Fix: Mentions no longer auto-insert trailing space by ryntgh · Pull Request #84105 · Expensify/App

ryntgh · 2026-03-04T03:01:01Z

Explanation of Change

This PR adds a trailing space after a mention so that the user can continue typing without breaking the mention. This PR also updates the cursor position calculation to account for the dotToAppend case, ensuring the cursor remains in the correct position when a mention ends with a dot

Fixed Issues

$ #83510
PROPOSAL: #83510 (comment)

Tests

Same as QA Steps

Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Offline tests

Same as QA Steps

QA Steps

Open any chat
Type @ and begin typing a user’s name
Select the user from the dropdown
Immediately continue typing
Verify that after selecting a user, a space is automatically inserted

Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

PR Author Checklist

Screenshots/Videos

Android: Native

Android-App-2.mp4

Android: mWeb Chrome

Android-mWeb-2.mp4

iOS: Native

iOS-App-2.mp4

iOS: mWeb Safari

iOS-mWeb-2.mp4

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

MacOS-Chrome.mp4

melvin-bot · 2026-03-04T10:20:36Z

@hoangzinh 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]

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-03-04T10:27:16Z

src/pages/inbox/report/ReportActionCompose/SuggestionMention.tsx


-            updateComment(`${commentBeforeAtSign}${mentionCode}${dotToAppend}${trimLeadingSpace(commentAfterMention)}`, true);
-            const selectionPosition = suggestionValues.atSignIndex + mentionCode.length + CONST.SPACE_LENGTH;
+            updateComment(`${commentBeforeAtSign}${mentionCode}${dotToAppend} ${trimLeadingSpace(commentAfterMention)}`, true);


Skip forced space when mention is followed by punctuation

insertSelectedMention now always concatenates ${dotToAppend} ${trimLeadingSpace(commentAfterMention)}, which inserts a space even when the existing text immediately after the replaced mention starts with punctuation (for example, editing "@a, thanks" with the cursor after @a now becomes "@adam@example.com , thanks"). This is a regression from the prior behavior that preserved adjacent punctuation and changes user-authored message formatting in mid-text edits.

Useful? React with 👍 / 👎.

Addressed 👍

hoangzinh · 2026-03-04T14:05:08Z

tests/unit/SuggestionMentionTest.tsx

    });

-    it('preserves trailing punctuation dot when selected mention does not include dotted prefix', async () => {
+    it('preserves trailing punctuation dot and inserts trailing space when selected mention does not include dotted prefix', async () => {


can you add test cases with punctuation?

Added the test case for punctuation

hoangzinh · 2026-03-04T14:06:20Z

src/CONST/index.ts

        SPECIAL_CHAR: /[,/?"{}[\]()&^%;`$=#<>!*]/g,
        FIRST_SPACE: /.+?(?=\s)/,
        TRAILING_DOTS: /\.$/,
+        STARTS_WITH_PUNCTUATION_WITHOUT_SPACE: /^[.,!?]/,


Why do we need the "WITHOUT_SPACE" suffix?

Right, after re-reading the const name, I think it is redundant. I've updated the name

hoangzinh · 2026-03-04T14:39:57Z

src/pages/inbox/report/ReportActionCompose/SuggestionMention.tsx

-            updateComment(`${commentBeforeAtSign}${mentionCode}${dotToAppend}${trimLeadingSpace(commentAfterMention)}`, true);
-            const selectionPosition = suggestionValues.atSignIndex + mentionCode.length + CONST.SPACE_LENGTH;
+            const trimmedCommentAfterMention = trimLeadingSpace(commentAfterMention);
+            const spacer = !trimmedCommentAfterMention || !CONST.REGEX.STARTS_WITH_PUNCTUATION_WITHOUT_SPACE.test(trimmedCommentAfterMention) ? ' ' : '';


Will spacer be true value when !trimmedCommentAfterMention is true? We need ensure space is a string object

