[$250] Expense - Imported contacts do not appear in the contact list

[jponikarchuk]

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Version Number: 9.3.5-0
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/test-runs/TR-3121/folder/13176722/41237019/1138022408?sort=%2Bidentifier
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): jsat+today@applausemail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Regression TC Execution
Device used: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra/Android 15, iPhone 13/iOS 18.6.2
App Component: Other

Action Performed:

1. Launch Expensify App
2. Log in with valid account
3. Tap FAB "+" button
4. Tap "Create expense" option
5. Select "Scan" option
6. Take a photo of receipt
7. On the soft permission modal to import your contacts tap "Continue"
8. On the native modal to import the contacts, allow device permission

Expected Result:

The device's Contacts appears in the contacts list

Actual Result:

The device's Contacts don't appear in the contacts list

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

1.mp4

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Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022014059839813746039
• Upwork Job ID: 2014059839813746039
• Last Price Increase: 2026-01-21

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @MariaHCD

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @NicMendonca (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.

[annaweber830]

Proposal

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

When a user grants the app permission to import device contacts during the “Create expense” flow, the device contacts do not appear in the contact list afterward (staging + production, iOS + Android).

What is the root cause of that problem?

• The scan flow starts with a default amount of 0, and the participant step treats any amount <= 0 as “workspaces only,” which hides P2P contacts.
• On iOS, granting “Limited” contacts access returns RESULTS.LIMITED, but the permission flow only treated RESULTS.GRANTED as success, so contacts were never imported.

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

• In the participants step, treat scan requests with the default amount as not workspaces‑only so P2P contacts are visible while OCR is pending.
  

  App/src/pages/iou/request/step/IOURequestStepParticipants.tsx

  Lines 420 to 430 in e54cfd4

  	const isWorkspacesOnly = useMemo(() => {
  	if (isDistanceRequest(initialTransaction)) {
  	// For distance requests, only restrict to workspaces if a route exists and the distance is 0
  	// If no route exists yet, the distance hasn't been calculated and we should allow P2P
  	if (!hasRoute(initialTransaction, true)) {
  	return false;
  	}
  	return initialTransaction?.comment?.customUnit?.quantity === 0;
  	}
  	return initialTransaction?.amount !== undefined && initialTransaction?.amount !== null && initialTransaction?.amount <= 0;
  	}, [initialTransaction]);

const isWorkspacesOnly = useMemo(() => {
        if (isDistanceRequest(initialTransaction)) {
            // For distance requests, only restrict to workspaces if a route exists and the distance is 0
            // If no route exists yet, the distance hasn't been calculated and we should allow P2P
            if (!hasRoute(initialTransaction, true)) {
                return false;
            }
            return initialTransaction?.comment?.customUnit?.quantity === 0;
        }
        if (iouRequestType === CONST.IOU.REQUEST_TYPE.SCAN && initialTransaction?.amount === CONST.IOU.DEFAULT_AMOUNT) {
            return false;
        }
        return initialTransaction?.amount !== undefined && initialTransaction?.amount !== null && initialTransaction?.amount <= 0;
    }, [initialTransaction, iouRequestType]);

• In the contact permission modal, treat RESULTS.LIMITED as a granted state so the import runs after permission is allowed.
  

  App/src/components/ContactPermissionModal/index.native.tsx

  Lines 40 to 50 in e54cfd4

  	// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-deprecated
  	InteractionManager.runAfterInteractions(() => {
  	requestContactPermission().then((status) => {
  	onFocusTextInput();
  	if (status !== RESULTS.GRANTED) {
  	return;
  	}
  	onGrant();
  	});
  	});
  	};

InteractionManager.runAfterInteractions(() => {
            requestContactPermission().then((status) => {
                onFocusTextInput();
                if (status !== RESULTS.GRANTED && status !== RESULTS.LIMITED) {
                    return;
                }
                onGrant();
            });
        });

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Screen.Recording.2026-01-20.at.10.52.15.AM.mov

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022014059839813746039

[melvin-bot]

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

[nkdengineer]

🚨 Edited by proposal-police: This proposal was edited at 2026-01-22 04:43:02 UTC.

Proposal

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

The device's Contacts don't appear in the contacts list

What is the root cause of that problem?

The bug starts happening here, we updated the condition to initialTransaction?.amount <= 0 because the zero amount is only allowed in the workspace/unreported, but we missed the case scan expense. Then the P2P user is always filtered out, and then the imported contacts don't appear

App/src/pages/iou/request/step/IOURequestStepParticipants.tsx

Lines 443 to 458 in 3779ccf

	const isWorkspacesOnly = useMemo(() => {
	if (isDistanceRequest(initialTransaction)) {
	// For distance requests, only restrict to workspaces if a route exists and the distance is 0
	// If no route exists yet, the distance hasn't been calculated and we should allow P2P
	if (!hasRoute(initialTransaction, true)) {
	return false;
	}
	return initialTransaction?.comment?.customUnit?.quantity === 0;
	}
	return initialTransaction?.amount !== undefined && initialTransaction?.amount !== null && initialTransaction?.amount <= 0;
	}, [initialTransaction]);
	return (
	<StepScreenWrapper
	headerTitle={headerTitle}
	onBackButtonPress={navigateBack}

Another problem here is that even if in the case isWorkspacesOnly=true is correct, it doesn't make sense to show Import contact button since we only allow the workspace option in this case.

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

1. Update isWorkspacesOnly to always return false for scan request

if (iouRequestType === CONST.IOU.REQUEST_TYPE.SCAN) {
            return false;
        }

App/src/pages/iou/request/step/IOURequestStepParticipants.tsx

Lines 443 to 458 in 3779ccf

	const isWorkspacesOnly = useMemo(() => {
	if (isDistanceRequest(initialTransaction)) {
	// For distance requests, only restrict to workspaces if a route exists and the distance is 0
	// If no route exists yet, the distance hasn't been calculated and we should allow P2P
	if (!hasRoute(initialTransaction, true)) {
	return false;
	}
	return initialTransaction?.comment?.customUnit?.quantity === 0;
	}
	return initialTransaction?.amount !== undefined && initialTransaction?.amount !== null && initialTransaction?.amount <= 0;
	}, [initialTransaction]);
	return (
	<StepScreenWrapper
	headerTitle={headerTitle}
	onBackButtonPress={navigateBack}

2. Hide the import contact button when isWorkspacesOnly is true

const showImportContacts =
        isNative &&
        !isWorkspacesOnly &&
        !isCategorizeOrShareAction &&
        !(contactPermissionState === RESULTS.GRANTED || contactPermissionState === RESULTS.LIMITED) &&
        inputHelperText === translate('common.noResultsFound');

App/src/pages/iou/request/MoneyRequestParticipantsSelector.tsx

Lines 269 to 275 in 3779ccf

	const showImportContacts =
	isNative &&
	!isCategorizeOrShareAction &&
	!(contactPermissionState === RESULTS.GRANTED || contactPermissionState === RESULTS.LIMITED) &&
	inputHelperText === translate('common.noResultsFound');
	/**

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

N/A

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.

[hoangzinh]

Thank you for posting your proposals, @annaweber830 and @nkdengineer. After reviewing them, I prefer @nkdengineer's proposal. It identifies the root cause more precisely, and its solution is more effective. Besides that, I think we should leave "Import contact button" as it is.

Link to @nkdengineer's proposal #80023 (comment)

🎀👀🎀 C+ reviewed

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @MariaHCD, see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/7972 for more details.