Fix workspace navigation after distance settings deep link

[fedirjh]

Explanation of Change

Opening the distance settings RHP from another tab could construct an incomplete workspace background on narrow screens. The navigation action retained the WorkspaceSplitNavigator name but dropped its nested state, where the policy-scoped Workspace Initial and Distance Rates routes live. Closing the RHP could therefore reveal /workspaces/undefined.

This change:

• Preserves the nested split state when constructing the matching workspace background beneath an RHP.
• Prevents WorkspaceInitialPage from fetching policy data, showing Not Found, or closing the RHP before a route policy ID exists.
• Clears consumed deep-link hints when revealing a newly created workspace so an earlier Distance Rates route cannot be replayed.
• Adds regression tests for missing policy parameters, nested workspace background state, and repeated workspace creation after a distance-settings deep link.

Fixed Issues

$ #98365
PROPOSAL:

Tests

1. Use a narrow layout and sign in.
2. Create a workspace and enable a fixed commuter exclusion.
3. Create a distance expense in that workspace.
4. Open the expense and select the workspace distance settings link.
5. Verify Distance Rates Settings opens for the expense workspace.
6. Press Back and verify Distance Rates opens for the same workspace.
7. Press Back and verify the workspace page opens for the same workspace; confirm the URL never contains /workspaces/undefined.
8. Press Back and verify the Workspaces list opens.
9. Select New workspace and confirm creation.
10. Verify the new workspace opens without a crash and the previous workspace's Distance Rates page is not restored.
11. Repeat steps 4–10 and verify the same result on every attempt.

• Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Offline tests

1. Complete steps 1–5 above while online so the workspace data is available locally.
2. Disable the network connection.
3. Complete steps 6–8.
4. Verify every Back action opens the expected cached workspace screen, the URL never contains /workspaces/undefined, and the app does not crash.
5. Re-enable the network connection and complete steps 9–11.

QA Steps

// TODO: These must be filled out, or the issue title must include "[No QA]".

Same as tests.

• Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

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
• 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)
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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 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)
• If a new code pattern is added I verified it was agreed to be used by multiple Expensify engineers
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• 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.
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• 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

CleanShot.2026-08-12.at.13.55.23.mp4

Android: Native

Android: mWeb Chrome

iOS: Native

iOS: mWeb Safari

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

[melvin-bot]

@marufsharifi 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]

[melvin-bot]

@Gonals 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]

[marufsharifi]

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
• 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 proper code patterns were followed (see Reviewing the code)
  • 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 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)
• 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)
• If a new component is created I verified that:
  • A similar component doesn't exist in the codebase
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  • The only data being stored in the state is data necessary for rendering and nothing else
  • 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 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.
• 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

Screen.Recording.2026-08-12.at.6.15.08.PM.mov

Android: mWeb Chrome

Screencast.From.2026-08-12.18-01-48.webm

iOS: HybridApp

Screen.Recording.2026-08-12.at.6.04.47.PM.mov

iOS: mWeb Safari

Screen.Recording.2026-08-12.at.6.08.11.PM.mov

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screencast.From.2026-08-12.17-58-17.webm

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ Changes either increased or maintained existing code coverage, great job!

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
...ateRootStackNavigator/GetStateForActionHandlers.ts	65.84% <100.00%> (ø)
src/libs/Navigation/helpers/linkTo/index.ts	95.20% <100.00%> (+1.70%)	⬆️
...avigation/helpers/swapBackgroundTabForRHPTarget.ts	75.67% <ø> (+75.67%)	⬆️
src/pages/workspace/WorkspaceInitialPage.tsx	62.20% <100.00%> (+62.20%)	⬆️
... and 42 files with indirect coverage changes

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[chatgpt-codex-connector]

Remove state-only deep-link hints before remounting

When the existing TAB_NAVIGATOR was created by a nested push, getRehydratedTabNavigatorStateAfterPush() stores the consumed target as route.params.state without a screen key (lines 176–182). This call does not remove that hint because withSanitizedDeepLinkParams() only sanitizes params containing a string screen, so creating a workspace afterward can still let React Navigation replay the previous nested workspace state over staleTabState. Sanitize the state-only form here as well before remounting.

