[Due for payment 2026-10-27] Deeplink - New user is not navigated to Concierge chat after deeplinking to Concierge

@eh2077

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Version Number: v9.4.64-2
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: https://test-management.browserstack.com/projects/2219752/folder/13176964/test-cases/41237739
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): [email protected]
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Regression TC Execution
Device used: Windows 10/Chrome
App Component: Other

Action Performed:

Log out of NewDot
Navigate to https://staging.new.expensify.com/concierge
Sign-up with a new account

Expected Result:

The user is navigated to Concierge chat

Actual Result:

The user is navigated to the homepage and the Concierge chat does not open

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7247469_1788195984782.bandicam_2026-08-31_20-04-44-288.mp4

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Applause Internal Information
Exported by: Julia Ponikarchuk
Bug ID: 7247469

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @eh2077

While Applause doesn't embed attachments for this bug, here are the links for quick view:
https://platform.applause.com/services/links/v1/external/8ce52a25149947e58bca9b78606f07b7cae5abd202fcd2fa02af96f7578852fa

Proposal

What is the root cause of that problem?

The /concierge deeplink is captured correctly, then deliberately thrown away because the account had not finished onboarding when the link was captured.

openReportFromDeepLink parks the pending route behind sign-in, latching whether onboarding was already complete at capture time (src/libs/actions/Link.ts:562). For a brand-new sign-up that value is false, and when the deeplink finally replays it hits an unconditional early return (src/libs/actions/Link.ts:600-604):

// Drop a deep link captured before onboarding finished: navigateAfterOnboarding owns the
// post-onboarding destination and overrides it anyway, so honoring it only risks the flash (#91437).
if (initialHasCompletedGuidedSetupFlow === false) {
    return;
}

That comment's premise is wrong. navigateAfterOnboarding has no access to the deeplink — with no admins chat on a wide screen it goes straight to ROUTES.HOME (src/libs/navigateAfterOnboarding.ts:109-114). So nothing "overrides" the destination; it is simply lost, and because the guard sits after Onyx.disconnect(connection) (Link.ts:582) there is no retry.

This is why existing accounts work: their latched value is true, so the guard is skipped and Navigation.navigate('concierge') fires (Link.ts:628).

The guard was added by #92839 (merged 2026-06-25) to fix the post-onboarding "Not here" flash in #91437.

Note this is not specific to Concierge — any deeplink captured before a fresh sign-up is dropped the same way. ConciergePage itself is fine; it correctly waits on onServerDataReady() and creates the DM when conciergeReportID is missing (ConciergePage.tsx:35-49). It is simply never mounted.

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

Stop discarding the pending route and instead hand it to the code that owns the post-onboarding destination, which is what the comment already assumes happens.

Replace the blanket return at Link.ts:600-604 with a persisted "pending post-onboarding route" (a new Onyx key), rather than dropping the route.
In navigateAfterOnboarding, prefer that pending route over ROUTES.HOME/the admins room when one is set, then clear the key. Because the navigation now happens after onboarding completes rather than during it, the [Due for payment 2026-07-03] [$250] Onboarding - Not here page appears briefly after completing onboarding #91437 flash does not return.
Also revisit the earlier drop at Link.ts:587-590. On web this branch fires first, because the replay gate opens on completeOnboarding's optimistic NVP merge while the onboarding modal is still focused (dismissOnboardingModalBeforeExit is a no-op on web). It currently discards the link and sets a spurious onboarding.purpose.errorBackButton message. It should persist the pending route too.

Because SCREENS.CONCIERGE is in MODAL_ROUTES_TO_DISMISS (GetStateForActionHandlers.ts:56), the replay must happen after onboarding tears down its modal, not during it — otherwise RootStackRouter strips the route out of the stack again.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Narrow the guard to an allow-list (let ROUTES.CONCIERGE through). Smaller change, but it only fixes Concierge and leaves every other deeplink broken for new users.
Revert Guard DeepLinkHandler against stale post-sign-out initial URL #92839. Restores this flow but reintroduces the [Due for payment 2026-07-03] [$250] Onboarding - Not here page appears briefly after completing onboarding #91437 flash.

Investigation details, alternatives ruled out, and test evidence

Ordered path for a new sign-up (verified against d178dd2):

Signed out at /concierge → DeepLinkHandler reads Linking.getInitialURL() with hasAuthToken() === false and calls openReportFromDeepLink(..., isAuthenticated=false).
route = 'concierge'; reportID is empty (not an /r/ link) and concierge is not in PUBLIC_SCREENS_ROUTES, so it survives the early bail-outs and parks in waitForUserSignIn() (Link.ts:525). A JS closure, not the URL or navigation state, is the sole carrier.
Sign-up completes → NVP_ONBOARDING arrives as {hasCompletedGuidedSetupFlow: false} → latched at Link.ts:562, and the replay gate at Link.ts:648 stays shut for the whole onboarding flow.
Onboarding finishes → optimistic merge flips the NVP to true → gate opens → handleDeeplinkNavigation() disconnects, then returns at :587 (web) or :602. Link destroyed, no retry.
navigateAfterOnboarding → Navigation.navigate(ROUTES.HOME). Home rendered.

Ruled out with evidence: a CONCIERGE_REPORT_ID load race (ConciergePage handles the missing ID and retries via its focus effect); NavigationRoot.initialState (bails at !account on a signed-out cold start and has [] deps, so it never recomputes after sign-in); LAST_VISITED_PATH (only consumed when already authenticated on first render); AuthScreensInitHandler and setUpPoliciesAndNavigate (both no-op — the former only handles /r/<reportID> links, the latter requires an exitTo param).

