fix: keep createWorkspace getting-started task responsive after opening a connection task

[yuvrajangadsingh]

Explanation of Change

On narrow layout the "Create a workspace" task in the Home "Getting started" section could go dead after you opened the "Connect to accounting" task and came back. Tapping it did nothing.

The route for the createWorkspace item is built at render time and baked Navigation.getActiveRoute() into its backTo:

route: shouldUseNarrowLayout ? ROUTES.WORKSPACE_INITIAL.getRoute(activePolicyID, Navigation.getActiveRoute()) : ROUTES.WORKSPACE_OVERVIEW.getRoute(activePolicyID),

Opening the "Connect to QBO" task hits PolicyAccountingPage, which writes policy.connections / connection sync progress / imported categories over the next few seconds. Those writes re-render the Getting started section while a workspaces/{activePolicyID} route is the active route, so getActiveRoute() now returns workspaces/{activePolicyID} and gets stored as the backTo. The createWorkspace route becomes self-referential: workspaces/{id}?backTo=workspaces/{id}. When it's tapped, arePathAndBackToEqual in linkTo sees the focused path equal to its own backTo and returns early, so no navigation happens. It's narrow-only because the wide branch uses WORKSPACE_OVERVIEW with no backTo, so there is nothing to self-reference.

The Getting started section only ever renders on Home, so the workspace page's back target is always Home. I pass ROUTES.HOME as the backTo instead of the live route. ROUTES.HOME is 'home', which is exactly what getActiveRoute() already returns when the row is tapped legitimately from Home, so the happy-path route (workspaces/{id}?backTo=home) is unchanged. It just can no longer drift to a self-reference during the connection flow's re-renders. Navigation is still used elsewhere in the file (the fallback onPress), so the import stays.

I also added a regression test that pins the narrow-layout createWorkspace backTo to Home even when getActiveRoute() has drifted to the workspace page.

Fixed Issues

$ #96172
PROPOSAL: #96172 (comment)

Tests

1. Onboard as "Manage my team's expenses" so a paid workspace exists and the Home "Getting started" section is shown.
2. On a narrow layout (iOS, or resize web to mobile width), open Home and confirm the "Getting started" section is visible.
3. Tap the "Connect to [accounting]" task (e.g. Connect to QuickBooks Online), wait a few seconds for the accounting page to load its connection state, then go back to Home.
4. Tap "Create a workspace".
5. Verify it navigates to the workspace page (before this change, the tap did nothing).

• Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Unit test: tests/unit/hooks/useGettingStartedItems.test.ts. The added case forces Navigation.getActiveRoute() to return the drifted workspaces/{id} route and asserts the narrow createWorkspace route stays workspaces/{id}?backTo=home. It fails on main (route comes out workspaces/{id}?backTo=workspaces%2F1) and passes with this change. Run: TZ=UTC npx jest tests/unit/hooks/useGettingStartedItems.test.ts

Offline tests

Same as Tests. The change only affects which backTo value is stored on a client-side route, so behavior is identical offline.

QA Steps

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
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Screenshots/Videos

Android: Native

Android: mWeb Chrome

iOS: Native

iOS: mWeb Safari

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

[melvin-bot]

@mkhutornyi 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]

[mkhutornyi]

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
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  • 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)
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  • iOS: HybridApp
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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)
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• 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)
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• 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

android.mov

Android: mWeb Chrome

iOS: HybridApp

ios.mov

iOS: mWeb Safari

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

web.mov

[mkhutornyi]

@yuvrajangadsingh please complete author checklist

[MelvinBot]

Review: LGTM ✅

The fix is correct, minimal, and well-targeted. I verified the root cause and the reasoning holds up.

Root cause confirmed. arePathAndBackToEqual strips the query string off both the focused path and the backTo param and compares them, returning early from linkTo when they match. So workspaces/{id}?backTo=workspaces/{id} collapses to workspaces/{id} === workspaces/{id} and the tap is swallowed. Passing ROUTES.HOME ('home') makes backTo home, which can never equal the workspaces/{id} path, so navigation proceeds.

ROUTES.HOME is the right back target. useGettingStartedItems is only consumed by GettingStartedSection, which renders exclusively in HomePage.tsx. So the back destination is always Home, and on the happy path getActiveRoute() already returned 'home' — the fix leaves the happy-path route byte-for-byte identical and only removes the drift.

Import is still needed — Navigation is used by the fallback onPress at line 118, so keeping it is correct.

Test looks solid. It forces getActiveRoute() to the drifted route, pins narrow layout across all renders with mockReturnValue (correctly noting mockReturnValueOnce gets eaten by an early render), and restores both mocks in a finally so there's no test pollution. It asserts the exact backTo=home route rather than just the base path, which is what the earlier narrow-layout test misses.

Minor notes (non-blocking)

• I wasn't able to execute the test in this environment, but the logic and the main-vs-branch reasoning in the PR body are consistent with the code. Worth a reviewer confirming TZ=UTC npx jest tests/unit/hooks/useGettingStartedItems.test.ts passes locally.
• Consider whether the older should resolve createWorkspace route to WORKSPACE_INITIAL on narrow layout test could also assert backTo, but that's optional — the new test already covers it.

[chatgpt-codex-connector]

Codex Review: Didn't find any major issues. Can't wait for the next one!

Reviewed commit: 16d592e6aa

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[yuvrajangadsingh]

@mkhutornyi done, author checklist is complete. thanks for testing it across platforms.

[github-actions]

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[MelvinBot]

🤖 I reviewed the changes in this PR against the help site content under docs/articles.

No help site changes are required.

This PR is a client-side navigation bug fix (src/pages/home/GettingStartedSection/hooks/useGettingStartedItems.ts). It changes the backTo value baked into the "Create a workspace" getting-started task route on narrow layout — from the live Navigation.getActiveRoute() to ROUTES.HOME — so the task can no longer become self-referential and go dead after opening a connection task. The user-facing outcome is unchanged: the task still opens the workspace page; it just does so reliably.

Because this only fixes an internal routing behavior with no change to any documented feature, workflow, setting, label, or UI copy, none of the existing help articles (e.g. docs/articles/new-expensify/getting-started/Create-a-company-workspace.md) need updating. I did not open a docs PR.

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🚀 Deployed to production by https://github.com/arosiclair in version: 9.4.49-3 🚀

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