[Due for payment 2026-05-12] [Due for payment 2026-05-11] [$250] Android - "Please enter a valid email address" error shown after returning from SAML sign-in

[jponikarchuk]

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Version Number: 9.3.65-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: No
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #88760
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): sdsodijnosdjoij@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Samsung Galaxy S25 FE / Android 16
App Component: Other

Action Performed:

Precondition: SAML requirement for login is enabled on OD.

1. Launch Expensify app.
2. Enter applausetester@applause.expensifail.com on email field.
3. Tap Continue > Use single sign-on.
4. Tap close button on the browser.

Expected Result:

Email field will not show "Please enter a valid email address" error because the email is valid.

Actual Result:

Email field shows Please enter a valid email address" error after returning from SAML sign-in browser.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Video.mp4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @hoangzinh

[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #88760

[melvin-bot]

💬 A slack conversation has been started in #expensify-open-source

[github-actions]

👋 Friendly reminder that deploy blockers are time-sensitive ⏱ issues! Check out the open `StagingDeployCash` deploy checklist to see the list of PRs included in this release, then work quickly to do one of the following:

1. Identify the pull request that introduced this issue and revert it.
2. Find someone who can quickly fix the issue.
3. Fix the issue yourself.

[OSBotify]

Investigation Summary

Classification: Frontend bug
Causing PR: #88760 - "Fix SAML cancel leaving sign-in page without email field" by @MelvinBot (High confidence)
Related Issues: #88206 (the original issue that PR #88760 was fixing)

Recommendation: REVERT

PR #88760 introduced a new regression while fixing the original issue. The fix can be reattempted with a corrected approach after reverting.

Assigned: @MelvinBot (PR author), @hoangzinh, @grgia (approving reviewers)
Labels: No label changes needed — DeployBlockerCash is correct since the causing PR is in Expensify/App.

Detailed Analysis

Evidence

• The melvin-bot already flagged PR Fix SAML cancel leaving sign-in page without email field #88760 as the cause in the issue comments.
• PR Fix SAML cancel leaving sign-in page without email field #88760 was merged on 2026-04-28 and the bug is reproducible on staging (version 9.3.65-0) but not production — consistent with a regression introduced in this staging cycle.
• The fix in PR Fix SAML cancel leaving sign-in page without email field #88760 added a handleExitSAMLFlow helper that calls clearSignInData() before Navigation.goBack() on the cancel and catch paths of the SAML browser session.

Verification

• The only file changed by PR Fix SAML cancel leaving sign-in page without email field #88760 is src/pages/signin/SAMLSignInPage/index.native.tsx.
• This is exactly the file responsible for the SAML sign-in flow on native (Android/iOS).
• The bug is reported on Android Native, which aligns with this being a .native.tsx file (not the web variant).

Root Cause

PR #88760 introduced handleExitSAMLFlow() which calls clearSignInData() then Navigation.goBack(). However, src/pages/signin/SAMLSignInPage/index.native.tsx has a useEffect (lines 101-129) that watches credentials?.login and calls handleSAMLLoginError(translate('common.error.email'), true) when credentials.login is absent.

Before the fix, the cancel/catch paths called Navigation.goBack() directly without clearing credentials, so the component navigated away before the useEffect could fire with empty credentials. After the fix, clearSignInData() clears credentials.login immediately, which triggers the watching useEffect while the component is still mounted. That useEffect calls handleSAMLLoginError with the email validation error string, which calls setAccountError(errorMessage) — causing the "Please enter a valid email address" error to appear on screen.

The original issue (#88206) reported that the email field was missing after cancelling SAML (blank page), so PR #88760 tried to fix that by clearing sign-in data to force a clean login state. But it did not account for the defensive useEffect in the same component that treats a missing credentials.login as an error condition.