#admins - Tasks are displayed along with suggestions

[applause-bot]

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Version Number: v9.4.9-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: No
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: https://test-management.browserstack.com/projects/2219752/folder/13176677/test-cases/105015084
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): N/A
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Linux, Chrome
App Component: Other

Action Performed:

1. Go to https://staging.new.expensify.com/
2. Sign up using a Gmail address without +
3. Click Skip > Manage my team's expenses > 1-4 employees > QBO > Continue

Expected Result:

Only suggestions should be displayed in the #admins room. Tasks should not be shown, as they are not displayed in production.

Actual Result:

Tasks are displayed along with the suggestions in the #admins room.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7182934_1781653575952.Screencast_From_2026-06-16_20-45-58.mp4

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Applause Internal Information
Exported by: Mita Rachim
Bug ID: 7182934

[applause-bot]

While Applause doesn't embed attachments for this bug, here are the links for quick view:
https://platform.applause.com/services/links/v1/external/f2f3713d145a1dfc0a082a43d664b1ce33e52dc529baa85584b4230036793b48

[github-actions]

👋 Friendly reminder that deploy blockers are time-sensitive ⏱ issues! Check out the open `StagingDeployCash` deploy checklist to see the list of PRs included in this release, then work quickly to do one of the following:

1. Identify the pull request that introduced this issue and revert it.
2. Find someone who can quickly fix the issue.
3. Fix the issue yourself.

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @tylerkaraszewski (DeployBlockerCash), see https://stackoverflowteams.com/c/expensify/questions/9980/ for more details.

[melvin-bot]

💬 A slack conversation has been started in #expensify-open-source

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

What is the root cause of that problem?

The new "bespoke welcome / followups" flow for the Manage my team's expenses (MANAGE_TEAM) signup is supposed to replace the optimistic onboarding tasks with server-generated suggestions (followups). Inside prepareOnboardingOnyxData, shouldUseFollowupsInsteadOfTasks is true for MANAGE_TEAM, and every task-related output is correctly gated on it — optimisticData, successData, failureData, hasOutstandingChildTask, and the welcome-message push.

The one place that is not gated is where the tasks are added to the payload sent to the server:

ReportUtils.ts:11999

guidedSetupData.push(...tasksForParameters);

guidedSetupData is JSON-stringified and sent to the CompleteGuidedSetup API (Report/index.ts:5456). Because the tasks are still included in that payload, the server creates the onboarding tasks in the #admins room — right next to the bespoke welcome suggestions. They don't appear optimistically (that path is gated), but they show up once the server response comes back, which is exactly the reported symptom.

This is a regression from the followups feature, which is why it reproduces on staging but not production.

Why this explains the symptom (and rules out alternatives)

• Optimistic flash? No — optimisticData already excludes the tasks (ReportUtils.ts:11761-11763). The tasks the tester sees are server-persisted, so they must have come from guidedSetupData.
• Server generating tasks on its own? No — the server only creates the tasks it receives in guidedSetupData. Stop sending them and they won't be created.
• The repro path (Manage my team's expenses → 1-4 employees → QBO) maps to ONBOARDING_CHOICES.MANAGE_TEAM ('newDotManageTeam'), which is precisely the branch that sets shouldUseFollowupsInsteadOfTasks = true.

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

Gate the task payload push the same way every other task output in this function is gated, so the App stops sending onboarding tasks to the server for the followups flow:

In ReportUtils.ts:11999, only push tasksForParameters into guidedSetupData when !shouldUseFollowupsInsteadOfTasks.

With that gate, MANAGE_TEAM signups send no tasks, the server creates only the bespoke welcome suggestions, and the #admins room matches production behavior.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Filtering tasks out server-side was considered but rejected — the App is the source of truth for what goes into guidedSetupData, and the existing pattern in this function is to gate on shouldUseFollowupsInsteadOfTasks on the client. A one-line client gate keeps the fix consistent and minimal.

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Next Steps for Contributor+ team:
To accept: @MelvinBot implement [this](https://github.com/Expensify/App/blob/b8ccf8021b4b6233f5b332d371681ceb8b191db9/src/libs/ReportUtils.ts#L11999) to create a draft PR.
To refine: @MelvinBot <your feedback>
To reject: Explain why you are rejecting Melvin's proposal.

[mitarachim]

Issue not reproduce while Use Staging Server is `OFF

Screen.Recording.2026-06-17.at.7.23.19.AM.mov