[Due for payment 2026-05-13] [Due for payment 2026-05-12] Search - "No content to add" error after clicking Ask Concierge with just a space

[applause-bot]

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Version Number: 9.3.66-1
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Unable to validate in Prod - Provide reasoning.
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #88727
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): applausetester+sdodsaf@applause.expensifail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Mac 26.2 / Chrome
App Component: Search

Action Performed:

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Open search.
3. Enter a space.
4. Click Ask Concierge.

Expected Result:

Ask Concierge option should not appear when only a space is entered.

Actual Result:

Ask Concierge option shows up when only a space is entered.
"No content to add" error shows up due to the sent empty message.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7144271_1777908054041.7.mp4

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Applause Internal Information
Exported by: Nathan Lemma
Bug ID: 7144271

[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #88727

[melvin-bot]

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

[MelvinBot]

Issue Analysis

Root Cause: The search router shows the "Ask Concierge" option based on a bare truthy check of textInputValue at SearchRouter.tsx:203. A single space " " is truthy in JavaScript, so the option renders. When clicked, the untrimmed space is passed through the entire chain — askConcierge() → addComment() → API — and the server rejects it as empty content.

Recommended Fix: Add a .trim() to the condition at SearchRouter.tsx:203:

- const searchQueryItems = textInputValue
+ const searchQueryItems = textInputValue?.trim()

This prevents both the search item and Ask Concierge item from appearing when the input is whitespace-only. As an additional safeguard, useAskConcierge.tsx should also trim the query before passing it to addComment.

Investigation details

Data flow:

1. User types a space → textInputValue = " "
2. SearchRouter.tsx:203 — truthy check passes, searchQueryItems array is created with both search and Ask Concierge items, each carrying searchQuery: textInputValue (line 217)
3. User clicks Ask Concierge → SearchRouter.tsx:324-329 calls askConcierge(" ")
4. useAskConcierge.tsx:30 passes the space to addComment with no trimming
5. Report/index.ts:706 — text (space) is truthy, so the API call proceeds
6. Server rejects the whitespace-only comment → "No content to add" error

Confidence: High — the entire data flow is traced with no ambiguity.

Possible duplicate: #89524 has the same title and appears to track the same issue.

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Next Steps: Reply with @MelvinBot implement this to create a draft PR, or @MelvinBot <your feedback> to refine this analysis.

[melvin-bot]

⚠️ Looks like this issue was linked to a Deploy Blocker here

If you are the assigned CME please investigate whether the linked PR caused a regression and leave a comment with the results.

If a regression has occurred and you are the assigned CM follow the instructions here.

If this regression could have been avoided please consider also proposing a recommendation to the PR checklist so that we can avoid it in the future.

[nlemma]

Deploy Blocker #89524 was identified to be related to the PR #88727 that attempted to fix this issue.