[$250] Workspace and personal expense rules system message show up when personal rule is applied

[jponikarchuk]

If you haven’t already, check out our contributing guidelines for onboarding and email contributors@expensify.com to request to join our Slack channel!

---

Version Number: 9.3.31-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: N/A - new feature, doesn't exist in prod
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #83005
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): soindjoidjionjiosjn@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Mac 26.2 / Chrome
App Component: Money Requests

Action Performed:

Precondition:

• Enable Rules in More features.

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to workspace settings > Rules.
3. Click Add merchant rule.
4. Create a merchant rule that changes category to Car when merchant is Apple.
5. Go to Account > Expense rules.
6. Click New rule.
7. Create a rule that changes category to Fees when merchant is Apple.
8. Go to workspace chat.
9. Create an expense with Apple merchant.
10. Open the expense.

Expected Result:

Only personal expense rules system message will show up.

Actual Result:

Both workspace rules and personal expense rules system message show up when personal rule is applied.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

1.mp4

View all open jobs on GitHub

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @DylanDylann

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022029287326118198776
• Upwork Job ID: 2029287326118198776
• Last Price Increase: 2026-03-04

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @greg-schroeder (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 both a workspace merchant rule and a personal expense rule match the same merchant (e.g., "Apple"), creating an expense shows two system messages in the transaction thread — one saying the fields were changed "via workspace rules" and another saying they were changed "via personal expense rules." The expected behavior is that only the personal expense rules system message should appear.

What is the root cause of that problem?

Both workspace rules (coding rules) and personal expense rules are applied entirely server-side when an expense is created. The client sends no rule data with expense creation requests (App/src/libs/actions/IOU/index.ts). The client-side optimistic MODIFIED_EXPENSE builder (App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts:5457-5549) also does not include policyRulesModifiedFields or personalRulesModifiedFields.

When both rule types match the same merchant, the server creates two separate MODIFIED_EXPENSE report actions — one containing policyRulesModifiedFields and one containing personalRulesModifiedFields. Both actions are pushed to the client and both are displayed in the chat.

The client-side code at App/src/libs/ModifiedExpenseMessage.ts:547-568 does have a precedence system — it checks personalRulesModifiedFields first (line 547) with an early return (line 552), then checks policyRulesModifiedFields (line 556). However, this precedence only works within a single report action. When the server sends two separate actions, each is rendered independently, so both messages appear.

Additionally, MODIFIED_EXPENSE actions are explicitly exempted from whisper-hiding in App/src/libs/ReportActionsUtils.ts:1260, ensuring both are always visible.

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

The proper fix should be server-side: when both a personal expense rule and a workspace coding rule match the same merchant on an expense, the server should either:

1. Only create the personal rule's MODIFIED_EXPENSE action and skip the workspace rule action (if personal rules are meant to take full precedence), or
2. Combine both into a single MODIFIED_EXPENSE action with both personalRulesModifiedFields and policyRulesModifiedFields populated — the existing client-side precedence at ModifiedExpenseMessage.ts:547-552 would then correctly display only the personal rule message.

If a server-side fix is not feasible in the short term, a client-side workaround could filter out workspace-rule MODIFIED_EXPENSE actions when a personal-rule MODIFIED_EXPENSE action already exists in the same transaction thread. This could be done in App/src/libs/actions/OnyxDerived/configs/visibleReportActions.ts or in the rendering logic at App/src/pages/inbox/report/ReportActionItem.tsx.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

• Client-side filtering in visibleReportActions: Suppress MODIFIED_EXPENSE actions containing policyRulesModifiedFields when a personalRulesModifiedFields action exists in the same report. This is a workaround rather than a root cause fix — it leaves the server creating unnecessary report actions.
• Client-side deduplication in ModifiedExpenseMessage.ts: Not feasible because getForReportAction processes each report action independently and has no visibility into sibling actions in the same thread.

Detailed Investigation

Evidence Chain

1. Expense creation sends no rule data — App/src/libs/actions/IOU/index.ts:6791-6833: RequestMoneyParams contains amount, currency, comment, merchant, etc., but no rule-related fields.

2. Server generates rule MODIFIED_EXPENSE actions — App/src/types/onyx/OriginalMessage.ts:828-835: The OriginalMessageModifiedExpense type has two distinct optional fields: policyRulesModifiedFields (with policyID) for workspace rules and personalRulesModifiedFields for personal rules.

3. Client-side precedence within a single action — App/src/libs/ModifiedExpenseMessage.ts:547-568: Personal rules checked first with early return; policy rules checked second. This means if both fields existed on one action, only personal would display.

4. Two separate actions cause the bug — Since each MODIFIED_EXPENSE action only carries one type of rule field, and each is rendered independently via ReportActionItem.tsx:1324-1330, both messages appear.

5. No cross-action deduplication — App/src/libs/ReportActionsUtils.ts:1260: MODIFIED_EXPENSE actions bypass whisper-hiding, and there's no logic to suppress one rule type when another exists.

Relevant Code

• App/src/libs/ModifiedExpenseMessage.ts:547-568 — Personal vs policy rule precedence (within single action)
• App/src/libs/actions/IOU/index.ts:6791-6833 — Expense creation (no rule data sent)
• App/src/types/onyx/OriginalMessage.ts:828-904 — MODIFIED_EXPENSE type definitions
• App/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts:5457-5549 — Optimistic MODIFIED_EXPENSE builder (no rule fields)
• App/src/libs/ReportActionsUtils.ts:1259-1261 — Whisper filter exemption for MODIFIED_EXPENSE
• App/src/libs/actions/Policy/Rules.ts:123-227 — Workspace rule CRUD (no application logic)
• App/src/libs/actions/User.ts:1848-1936 — Personal rule save (no application logic)

Implementation Notes

• Personal rules are stored per-user in NVP_EXPENSE_RULES (App/src/ONYXKEYS.ts:302)
• Workspace rules are stored on policy.rules.codingRules (App/src/types/onyx/Policy.ts:1729-1758)
• The server applies both rule types independently during expense creation
• No test coverage exists for the interaction between personal and workspace rule messages (App/tests/unit/ModifiedExpenseMessageTest.ts only tests policy rules)

---

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 - @DylanDylann (External)

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022029287326118198776

[situchan]

I think this is expected.
cc: @luacmartins