[Due for payment 2025-08-11] [$250] Split scan - Description with mark down is displayed in HTML tags on the expense preview

@RachCHopkins

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: 9.1.79-7
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: https://expensify.testrail.io/index.php?/tests/view/6467090
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): applausetester+sdsdk90s@applause.expensifail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: Mac 15.5 / Chrome
App Component: Money Requests

Action Performed:

Go to staging.expensify.com
Open 1:1 DM.
Click + > Split expense > Scan.
Upload a photo.
On the confirmation page, click Description.
Enter text with any mark down and save it.
Click Split expense.
Click on the split preview.
Manually enter amount and save it.

Expected Result:

Description with mark down will be rendered properly in mark down.

Actual Result:

Description with mark down is displayed in HTML tags on the expense preview and transaction thread.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

Screenshots/Videos

bug.mp4

View all open jobs on GitHub

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021944911737496561361
Upwork Job ID: 1944911737496561361
Last Price Increase: 2025-07-22
Automatic offers:

mkzie2 | Contributor | 108167783

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @RachCHopkins

@RachCHopkins

Triggered auto assignment to @RachCHopkins (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.

Proposal

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

Description with mark down is displayed in HTML tags on the expense preview and transaction thread.

What is the root cause of that problem?

When we complete the split bill without changing the description, updatedTransaction?.comment?.comment is already the HTML tag, and it's parsed again here. So it's displayed as HTML tags on the expense preview.

App/src/libs/actions/IOU.ts

Lines 6924 to 6929 in ccfdb74

    
           const parsedComment = getParsedComment(updatedTransaction?.comment?.comment ?? ''); 
        
           if (updatedTransaction?.comment) { 
        
               // eslint-disable-next-line no-param-reassign 
        
               updatedTransaction.comment.comment = parsedComment; 
        
           } 
        
           const currentUserEmailForIOUSplit = addSMSDomainIfPhoneNumber(sessionEmail);

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

We should convert to markdown first to ensure the parsedComment is correct.

const parsedComment = getParsedComment(Parser.htmlToMarkdown(updatedTransaction?.comment?.comment ?? ''));

App/src/libs/actions/IOU.ts

Lines 6924 to 6929 in ccfdb74

    
           const parsedComment = getParsedComment(updatedTransaction?.comment?.comment ?? ''); 
        
           if (updatedTransaction?.comment) { 
        
               // eslint-disable-next-line no-param-reassign 
        
               updatedTransaction.comment.comment = parsedComment; 
        
           } 
        
           const currentUserEmailForIOUSplit = addSMSDomainIfPhoneNumber(sessionEmail);

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

Update completeSplitBill unit test and verify the comment is correct format

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Reminder: Please use plain English, be brief and avoid jargon. Feel free to use images, charts or pseudo-code if necessary. Do not post large multi-line diffs or write walls of text. Do not create PRs unless you have been hired for this job.

Proposal

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

Description with mark down is displayed in HTML tags on the expense preview and transaction thread.

What is the root cause of that problem?

When any field of a split transaction is changed, it is saved as a draft using the setDraftSplitTransaction utility.

App/src/libs/actions/IOU.ts

Line 7172 in d40d0af

    
           function setDraftSplitTransaction(transactionID: string | undefined, transactionChanges: TransactionChanges = {}, policy?: OnyxEntry<OnyxTypes.Policy>) {

Inside setDraftSplitTransaction, if the draft transaction does not exist, it looks up the original transaction to create the draft.

App/src/libs/actions/IOU.ts

Lines 7178 to 7183 in d40d0af

    
           if (!draftSplitTransaction) { 
        
               draftSplitTransaction = allTransactions[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION}${transactionID}`]; 
        
           } 
        
           const updatedTransaction = draftSplitTransaction 
        
               ? getUpdatedTransaction({

And with this transaction the comment sent from the server is in html format.

In the getUpdatedTransaction function, when creating the draft transaction, the comment is not converted back to markdown but stored directly as HTML. This causes the server to escape it again on upload, resulting in:

App/src/components/ReportActionItem/TransactionPreview/TransactionPreviewContent.tsx

Line 127 in d40d0af

const description = truncate(StringUtils.lineBreaksToSpaces(Parser.htmlToText(requestComment ?? '')), {length: CONST.REQUEST_PREVIEW.MAX_LENGTH});

returning an HTML string.