I'm not really sure about this concern, but the ternary operator would ensures spacer is always a string in this case

ah I read it in a wrong way. Sorry

hoangzinh · 2026-03-06T07:21:36Z

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
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- 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
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- Android: HybridApp
- Android: mWeb Chrome
- iOS: HybridApp
- iOS: mWeb Safari
- MacOS: Chrome / Safari
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- I verified that any callback methods that were added or modified are named for what the method does and never what callback they handle (i.e. toggleReport and not onIconClick).
- 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 shown in the product is localized by adding it to src/languages/* files and using the translation method
- I verified all numbers, amounts, dates and phone numbers shown in the product are using the localization methods
- 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)
- I verified proper file naming conventions were followed for any new files or renamed files. All non-platform specific files are named after what they export and are not named "index.js". All platform-specific files are named for the platform the code supports as outlined in the README.
- I verified the JSDocs style guidelines (in STYLE.md) were followed
If a new code pattern is added I verified it was agreed to be used by multiple Expensify engineers
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Screenshots/Videos

Android: HybridApp

Screen.Recording.2026-03-09.at.16.55.16.mov

Android: mWeb Chrome

Screen.Recording.2026-03-09.at.16.53.32.mov

iOS: HybridApp

Screen.Recording.2026-03-09.at.17.14.14.mov

iOS: mWeb Safari

Screen.Recording.2026-03-09.at.16.57.14.mov

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screen.Recording.2026-03-09.at.16.51.13.mov

hoangzinh · 2026-03-06T07:28:32Z

@ryntgh I found a bug when insert mention with punctuation text

Type "Hello . Thank you"
Insert mention before "."

Actual result: "." is lost
Expected: I think we should preserve ".", shouldn't we?

Screen.Recording.2026-03-06.at.14.31.49.mov

ryntgh · 2026-03-06T15:50:55Z

@hoangzinh After investigating, seems like the issue exists in production as well. In dot case, if we insert the mention and place the cursor/caret before the dot, it will be lost. But if the cursor/caret placed after the dot, it will preserve the dot. Here is the production behavior:

Issue.mp4

I think the dot is lost because getOriginalMentionText scan forward from the @ until it found a breaker character. But, since . is not a breaker based on SPECIAL_CHAR_MENTION_BREAKER (I think this was intentional since . can appears in email addresses), it gets included in the text that is replaced. So when cursor/caret is placed before the dot, it falls inside the replacement range and gets overwritten by the mention

hoangzinh

LGTM

github-actions · 2026-03-10T20:27:36Z

🚧 @Julesssss has triggered a test Expensify/App build. You can view the workflow run here.

github-actions · 2026-03-10T20:32:20Z

🧪🧪 Use the links below to test this adhoc build on Android, iOS, and Web. Happy testing! 🧪🧪
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OSBotify · 2026-03-10T20:34:55Z

✋ This PR was not deployed to staging yet because QA is ongoing. It will be automatically deployed to staging after the next production release.

OSBotify · 2026-03-11T20:05:03Z

🚀 Deployed to staging by https://github.com/Julesssss in version: 9.3.36-0 🚀

platform	result
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

OSBotify · 2026-03-12T22:49:44Z

🚀 Deployed to production by https://github.com/luacmartins in version: 9.3.36-10 🚀

platform	result
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🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

Fix: Auto-insert trailing space after mention

f82bea6

melvin-bot bot assigned ryntgh Mar 4, 2026

Update SuggestionMentionTest

2758850

ryntgh marked this pull request as ready for review March 4, 2026 10:20

ryntgh requested review from a team as code owners March 4, 2026 10:20

melvin-bot bot requested review from heyjennahay and hoangzinh and removed request for a team March 4, 2026 10:20

melvin-bot bot removed the request for review from a team March 4, 2026 10:20

ryntgh mentioned this pull request Mar 4, 2026

[Due for payment 2026-03-19] [$250] @Mentions no longer auto-insert trailing space in NewDot #83510

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7 tasks

chatgpt-codex-connector bot reviewed Mar 4, 2026

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fix: add punctuation detection after mentions

fc44248

hoangzinh reviewed Mar 4, 2026

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ryntgh added 2 commits March 5, 2026 21:17

Add punctuation test case

9e0dd79

minor changes

b885cfe

hoangzinh approved these changes Mar 9, 2026

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melvin-bot bot requested a review from Julesssss March 9, 2026 10:15

Julesssss approved these changes Mar 10, 2026

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Julesssss merged commit 6d262b7 into Expensify:main Mar 10, 2026
30 of 34 checks passed

OSBotify mentioned this pull request Mar 11, 2026

Deploy Checklist: New Expensify 2026-03-11 #84953

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Fix: Mentions no longer auto-insert trailing space#84105

Fix: Mentions no longer auto-insert trailing space#84105
Julesssss merged 5 commits intoExpensify:mainfrom
ryntgh:issue-83510

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