Changing Workspace on a Report Closes the Report and Breaks Editability

[m-natarajan]

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Version Number: 9.2.99-8
Reproducible in staging?: Needs Reproduction (Unable to reproduce)
Reproducible in production?: Needs Reproduction
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack:
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers):
Logs: https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/4856
Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:
Issue reported by: @Liz-Canary
Slack conversation (hyperlinked to channel name): #Expensify Bugs

Action Performed:

1. Navigate to Reports
2. Select Reports
3. Open a draft report
4. Click More
5. Select Change Workspace
6. Again change the workspace to the initial workspace where the expense was created

Expected Result:

To have the Report remain in Draft and change the workspace

Actual Result:

It is closing the report ignoring all workflow approvals even changing it back won't let you edit the Report

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

Select the officially supported platforms where the issue was reproduced:

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

Screenshots/Videos

The video for the issue is in OP

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[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @JmillsExpensify (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]

This has been labelled "Needs Reproduction". Follow the steps here: https://stackoverflowteams.com/c/expensify/questions/16989

[abzokhattab]

Able to reproduce using the following steps:

Prerequisites

• Create two workspaces: A and B
• For Workspace B, configure:
  • Workflows → Submissions: Instantly
  • Workflows → Approvals: Disabled
  • Payments: Disabled

Steps

1. Create a draft expense on Workspace A
2. Open the draft report
3. Click More → Change Workspace → Select Workspace B
4. Click More → Change Workspace → Select Workspace A (original)

Expected Result
Report remains in Draft status and is editable

Actual Result
Report is closed and no longer editable

Screen.Recording.2026-01-14.at.17.33.42.mov

I can take it as C+

[annaweber830]

Hi @JmillsExpensify I can reproduce this issue.

Screen.Recording.2026-01-14.at.8.39.14.AM.mov

[annaweber830]

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

Changing the workspace on a draft expense report causes the app to close the report and, even if you switch back to the original workspace, the report becomes non-editable.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The optimistic “change workspace” (change policy) logic temporarily puts the report into a state where its parent preview action appears deleted before the report is re-parented to the new workspace expense chat. ReportScreen interprets that transient “deleted parent action” transition as a signal to auto-navigate away (effectively closing the report), which disrupts the user’s ability to keep editing the draft.

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

• Reorder the optimistic Onyx updates for the Change Workspace / Change Policy flow so the app:
• Re-parents the report first (updates parentReportID / parentReportActionID to the new workspace expense chat preview action)
• Then marks the old parent preview action as deleted for UI cleanup, using the previously-captured old parent IDs
  

  App/src/libs/actions/Report.ts

  Lines 5925 to 5928 in 8f123f4

  	// 2. If this is a thread, we have to mark the parent report preview action as deleted to properly update the UI
  	if (report.parentReportID && report.parentReportActionID) {
  	const oldWorkspaceChatReportID = report.parentReportID;
  	const oldReportPreviewActionID = report.parentReportActionID;

const oldParentReportID = report.parentReportID;
    const oldParentReportActionID = report.parentReportActionID;

    const policyExpenseChat = optimisticPolicyExpenseChatReport ?? getPolicyExpenseChat(report.ownerAccountID, policy.id);
    const optimisticReportPreviewAction = buildOptimisticReportPreview(policyExpenseChat, report);

    const newPolicyExpenseChatReportID = policyExpenseChat?.reportID;

    optimisticData.push({
        onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
        key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_ACTIONS}${newPolicyExpenseChatReportID}`,
        value: {[optimisticReportPreviewAction.reportActionID]: optimisticReportPreviewAction},
    });
    successData.push({
        onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
        key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_ACTIONS}${newPolicyExpenseChatReportID}`,
        value: {
            [optimisticReportPreviewAction.reportActionID]: {
                pendingAction: null,
                isOptimisticAction: false,
            },
        },
    });
    failureData.push({
        onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
        key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_ACTIONS}${newPolicyExpenseChatReportID}`,
        value: {[optimisticReportPreviewAction.reportActionID]: null},
    });

    optimisticData.push({
        onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
        key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT}${reportID}`,
        value: {parentReportActionID: optimisticReportPreviewAction.reportActionID, parentReportID: newPolicyExpenseChatReportID, chatReportID: newPolicyExpenseChatReportID},
    });
    failureData.push({
        onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
        key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT}${reportID}`,
        value: {parentReportActionID: report.parentReportActionID, parentReportID: report.parentReportID, chatReportID: report.chatReportID},
    });

    // 3. If this is a thread, mark the OLD parent report preview action as deleted to properly update the UI.
    // Important: We do this after re-parenting the report so that `ReportScreen` doesn't see a transient deleted parent action and auto-navigate away.
    if (oldParentReportID && oldParentReportActionID) {
        const oldWorkspaceChatReportID = oldParentReportID;
        const oldReportPreviewActionID = oldParentReportActionID;

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

[MobileMage]

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

Changing a draft report to a workspace with instant submit/no approvals/no payments closes the report. Changing back doesn't restore it.

What is the root cause of that problem?

In src/libs/actions/Report.ts, buildOptimisticChangePolicyData at line 5829:

if (isProcessingReport(report) && isInstantSubmitEnabledLocal && isSubmitAndCloseLocal && arePaymentsDisabled) {
    newStatusNum = CONST.REPORT.STATUS_NUM.CLOSED;

This only handles PROCESSING reports, not OPEN (draft) reports. When a draft report moves to a workspace with instant submit + submit&close + no payments, the backend auto-submits and auto-closes it. But the frontend doesn't predict this for OPEN reports, causing a mismatch.

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

Use the existing isOpenOrSubmitted variable (defined at line 5801) instead of just checking for processing:

-if (isProcessingReport(report) && isInstantSubmitEnabledLocal && isSubmitAndCloseLocal && arePaymentsDisabled) {
+if (isOpenOrSubmitted && isInstantSubmitEnabledLocal && isSubmitAndCloseLocal && arePaymentsDisabled) {
    newStatusNum = CONST.REPORT.STATUS_NUM.CLOSED;

This makes the optimistic update match what the backend actually does - OPEN reports on instant submit workspaces get auto-submitted and closed.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Could also prevent the close entirely when switching back, but that would fight the backend. Better to have the frontend correctly predict what the backend does.