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

Ensure that comments are converted back to markdown here:

App/src/libs/actions/IOU.ts

Lines 7178 to 7180 in d40d0af

    
           if (!draftSplitTransaction) { 
        
               draftSplitTransaction = allTransactions[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION}${transactionID}`]; 
        
           }

if (!draftSplitTransaction) {
    draftSplitTransaction = allTransactions[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION}${transactionID}`];
    if (draftSplitTransaction?.comment?.comment) {
        draftSplitTransaction.comment = {
            ...draftSplitTransaction.comment,
            comment: Parser.htmlToMarkdown(draftSplitTransaction.comment.comment),
        };
    }
}

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

Add a test for getUpdatedTransaction và setDraftSplitTransaction to cover this scenario.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Ensure that comments are converted back to markdown whenever the description field hasn’t changed.

App/src/libs/TransactionUtils/index.ts

Lines 400 to 405 in d40d0af

    
           if (Object.hasOwn(transactionChanges, 'comment')) { 
        
               updatedTransaction.comment = { 
        
                   ...updatedTransaction.comment, 
        
                   comment: transactionChanges.comment, 
        
               }; 
        
           }

if (Object.hasOwn(transactionChanges, 'comment')) {
    updatedTransaction.comment = {
        ...updatedTransaction.comment,
        comment: transactionChanges.comment,
    };
} else if (updatedTransaction.comment?.comment) {
    updatedTransaction.comment = {
        ...updatedTransaction.comment,
        comment: Parser.htmlToMarkdown(updatedTransaction.comment?.comment),
    };
}

Reminder: Please use plain English, be brief and avoid jargon. Feel free to use images, charts or pseudo-code if necessary. Do not post large multi-line diffs or write walls of text. Do not create PRs unless you have been hired for this job.

Proposal

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

Split scan - Description with mark down is displayed in HTML tags on the expense preview

What is the root cause of that problem?

Currently we are passing shouldRenderAsHTML prop here

App/src/components/ReportActionItem/MoneyRequestView.tsx

Line 654 in 509bd7b

shouldRenderAsHTML

which is instead of text it is using highly rich text as RenderHTML
now,

App/src/components/MenuItem.tsx

Line 577 in 509bd7b

return titleToWrap ? `<comment>${titleToWrap}</comment>` : '';

This line is the root cause, we need to replace HTML with markdown

Root cause: This issue was introduced when we added RenderHTML here

App/src/components/MenuItem.tsx

Line 830 in 509bd7b

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

Update this line

App/src/components/MenuItem.tsx

Line 577 in 509bd7b

return titleToWrap ? `<comment>${titleToWrap}</comment>` : '';

with,

titleToWrap ? Parser.htmlToMarkdown(`<comment>${titleToWrap}</comment>`) : '';

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

N/A

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

N/A

Result

Description before

Description after

Reminder: Please use plain English, be brief and avoid jargon. Feel free to use images, charts or pseudo-code if necessary. Do not post large multi-line diffs or write walls of text. Do not create PRs unless you have been hired for this job.

@RachCHopkins

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

I don't think people would use markdown headers in an expense description. But if they did for some really weird reason, we should just render it as/convert to Bold or nothing at all.

We should do that with anything that is not supported. e.g. if customer was to paste in something from a web listing, we should make it plain IMO.

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021944911737496561361

Reviewing label has been removed, please complete the "BugZero Checklist".

@dukenv0307

The solution for this issue has been 🚀 deployed to production 🚀 in version 9.1.88-3 and is now subject to a 7-day regression period 📆. Here is the list of pull requests that resolve this issue:

fix: description with mark down is displayed in HTML tags on the expense preview #67107

If no regressions arise, payment will be issued on 2025-08-11. 🎊

For reference, here are some details about the assignees on this issue:

@dukenv0307 requires payment through NewDot Manual Requests
@mkzie2 requires payment automatic offer (Contributor)

@dukenv0307

@dukenv0307 @RachCHopkins The PR fixing this issue has been merged! The following checklist (instructions) will need to be completed before the issue can be closed. Please copy/paste the BugZero 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]

BugZero Checklist:

[Contributor] Classify the bug:

Bug classification

Source of bug:

1a. Result of the original design (eg. a case wasn't considered)
1b. Mistake during implementation
1c. Backend bug
1z. Other:

Where bug was reported:

2a. Reported on production
2b. Reported on staging (deploy blocker)
2c. Reported on a PR
2z. Other:

Who reported the bug:

[Contributor] The offending PR has been commented on, pointing out the bug it caused and why, so the author and reviewers can learn from the mistake.

