const autocompleteSuggestions = useMemo<AutocompleteItemData[]>(() => {

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

Add here the Continuation Detection Logic

To fix the issue, when the parser returns null for autocomplete but there are existing ranges, the system now checks if the user is continuing to type after a name field. It looks for

• A completed name field range (to, from, assignee, payer, exporter)
• Text following that range that matches the pattern of a space + word characters
• If found, it treats this as a continuation of the name field value

        // If autocomplete is null but we have ranges, check if user is continuing to type after any name field
        if (!autocomplete && ranges.length > 0) {
            const lastRange = ranges.at(ranges.length - 1);
            // Only apply continuation logic for name fields (to, from, assignee, payer, exporter)
            const nameFields = [
                CONST.SEARCH.SYNTAX_FILTER_KEYS.TO,
                CONST.SEARCH.SYNTAX_FILTER_KEYS.FROM,
                CONST.SEARCH.SYNTAX_FILTER_KEYS.ASSIGNEE,
                CONST.SEARCH.SYNTAX_FILTER_KEYS.PAYER,
                CONST.SEARCH.SYNTAX_FILTER_KEYS.EXPORTER
            ] as const;

            if (lastRange && nameFields.includes(lastRange.key as TupleToUnion<typeof nameFields>)) {
                const afterLastRange = autocompleteQueryValue.substring(lastRange.start + lastRange.length);
                const continuationMatch = afterLastRange.match(/^\s+(\w+)/);

                if (continuationMatch) {
                    autocompleteKey = lastRange.key;
                    autocompleteValue = `${lastRange.value} ${continuationMatch[1]}`;
                }
            }
        }

Add here and here

To fix the issue, when a user selects an autocomplete suggestion, the system:

• Extracts the field key from the suggestion's mapKey
• Finds the last occurrence of that field in the input
• Replaces from the field start (e.g., to:) rather than just appending

                        // Extract field key from mapKey to enable proper replacement for continuation cases
                        const fieldKey = item.mapKey?.includes(':') ? item.mapKey.split(':').at(0) : null;
                        const keyIndex = fieldKey ? textInputValue.toLowerCase().lastIndexOf(`${fieldKey}:`) : -1;

                        const trimmedUserSearchQuery = keyIndex !== -1 && fieldKey
                            ? textInputValue.substring(0, keyIndex + fieldKey.length + 1)
                            : getQueryWithoutAutocompletedPart(textInputValue);

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

Update to include this case in SearchAutocompleteParserTest.ts

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

NA

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