Add loading skeleton to SearchRouter

[sosek108]

Explanation of Change

This change improves the user experience of the search autocomplete by allowing the component to render even when data is still loading. We update conditional renderings on SearchRouter to show loading skeleton while data from onyx is loading. The SearchAutocompleteList is rendered only if data required by it is ready - otherwise user will be presented with loading skeleton

Fixed Issues

$ #62335
PROPOSAL: #62335 (comment)

Tests

1. Log out from application
2. Log in to application
3. While app is reconnecting open Search modal with 🔍 icon
4. observe autocomplete list
5. it should show skeleton if no data is available
6. recent searches should be visible while reconnecting
7. all items are visible after app loaded fully

Offline tests

1. Turn on offline mode
2. restart application
3. open Search modal with 🔍 icon
4. observe autocomplete list
5. it should show skeleton if no data is available
6. recent searches should be visible while reconnecting
7. all items are visible after app loaded fully

QA Steps

1. Log out from application
2. Log in to application
3. While app is reconnecting open Search modal with 🔍 icon
4. observe autocomplete list
5. it should show skeleton if no data is available
6. recent searches should be visible while reconnecting
7. all items are visible after app loaded fully

PR Author Checklist

• I linked the correct issue in the ### Fixed Issues section above
• I wrote clear testing steps that cover the changes made in this PR
  • I added steps for local testing in the Tests section
  • I added steps for the expected offline behavior in the Offline steps section
  • I added steps for Staging and/or Production testing in the QA steps section
  • I added steps to cover failure scenarios (i.e. verify an input displays the correct error message if the entered data is not correct)
  • I turned off my network connection and tested it while offline to ensure it matches the expected behavior (i.e. verify the default avatar icon is displayed if app is offline)
  • I tested this PR with a High Traffic account against the staging or production API to ensure there are no regressions (e.g. long loading states that impact usability).
• I included screenshots or videos for tests on all platforms
• I ran the tests on all platforms & verified they passed on:
  • Android: Native
  • Android: mWeb Chrome
  • iOS: Native
  • iOS: mWeb Safari
  • MacOS: Chrome / Safari
  • MacOS: Desktop
• I verified there are no console errors (if there's a console error not related to the PR, report it or open an issue for it to be fixed)
• I followed proper code patterns (see Reviewing the code)
  • I verified that any callback methods that were added or modified are named for what the method does and never what callback they handle (i.e. toggleReport and not onIconClick)
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  • I verified that any new or modified comments were clear, correct English, and explained "why" the code was doing something instead of only explaining "what" the code was doing.
  • I verified any copy / text shown in the product is localized by adding it to src/languages/* files and using the translation method
    • If any non-english text was added/modified, I used JaimeGPT to get English > Spanish translation. I then posted it in #expensify-open-source and it was approved by an internal Expensify engineer. Link to Slack message:
  • I verified all numbers, amounts, dates and phone numbers shown in the product are using the localization methods
  • I verified any copy / text that was added to the app is grammatically correct in English. It adheres to proper capitalization guidelines (note: only the first word of header/labels should be capitalized), and is either coming verbatim from figma or has been approved by marketing (in order to get marketing approval, ask the Bug Zero team member to add the Waiting for copy label to the issue)
  • I verified proper file naming conventions were followed for any new files or renamed files. All non-platform specific files are named after what they export and are not named "index.js". All platform-specific files are named for the platform the code supports as outlined in the README.
  • I verified the JSDocs style guidelines (in STYLE.md) were followed
• If a new code pattern is added I verified it was agreed to be used by multiple Expensify engineers
• I followed the guidelines as stated in the Review Guidelines
• I tested other components that can be impacted by my changes (i.e. if the PR modifies a shared library or component like Avatar, I verified the components using Avatar are working as expected)
• I verified all code is DRY (the PR doesn't include any logic written more than once, with the exception of tests)
• I verified any variables that can be defined as constants (ie. in CONST.ts or at the top of the file that uses the constant) are defined as such
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• If any new file was added I verified that:
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• If a new CSS style is added I verified that:
  • A similar style doesn't already exist
  • The style can't be created with an existing StyleUtils function (i.e. StyleUtils.getBackgroundAndBorderStyle(theme.componentBG))
• If the PR modifies code that runs when editing or sending messages, I tested and verified there is no unexpected behavior for all supported markdown - URLs, single line code, code blocks, quotes, headings, bold, strikethrough, and italic.
• If the PR modifies a generic component, I tested and verified that those changes do not break usages of that component in the rest of the App (i.e. if a shared library or component like Avatar is modified, I verified that Avatar is working as expected in all cases)
• If the PR modifies a component related to any of the existing Storybook stories, I tested and verified all stories for that component are still working as expected.
• If the PR modifies a component or page that can be accessed by a direct deeplink, I verified that the code functions as expected when the deeplink is used - from a logged in and logged out account.
• If the PR modifies the UI (e.g. new buttons, new UI components, changing the padding/spacing/sizing, moving components, etc) or modifies the form input styles:
  • I verified that all the inputs inside a form are aligned with each other.
  • I added Design label and/or tagged @Expensify/design so the design team can review the changes.
• If a new page is added, I verified it's using the ScrollView component to make it scrollable when more elements are added to the page.
• I added unit tests for any new feature or bug fix in this PR to help automatically prevent regressions in this user flow.
• If the main branch was merged into this PR after a review, I tested again and verified the outcome was still expected according to the Test steps.