Link to comment: https://github.com/Expensify/App/pull/44523/files#r2253073031
[Contributor] If the regression was CRITICAL (e.g. interrupts a core flow) A discussion in #expensify-open-source has been started about whether any other steps should be taken (e.g. updating the PR review checklist) in order to catch this type of bug sooner.

Link to discussion: N/A
[Contributor] If it was decided to create a regression test for the bug, please propose the regression test steps using the template below to ensure the same bug will not reach production again. Yes

Regression Test Proposal Template

[BugZero Assignee] Create a GH issue for creating/updating the regression test once above steps have been agreed upon.

Link to issue: https://github.com/Expensify/Expensify/issues/534922

Regression Test Proposal

Test:

Open a group chat
Create a scan split expense with the description is any markdown
Open the split bill detail page
Enter the amount and save it (do not change the description)
Verify that the description is displayed as normal text instead of markdown in the preview

Do we agree 👍 or 👎

@mkzie2

Payment Summary:

Contributor: @mkzie2 to be paid $250 via Upwork
Contributor+: @dukenv0307 to be paid $250 via NewDot Manual Request

Upwork job here

@dukenv0307

Contributor has been paid, the contract has been completed, and the Upwork post has been closed.

@dukenv0307 you have the 🟢 to request payment.

@dukenv0307

$250 approved for @dukenv0307

Navigation Menu

Repository navigation

[Due for payment 2025-08-11] [$250] Split scan - Description with mark down is displayed in HTML tags on the expense preview #65889

Action Performed:

Expected Result:

Actual Result:

Workaround:

Platforms:

Screenshots/Videos

Proposal

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

What is the root cause of that problem?

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

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Proposal

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

What is the root cause of that problem?

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

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Proposal

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

What is the root cause of that problem?

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

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Result

31 remaining items

BugZero Checklist:

Regression Test Proposal

Test:

Metadata

Assignees

Labels

Type

Projects

Milestone

Relationships

Development

	const parsedComment = getParsedComment(updatedTransaction?.comment?.comment ?? '');
	if (updatedTransaction?.comment) {
	// eslint-disable-next-line no-param-reassign
	updatedTransaction.comment.comment = parsedComment;
	}
	const currentUserEmailForIOUSplit = addSMSDomainIfPhoneNumber(sessionEmail);

	if (!draftSplitTransaction) {
	draftSplitTransaction = allTransactions[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION}${transactionID}`];
	}

	const updatedTransaction = draftSplitTransaction
	? getUpdatedTransaction({

	if (Object.hasOwn(transactionChanges, 'comment')) {
	updatedTransaction.comment = {
	...updatedTransaction.comment,
	comment: transactionChanges.comment,
	};
	}

[Due for payment 2025-08-11] [$250] Split scan - Description with mark down is displayed in HTML tags on the expense preview #65889

Description

Action Performed:

Expected Result:

Actual Result:

Workaround:

Platforms:

Screenshots/Videos

Activity

melvin-bot commented on Jul 10, 2025

mkzie2 commented on Jul 10, 2025

Proposal

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

What is the root cause of that problem?

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

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

dmkt9 commented on Jul 11, 2025

Proposal

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

What is the root cause of that problem?

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

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

PiyushChandra17 commented on Jul 11, 2025

Proposal

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

What is the root cause of that problem?

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

What specific scenarios should we cover in automated tests to prevent reintroducing this issue in the future?

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Result

melvin-bot commented on Jul 14, 2025

RachCHopkins commented on Jul 15, 2025

melvin-bot commented on Jul 15, 2025

31 remaining items

melvin-bot commented on Aug 4, 2025

melvin-bot commented on Aug 4, 2025

melvin-bot commented on Aug 4, 2025

dukenv0307 commented on Aug 5, 2025

BugZero Checklist:

Regression Test Proposal

Test:

RachCHopkins commented on Aug 11, 2025

RachCHopkins commented on Aug 11, 2025

garrettmknight commented on Aug 20, 2025

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

Labels

Type

Projects

Milestone

Relationships

Development

Issue actions