Useful? React with 👍 / 👎.

[fedirjh]

Good catch. The state-only hint comes from the separate nested-push flow, while this PR addresses stale params.screen hints from the reported distance-settings flow. Expanding the shared sanitizer would increase this regression fix’s blast radius, so I propose handling the state-only form in a focused follow-up with dedicated coverage.

[fedirjh]

cc @sumo-slonik

[marufsharifi]

@MelvinBot Review

[MelvinBot]

Review

Solid, well-targeted fix. The root cause — a matching workspace background rebuilt from only the split navigator's name, dropping its nested state — is correctly addressed by preserving lastRoute.state, and the WorkspaceInitialPage guards against a missing policyID are consistent (no fetch / no Not Found / no RHP close until a route policy ID exists). Tests cover the important paths. A couple of things worth confirming before merge:

1. The state-preservation now applies to every matching-fullscreen tab switch, not just Workspace. getMatchingFullScreenRouteParams is used by both linkTo and swapBackgroundTabForRHPTarget. Previously lastRoute.state was dropped for all split navigators (Reports/Settings included); now it's carried through whenever present. This is generally more correct, but the only regression coverage added is for WORKSPACE_SPLIT_NAVIGATOR. Can you confirm cross-tab RHP flows that land on the Reports or Settings split navigators still behave (i.e. no unexpected deep-restore of a nested Reports/Settings route)?

2. The cancel/restore path re-injects the stale hint this PR strips. At GetStateForActionHandlers.ts:453 the pre-inserted updatedTabRoute is sanitized via withSanitizedDeepLinkParams(existingTabRoute, undefined), but the route saved for restore at line 459 is the unsanitized existingTabRoute. So if the user cancels workspace creation, handleRemoveFullscreenUnderRHP restores the original tab route with the stale distance-settings deep-link params still attached — the same hint the PR removes on the commit path. Is that intentional (restore the exact prior state), or could closing the RHP after a cancel resurface /workspaces/undefined? Worth a quick manual check of the cancel-then-back flow.

What I verified

• getMatchingFullScreenRouteParams faithfully reproduces the old fallback (matchingFullScreenRoute.params when there's no last route; lastRoute.params when there's no nested state) and only adds state when present — {...lastRoute.params, state: lastRoute.state} correctly handles lastRoute.params === undefined.
• The shouldShowNotFoundPage latch now resets when routePolicyID changes (prevRoutePolicyID === routePolicyID && !!prevShouldShowNotFoundPage), and the RHP-close effect is keyed per-policy via policyIDWithClosedRHPRef instead of a one-shot wasRendered — both correctly allow re-evaluation after creating a new workspace.
• export {WorkspaceInitialPage} is only used to import the unwrapped component in the new UI test; no runtime impact.

I did not run the app; the added Jest suites (swapBackgroundTabForRHPTarget.test.ts, handleReplaceFullscreenUnderRHP.test.ts, linkToHelpersTests.ts, WorkspaceInitialPageTest.tsx) cover these paths and run in CI.

---

Reply with @MelvinBot <feedback> to refine this review.

[marufsharifi]

This now preserves nested state for all matching-fullscreen navigators, not just Workspace.

getMatchingFullScreenRouteParams runs for every matching-fullscreen tab switch, so Reports / Settings / Search split navigators are also affected. Before this PR their split was reset to its initial route on tab switch; now the full nested stack is restored. That's very likely the more-correct behavior and aligns this branch with the state-preserving branch just above (~L249), but the added tests only cover WORKSPACE_SPLIT_NAVIGATOR.

• Could you confirm a non-workspace matching-fullscreen RHP open (e.g. Reports/Settings) still lands on the expected background screen and doesn't jump to an unexpected deep sub-screen?
• If it checks out, consider a one-line test for a non-workspace navigator to lock the generalization in.