Screenshots/Videos

Android: Native

Android: mWeb Chrome

iOS: Native

iOS: mWeb Safari

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

MacOS: Desktop

[melvin-bot]

@DylanDylann Please copy/paste the Reviewer Checklist from here into a new comment on this PR and complete it. If you have the K2 extension, you can simply click: [this button]

[DylanDylann]

@sosek108 Could you please explain how you fix the previous regression?

[sosek108]

@DylanDylann The problem was with skeleton we've put in SearchAutocompleteList component:

There was a brief moment that both skeleton and empty list was rendered. Empty list rendered as View with background and that created the problem.

This time I do not add that skeleton, I've only added skeleton to SearchRouter in wich only one component is rendered at all. This change is minimal.

[DylanDylann]

@sosek108 With this PR, the white page still displays instead of the skeleton. Although shouldShowList is true but the data is still not ready

Screen.Recording.2025-06-26.at.14.38.15.mov

[DylanDylann]

@sosek108 Could we check the sections.data.length > 0 if true, we will render the sectionList otherwise, we will display the skeleton

[sosek108]

@DylanDylann can you check wich logging if SearchAutocompleteList is rendered when you see blank screen?

[sosek108]

@DylanDylann I've resolved conflicts.

PR Mentioned someday by me was merged so the overall perfomance should be improved here.

I've added skeleton in SearchRouter which waits for both recentSearches and options to be ready. After that SearchAutocompleteList with SelectionList is rendered and I think that these are problematic here as they take some time to initially render.

As this issue is observed on main I'd suggest open another issue for that and merge this PR as this resolves original issue

[DylanDylann]

@sosek108 From my testing, the white screen still displays for a long time and the loading skeleton doesn't even appear

Screen.Recording.2025-06-30.at.11.55.58.mov

[sosek108]

@DylanDylann can you confirm if SearchAutocompleteList component is rendering and shows blank page? #64796 (comment)

[DylanDylann]

@sosek108 Yes

can you confirm if SearchAutocompleteList component is rendering and shows blank page?

Screen.Recording.2025-06-30.at.21.14.31.mov

[DylanDylann]

@sosek108 Any update?

[sosek108]

@DylanDylann this is how it looks at my end (large Onyx State):

Nagranie.z.ekranu.2025-07-7.o.12.23.26.mov

Do you have latest branch? I've merged main couple of times

[DylanDylann]

Let me try again

[DylanDylann]

I still see this situation. I can reproduce it consistently

1. Login to the new account
2. Clear cache
3. Click on Search page

Screen.Recording.2025-07-07.at.18.37.49.mov

[sosek108]

@DylanDylann can you share your onyx state?

[DylanDylann]

I DMed you

[sosek108]

@DylanDylann can we push this forward?

[DylanDylann]

@sosek108 Sorry for the delay. I am checking again

[DylanDylann]

It still doesn't display the loading skeleton on my side. Relating this place

App/src/components/Search/SearchAutocompleteList.tsx

Lines 729 to 732 in 17e84c8

	// will fail because the list will be empty on first render so we only render after options are initialized.
	areOptionsInitialized && (
	<SelectionList<OptionData | SearchQueryItem>
	showLoadingPlaceholder={!areOptionsInitialized}

SelectionList only be rendered if areOptionsInitialized is true --> It means that showLoadingPlaceholder prop will alway be false

[DylanDylann]

@sosek108 Let's see the video below, when opening the search page, the loading skeleton is displayed first (but in this time, I see shouldShowList is true -> it means that this loading skeleton is handled in SelectionList) and then It displays the white space.

