Spend - First approver field does not show the approver after approving report offline

[applause-bot]

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: 9.4.27-1
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: #93169
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): sdjoisnjdoinsjdoijiosj@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Mac 26.5 / Chrome
App Component: Search

Action Performed:

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to workspace chat.
3. Create an expense.
4. Go to Spend > Reports.
5. Click Display > Edit columns.
6. Select "First approver" > Save.
7. Click Submit on the report row.
8. Go offline.
9. Open the report.
10. Click Approve.
11. Close the report.

Expected Result:

First approver field will show the approver after approving report offline.

Actual Result:

First approver field does not show the approver after approving report offline.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7198756_1783097256375.2.mp4

View all open jobs on GitHub

Applause Internal Information
Exported by: Julia Ponikarchuk
Bug ID: 7198756

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @mukhrr

[applause-bot]

While Applause doesn't embed attachments for this bug, here are the links for quick view:
https://platform.applause.com/services/links/v1/external/69d2d652c9411b39f26f7aa89dc68137d405a948bb323168efaf2ea2b7fdec4c

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @carlosmiceli (DeployBlockerCash), see https://stackoverflowteams.com/c/expensify/questions/9980/ for more details.

[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.

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

What is the root cause of that problem?

The First approver column reads its value only from report actions stored inside the Search snapshot (snapshot_<hash>.data.reportActions_<reportID>), not from the live report-actions collection. In SearchUIUtils.ts it scans the snapshot's report actions for the earliest APPROVED/FORWARDED action to build firstApprovedActionByReportID, which is then turned into formattedFirstApprover here.

When you approve offline, approveMoneyRequest writes the optimistic APPROVED action only to the live reportActions_<reportID> key (ReportWorkflow.ts:524). The Search-side optimistic payload for approve — getSearchApproveOnyxData → getSearchActionOnyxData — only sets a loading flag and (on server success) removes the row. Nothing merges the optimistic APPROVED action into the snapshot's reportActions_ bucket. Snapshots are not auto-mirrored from the live collection, so offline the column has no approved action to read and stays blank until an online Search re-fetch overwrites the snapshot.

Evidence & why this matches the symptom

• Column source is the snapshot's own report actions, built in processReportActionEntry (APPROVED/FORWARDED filter at L1826, firstApprovedActionByReportID.set at L1854).
• Optimistic snapshot updates must be explicit per flow — there is no bridge from the top-level reportActions_ collection into snapshot_<hash>.data. The money-request edit path proves the working pattern by explicitly seeding the snapshot's report actions in SearchUpdate.ts:189-191.
• Offline, the success-only branch that removes the row from the snapshot never fires (it applies on server success), so on the default Spend › Reports view the row persists with a blank First approver — exactly the reported behavior. This is a new-feature gap from the First approver column work ([Due for payment 2026-07-13] [$250] Add First Approver and First Approved date columns #90507).

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

Extend the Search approve optimistic path so it also injects the optimistic APPROVED report action into the current search snapshot, mirroring the pattern already used at SearchUpdate.ts:189-191:

• In getSearchApproveOnyxData/getSearchActionOnyxData, add an optimistic Onyx.merge into snapshot_<hash>.data that sets reportActions_<reportID> to include the newly built optimistic APPROVED action (and a matching failureData entry to roll it back). This requires passing the optimistic approved action / its actorAccountID+created down from approveMoneyRequest so Search can seed it into the snapshot.

That way firstApprovedActionByReportID finds the action offline and the column shows the approver immediately.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Deriving First approver from the report's managerID/approval fields (which the approve flow does update on the report record) as a fallback when no approved action exists in the snapshot. This is simpler but only works when the current user is the sole/first approver and doesn't generalize to multi-level FORWARDED chains, so seeding the snapshot action is the more correct fix.

---

Next Steps for Contributor+ team:
To accept: @MelvinBot implement [this](https://github.com/Expensify/App/issues/95299) to create a draft PR.
To refine: @MelvinBot <your feedback>
To reject: Explain why you are rejecting Melvin's proposal.