[Due for payment 2025-10-13] [$250] Message Text Repeated Above Each Attachment Instead of Only the First

[m-natarajan]

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Version Number: 9.2.13-1
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: @AndrewGable
Slack conversation (hyperlinked to channel name): #Expensify Bugs

Action Performed:

1. Navigate to a DM
2. Type a message, e.g., "hello world"
3. Add two attachments to the same message
4. Send the message
5. Observe how the text is displayed in the chat

Expected Result:

The message text should appear once, followed by the list of attachments.

Actual Result:

The message text appears above each attachment, duplicating unnecessarily.

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

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• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021967647629270592501
• Upwork Job ID: 1967647629270592501
• Last Price Increase: 2025-09-22

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @garrettmknight

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @garrettmknight (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.

[daledah]

Proposal

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

The message text appears above each attachment, duplicating unnecessarily.

What is the root cause of that problem?

We are adding the text for all attachments

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/ReportActionCompose.tsx

Lines 325 to 330 in 3938e13

	if (Array.isArray(attachmentFileRef.current)) {
	// Handle multiple files
	attachmentFileRef.current.forEach((file) => {
	addAttachmentReportActions(reportID, file, personalDetail.timezone ?? CONST.DEFAULT_TIME_ZONE, newCommentTrimmed, true);
	});
	} else {

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

We should only add the text for the first attachemnt

        if (Array.isArray(attachmentFileRef.current)) {
            // Handle multiple files
            attachmentFileRef.current.forEach((file, index) => {
                addAttachmentReportActions(reportID, file, personalDetail.timezone ?? CONST.DEFAULT_TIME_ZONE, index === 0 ? newCommentTrimmed : '', true);
            });
        } 

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/ReportActionCompose.tsx

Lines 325 to 330 in 3938e13

	if (Array.isArray(attachmentFileRef.current)) {
	// Handle multiple files
	attachmentFileRef.current.forEach((file) => {
	addAttachmentReportActions(reportID, file, personalDetail.timezone ?? CONST.DEFAULT_TIME_ZONE, newCommentTrimmed, true);
	});
	} else {

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

None

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Reminder: Please use plain English, be brief and avoid jargon. Feel free to use images, charts or pseudo-code if necessary. Do not post large multi-line diffs or write walls of text. Do not create PRs unless you have been hired for this job.

[ikevin127]

Proposal

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

Message text repeated above each attachment instead of only the first one.

What is the root cause of that problem?

When there are more than 1 attachments attached to a message, the current logic passes the text above each attachment:

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/ReportActionCompose.tsx

Lines 324 to 333 in 3938e13

	if (attachmentFileRef.current) {
	if (Array.isArray(attachmentFileRef.current)) {
	// Handle multiple files
	attachmentFileRef.current.forEach((file) => {
	addAttachmentReportActions(reportID, file, personalDetail.timezone ?? CONST.DEFAULT_TIME_ZONE, newCommentTrimmed, true);
	});
	} else {
	// Handle single file
	addAttachmentReportActions(reportID, attachmentFileRef.current, personalDetail.timezone ?? CONST.DEFAULT_TIME_ZONE, newCommentTrimmed, true);
	}

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

Besides only passing the message to the first attachment, there's also the issue of the shouldPlaySound which plays the attachment posted sound effect twice even though we're only posting 1 message (with multiple attachments):

App/src/libs/actions/Report.ts

Lines 840 to 846 in 3938e13

	/** Add an attachment and optional comment. */
	function addAttachment(reportID: string, file: FileObject, timezoneParam: Timezone, text = '', shouldPlaySound?: boolean) {
	if (shouldPlaySound) {
	playSound(SOUNDS.DONE);
	}
	addActions(reportID, timezoneParam, text, file);
	}

I'm proposing a cleaner approach that tackles both issues by refactoring the addComment (aka addAttachmentReportActions) function used in the ReportActionCompose.tsx component (and a few others).

1. The addComment (aka addAttachmentReportActions) function becomes addAttachmentWithComment and contains the following logic:

   Note: Much cleaner code in both util function all the components that use it, default timezone passed directly in the util function to avoid CONST usage in all components where the function is called.

/** Add an attachment with an optional comment to a report */
function addAttachmentWithComment(reportID: string, attachment: FileObject | FileObject[], text = '', timezone: Timezone = CONST.DEFAULT_TIME_ZONE) {
    if (!reportID) {
        return;
    }

    // Single attachment
    if (!Array.isArray(attachment)) {
        addActions(reportID, timezone, text, attachment);
        playSound(SOUNDS.DONE);
        return;
    }

    // Multiple attachments
    // First, combine text + first attachment so it stays as a single action
    addActions(reportID, timezone, text, attachment?.at(0));

    // Remaining: attachment-only actions (no text duplication)
    for (let i = 1; i < attachment?.length; i += 1) {
        addActions(reportID, timezone, '', attachment?.at(i));
    }

    // Play sound once
    playSound(SOUNDS.DONE);
}

2. Then in the ReportActionCompose.tsx component replace the existing logic with this:

    if (attachmentFileRef.current) {
        addAttachmentWithComment(reportID, attachmentFileRef.current, newCommentTrimmed, personalDetail.timezone);
        attachmentFileRef.current = null;
    } else {

3. Update all component instances of where the old addComment was used, removing CONST import where not needed:

• tests/actions/ReportTest.ts
• src/pages/Share/ShareDetailsPage.tsx
• src/pages/settings/AboutPage/ShareLogList/index.tsx
• src/pages/settings/AboutPage/ShareLogList/index.native.tsx

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

Add test coverage for the newly refactored addAttachmentWithComment to ensure it works as expected in all scenarios:

• single attachment
• multiple attachments
• missing reportID / timezone / text scenarios

Result video (🔊 SOUND ON)

MacOS: Chrome

Screen.Recording.2025-09-12.at.19.13.39.mov

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021967647629270592501

[melvin-bot]

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