1. I don't see the impact of the new loading skeleton introduced in this PR.
2. Could we ensure that the white space doesn't display when opening the search page?

Screen.Recording.2025-07-17.at.14.03.47.mov

[DylanDylann]

@sosek108 Any updates?

[sosek108]

Hi, I've been focusing on underlaying functions performance that leads to more robust search experience. These should positively impact time of rendering for Search components #66615 #67123

[sosek108]

I've checked this again and it is 99% issue with SelectionList component. Currently other engineers (SoftwareMansion) are working on that performance.

In the image we see, that data is ready a lot quicker than SelectionList is firstly rendered.

Summary

1. I've modified OptionListContextProvider file so we don't wait for app reconnect to load data - that was the issue
2. I've added skeleton to show that data is being loaded from Onyx (SearchRouter)
3. I currently cannot add skeleton to SelectionList. This is issue of that component and should be treated as different GitHub issue. I've tried to add a skeleton as neighbour of SelectionView, but that created other issue which was deploy blocker.

Let's leave this as is and wait for SWM to end SelectionList optimization or raise another issue for that.

[DylanDylann]

@sosek108 Alright, Thanks for your summary

[DylanDylann]

@sosek108 Could you check this comment?

[DylanDylann]

Reviewer Checklist

• I have verified the author checklist is complete (all boxes are checked off).
• I verified the correct issue is linked in the ### Fixed Issues section above
• I verified testing steps are clear and they cover the changes made in this PR
  • I verified the steps for local testing are in the Tests section
  • I verified the steps for Staging and/or Production testing are in the QA steps section
  • I verified the steps cover any possible failure scenarios (i.e. verify an input displays the correct error message if the entered data is not correct)
  • I turned off my network connection and tested it while offline to ensure it matches the expected behavior (i.e. verify the default avatar icon is displayed if app is offline)
• I checked that screenshots or videos are included for tests on all platforms
• I included screenshots or videos for tests on all platforms
• I verified that the composer does not automatically focus or open the keyboard on mobile unless explicitly intended. This includes checking that returning the app from the background does not unexpectedly open the keyboard.
• I verified tests pass on all platforms & I tested again on:
  • Android: HybridApp
  • Android: mWeb Chrome
  • iOS: HybridApp
  • iOS: mWeb Safari
  • MacOS: Chrome / Safari
  • MacOS: Desktop
• If there are any errors in the console that are unrelated to this PR, I either fixed them (preferred) or linked to where I reported them in Slack
• I verified there are no new alerts related to the canBeMissing param for useOnyx
• I verified proper code patterns were followed (see Reviewing the code)
  • I verified that any callback methods that were added or modified are named for what the method does and never what callback they handle (i.e. toggleReport and not onIconClick).
  • I verified that comments were added to code that is not self explanatory
  • I verified that any new or modified comments were clear, correct English, and explained "why" the code was doing something instead of only explaining "what" the code was doing.
  • I verified any copy / text shown in the product is localized by adding it to src/languages/* files and using the translation method
  • I verified all numbers, amounts, dates and phone numbers shown in the product are using the localization methods
  • I verified any copy / text that was added to the app is grammatically correct in English. It adheres to proper capitalization guidelines (note: only the first word of header/labels should be capitalized), and is either coming verbatim from figma or has been approved by marketing (in order to get marketing approval, ask the Bug Zero team member to add the Waiting for copy label to the issue)
  • I verified proper file naming conventions were followed for any new files or renamed files. All non-platform specific files are named after what they export and are not named "index.js". All platform-specific files are named for the platform the code supports as outlined in the README.
  • I verified the JSDocs style guidelines (in STYLE.md) were followed
• If a new code pattern is added I verified it was agreed to be used by multiple Expensify engineers
• I verified that this PR follows the guidelines as stated in the Review Guidelines
• I verified other components that can be impacted by these changes have been tested, and I retested again (i.e. if the PR modifies a shared library or component like Avatar, I verified the components using Avatar have been tested & I retested again)