Remaining uncertainty (does not change the root cause): whether the backend ever returns an empty nvp_onboarding before {hasCompletedGuidedSetupFlow: false}. If it does, hasCompletedGuidedSetupFlowSelector({}) returns true, the navigate does fire, and the loss shifts to the OnboardingGuard redirect + RootStackRouter stack rebuild instead. Both paths end on Home, and the fix above covers both.

Test evidence: a web tester run could not exercise this flow. The already-authenticated CI session has no way to perform a cold URL load or reload (both are disallowed for that session, since a reload can drop client auth into an unclearable magic-code wall), and clicking through the LHN would only exercise client-side routing, not a deeplink. The analysis above rests on code reading, not a live repro.

Step	Status	Observation
Session reaches Home before driving task	pass	Home/Inbox/Spend/Workspaces tabs and Concierge composer visible after dismissing the welcome screen
Navigate browser directly to `/concierge` URL	fail	No permitted agent-device verb performs a cold URL navigation for this session
Reload while on `/concierge` and observe landing screen	fail	Reload disallowed — risks dropping client auth

Evidence (1)

App at Home after completing prestart setup

Possibly related (different flow, same theme of a post-sign-in destination being lost): #96346 and #95445, both about public rooms not opening after an anonymous user signs in. Neither passes through the initialHasCompletedGuidedSetupFlow guard, so I do not think they share this root cause.

Next Steps for Contributor+ team:
To accept: @MelvinBot implement this proposal to create a draft PR.
To refine: @MelvinBot <your feedback>
To reject: Explain why you are rejecting Melvin's proposal.

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@eh2077

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @eh2077 (External)

Unable to auto-create job on Upwork. The BZ team member should create it manually for this issue.

@eh2077

@eh2077 Whoops! This issue is 2 days overdue. Let's get this updated quick!

@eh2077

@eh2077 Whoops! This issue is 2 days overdue. Let's get this updated quick!

@eh2077

@eh2077 Whoops! This issue is 2 days overdue. Let's get this updated quick!

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@mallenexpensify

Triggered auto assignment to @mallenexpensify (Awaiting Payment)

@mukhrr

Payment Summary

Resolving PRs:

Open a deep link captured before onboarding instead of dropping it #101558
Reviewer: @mukhrr owed $175 via NewDot
Reviewer: @eh2077 owed $175 via NewDot

BugZero Checklist (@mallenexpensify)

I have confirmed assignees, roles, and Upwork contracts look correct
I have paid out Upwork contracts / manual NewDot requests
[BugZero Assignee] I have created a GH issue for creating/updating the regression test once above steps have been agreed upon

This is not due payment yet. We are working on regression PR

Please comment and tag me if/when payment is due, thx

Deploy Blocker #104391 was identified to be related to the PR #103681 that attempted to fix this issue.

⚠️ 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.

@eh2077

@eh2077

The solution for this issue has been 🚀 deployed to production 🚀 in version 9.5.14-3 and is now subject to a 7-day regression period 📆. Here is the list of pull requests that resolve this issue:

Reapply opening a deep link captured before onboarding, without the Concierge regressions #103681

If no regressions arise, payment will be issued on 2026-10-27. 🎊

The following checklist (instructions) will need to be completed before the issue can be closed. Please copy/paste the Contributor+ Checklist from here into a new comment on this GH and complete it. If you have the K2 extension, you can simply click: [this button]. If no checklist is needed for this issue, you can click: [no checklist button]

@eh2077

@eh2077 Still overdue 6 days?! Let's take care of this!

@eh2077

@eh2077 8 days overdue is a lot. Should this be a Weekly issue? If so, feel free to change it!

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[Due for payment 2026-10-27] Deeplink - New user is not navigated to Concierge chat after deeplinking to Concierge #99940

Action Performed:

Expected Result:

Actual Result:

Workaround:

Platforms:

Screenshots/Videos

Proposal

What is the root cause of that problem?

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

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

App at Home after completing prestart setup

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BugZero Checklist (@mallenexpensify)

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[Due for payment 2026-10-27] Deeplink - New user is not navigated to Concierge chat after deeplinking to Concierge #99940

Description

Action Performed:

Expected Result:

Actual Result:

Workaround:

Platforms:

Screenshots/Videos

Activity

applause-bot commented on Aug 31, 2026

MelvinBot commented on Aug 31, 2026

Proposal

What is the root cause of that problem?

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

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

App at Home after completing prestart setup

melvin-bot commented on Aug 31, 2026

melvin-bot commented on Aug 31, 2026

melvin-bot commented on Sep 3, 2026

melvin-bot commented on Sep 4, 2026

melvin-bot commented on Sep 4, 2026

eh2077 commented on Sep 4, 2026

68 remaining items

melvin-bot commented on Oct 11, 2026

melvin-bot commented on Oct 11, 2026

Payment Summary

BugZero Checklist (@mallenexpensify)

mukhrr commented on Oct 11, 2026

mallenexpensify commented on Oct 14, 2026

jponikarchuk commented on Oct 19, 2026

melvin-bot commented on Oct 19, 2026

melvin-bot commented on Oct 20, 2026

melvin-bot commented on Oct 21, 2026

melvin-bot commented on Oct 23, 2026

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