[Due for payment 2026-06-18] [$250] Onboarding-Selection in "What are you looking to track?" is cleared after refreshing name step

[applause-bot]

If you haven’t already, check out our contributing guidelines for onboarding and email contributors@expensify.com to request to join our Slack channel!

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Version Number: 9.4.2-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: N/A - new feature, doesn't exist in prod
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #89466
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): jsnoidjsodijos@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Mac 26.5 / Chrome
App Component: Other

Action Performed:

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Log in with new Gmail account.
3. Click Organize my personal spending.
4. Select Something else.
5. Enter anything.
6. Click Continue.
7. Refresh the page.
8. Click app back button.

Expected Result:

Previous selection in "What are you looking to track?" page will be preserved after refreshing name step.

Actual Result:

Previous selection in "What are you looking to track?" page is cleared after refreshing name step.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7176402_1781053254146.1.mp4

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Applause Internal Information
Exported by: Mita Rachim
Bug ID: 7176402

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022064785980420278950
• Upwork Job ID: 2064785980420278950
• Last Price Increase: 2026-06-10

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @mallenexpensify

[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/3672462df2dfbcce0ed5b29649b4e9735cd83678db9bf30112d5dd1b627bfa91

[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #89466

[melvin-bot]

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

[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.

[MelvinBot]

Proposal

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

On the new What are you looking to track? onboarding screen (personaltrackcase), after selecting an option (e.g. Something else), continuing to the name step, refreshing, and pressing back, the previously selected option is no longer highlighted — the selection appears cleared.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The screen tracks its selection in local component state, not Onyx:

• BaseOnboardingPersonalTrackGoal.tsx:34-35 initializes selectedGoal to null and somethingElseText to '' via useState.

The confirmed value is persisted to Onyx — completeTrackGoalSelection calls setOnboardingPersonalTrackGoal(goal), which writes to ONYXKEYS.ONBOARDING_PERSONAL_TRACK_GOAL — but the screen never reads it back. Refreshing wipes in-memory React state, so when the user navigates back the component remounts with selectedGoal = null and renders no checkmark, even though Onyx still holds the value.

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

Hydrate the initial UI state from the persisted Onyx value in BaseOnboardingPersonalTrackGoal.tsx.

1. Read the stored goal: const [personalTrackGoal] = useOnyx(ONYXKEYS.ONBOARDING_PERSONAL_TRACK_GOAL);
2. Initialize selectedGoal / somethingElseText from it, accounting for how the value is stored — predefined options store the goal constant (InvestmentTracking, etc.), while Something else stores the typed free text (see onPress and the Continue button at L150-L156). So when hydrating:
   • If the stored value matches one of CONST.ONBOARDING_PERSONAL_TRACK_GOALS → set selectedGoal to it.
   • Otherwise (free text) → set selectedGoal = SOMETHING_ELSE and somethingElseText to the stored value.

Hydration sketch

const [personalTrackGoal] = useOnyx(ONYXKEYS.ONBOARDING_PERSONAL_TRACK_GOAL);

const isPredefinedGoal = personalTrackGoalOptions.includes(personalTrackGoal ?? '');
const [selectedGoal, setSelectedGoal] = useState<string | null>(() => {
    if (!personalTrackGoal) {
        return null;
    }
    return isPredefinedGoal ? personalTrackGoal : CONST.ONBOARDING_PERSONAL_TRACK_GOALS.SOMETHING_ELSE;
});
const [somethingElseText, setSomethingElseText] = useState(() => (personalTrackGoal && !isPredefinedGoal ? personalTrackGoal : ''));

Because useOnyx is async, the initial render may have personalTrackGoal === undefined. Confirm the Onyx value is loaded before the screen renders, or guard against the late hydration (e.g. seed state once via an effect keyed on the loaded value) so the checkmark restores correctly after refresh.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

None — restoring the persisted Onyx value is the minimal fix that matches the issue's expected behavior.

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Next Steps for Contributor+ team:
To accept: @MelvinBot implement [this](https://github.com/Expensify/App/issues/93131) to create a draft PR.
To refine: @MelvinBot <your feedback>
To reject: Explain why you are rejecting Melvin's proposal.

[jayeshmangwani]

@NicolasBonet Melvin's proposal looks good. We can go with that.