• I verified all code is DRY (the PR doesn't include any logic written more than once, with the exception of tests)
• I verified any variables that can be defined as constants (ie. in CONST.ts or at the top of the file that uses the constant) are defined as such
• If a new component is created I verified that:
  • A similar component doesn't exist in the codebase
  • All props are defined accurately and each prop has a /** comment above it */
  • The file is named correctly
  • The component has a clear name that is non-ambiguous and the purpose of the component can be inferred from the name alone
  • The only data being stored in the state is data necessary for rendering and nothing else
  • For Class Components, any internal methods passed to components event handlers are bound to this properly so there are no scoping issues (i.e. for onClick={this.submit} the method this.submit should be bound to this in the constructor)
  • Any internal methods bound to this are necessary to be bound (i.e. avoid this.submit = this.submit.bind(this); if this.submit is never passed to a component event handler like onClick)
  • All JSX used for rendering exists in the render method
  • The component has the minimum amount of code necessary for its purpose, and it is broken down into smaller components in order to separate concerns and functions
• If any new file was added I verified that:
  • The file has a description of what it does and/or why is needed at the top of the file if the code is not self explanatory
• If a new CSS style is added I verified that:
  • A similar style doesn't already exist
  • The style can't be created with an existing StyleUtils function (i.e. StyleUtils.getBackgroundAndBorderStyle(theme.componentBG)
• If the PR modifies code that runs when editing or sending messages, I tested and verified there is no unexpected behavior for all supported markdown - URLs, single line code, code blocks, quotes, headings, bold, strikethrough, and italic.
• If the PR modifies a generic component, I tested and verified that those changes do not break usages of that component in the rest of the App (i.e. if a shared library or component like Avatar is modified, I verified that Avatar is working as expected in all cases)
• If the PR modifies a component related to any of the existing Storybook stories, I tested and verified all stories for that component are still working as expected.
• If the PR modifies a component or page that can be accessed by a direct deeplink, I verified that the code functions as expected when the deeplink is used - from a logged in and logged out account.
• If the PR modifies the UI (e.g. new buttons, new UI components, changing the padding/spacing/sizing, moving components, etc) or modifies the form input styles:
  • I verified that all the inputs inside a form are aligned with each other.
  • I added Design label and/or tagged @Expensify/design so the design team can review the changes.
• If a new page is added, I verified it's using the ScrollView component to make it scrollable when more elements are added to the page.
• For any bug fix or new feature in this PR, I verified that sufficient unit tests are included to prevent regressions in this flow.
• If the main branch was merged into this PR after a review, I tested again and verified the outcome was still expected according to the Test steps.
• I have checked off every checkbox in the PR reviewer checklist, including those that don't apply to this PR.

Screenshots/Videos

Android: HybridApp

Android: mWeb Chrome

Screen.Recording.2025-08-05.at.14.36.08.mov

iOS: HybridApp

Screen.Recording.2025-08-05.at.16.04.10.mov

iOS: mWeb Safari

Screen.Recording.2025-08-05.at.14.34.41.mov

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screen.Recording.2025-08-05.at.14.28.17.mov

MacOS: Desktop

Screen.Recording.2025-08-05.at.14.33.18.mov

[DylanDylann]

LGTM. @sosek108 Could you please update the PR description to reflect all new updates?

[sosek108]

@DylanDylann yeah, done

[DylanDylann]

@yuwenmemon Could you take a look at this PR? Thanks

[yuwenmemon]

Can you resolve the conflicts? Thanks.

[DylanDylann]

cc @sosek108

[sosek108]

Conflicts are resolved

[DylanDylann]

@yuwenmemon kindly bump

[OSBotify]

✋ This PR was not deployed to staging yet because QA is ongoing. It will be automatically deployed to staging after the next production release.

[OSBotify]

🚀 Deployed to staging by https://github.com/yuwenmemon in version: 9.1.96-0 🚀

platform	result
🖥 desktop 🖥	success ✅
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	failure ❌

[OSBotify]

🚀 Deployed to production by https://github.com/AndrewGable in version: 9.1.96-2 🚀

platform	result
🖥 desktop 🖥	failure ❌
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

[OSBotify]

🚀 Deployed to production by https://github.com/AndrewGable in version: 9.1.96-2 🚀

platform	result
🖥 desktop 🖥	success ✅
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