[CHAI] Release 2 - Make helpsite search centric

[rushatgabhane]

Explanation of Change

Lots of file changes because I ran npm run compress-svg

• Got rid of the right hand search panel
• Replaced it with /search page
• Search is made prominent in home page
• Added skeleton loader for loading results
• Updated layout of home page

Fixed Issues

https://github.com/Expensify/Expensify/issues/557403
PROPOSAL:

Tests

Test 1: Homepage and Search

1. Navigate to help.expensify.com
2. Verify search bar, "Getting Started" and "Topics" cards display in a 3 column layout. Single column for mobile.
3. Type "expense" in the search bar and press Enter
4. Verify you land on /search?q=expense, skeleton loaders flash, then results appear

Test 2: LHN Search and Platform Param

1. Navigate to any Expensify Classic hub page
2. On desktop, verify a "Search for something..." input appears at the top of the LHN
3. Type a query and press Enter
4. Verify you are navigated to /search?q=...&platform=expensify-classic

• Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Offline tests

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
  • I added steps for local testing in the Tests section
  • I added steps for the expected offline behavior in the Offline steps section
  • I added steps for Staging and/or Production testing in the QA steps section
  • I added steps to cover 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 tested this PR with a High Traffic account against the staging or production API to ensure there are no regressions (e.g. long loading states that impact usability).
• I included screenshots or videos for tests on all platforms
• I ran the tests on all platforms & verified they passed on:
  • Android: Native
  • Android: mWeb Chrome
  • iOS: Native
  • iOS: mWeb Safari
  • MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• I verified there are no console errors (if there's a console error not related to the PR, report it or open an issue for it to be fixed)
• I verified there are no new alerts related to the canBeMissing param for useOnyx
• I followed proper code patterns (see Reviewing the code)
  • 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
    • If any non-english text was added/modified, I used JaimeGPT to get English > Spanish translation. I then posted it in #expensify-open-source and it was approved by an internal Expensify engineer. Link to Slack message:
  • 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
• I followed the guidelines as stated in the Review Guidelines
• I tested other components that can be impacted by my changes (i.e. if the PR modifies a shared library or component like Avatar, I verified the components using Avatar are working as expected)
• I verified all code is DRY (the PR doesn't include any logic written more than once, with the exception of tests)
• I verified any variables that can be defined as constants (ie. in CONST.ts or at the top of the file that uses the constant) are defined as such
• I verified that if a function's arguments changed that all usages have also been updated correctly
• If any new file was added I verified that:
  • The file has a description of what it does and/or why is needed at the top of the file if the code is not self explanatory
• If a new CSS style is added I verified that:
  • A similar style doesn't already exist
  • The style can't be created with an existing StyleUtils function (i.e. StyleUtils.getBackgroundAndBorderStyle(theme.componentBG))
• If new assets were added or existing ones were modified, I verified that:
  • The assets are optimized and compressed (for SVG files, run npm run compress-svg)
  • The assets load correctly across all supported platforms.
• If the PR modifies code that runs when editing or sending messages, I tested and verified there is no unexpected behavior for all supported markdown - URLs, single line code, code blocks, quotes, headings, bold, strikethrough, and italic.
• 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)
• If the PR modifies a component related to any of the existing Storybook stories, I tested and verified all stories for that component are still working as expected.
• If the PR modifies a component or page that can be accessed by a direct deeplink, I verified that the code functions as expected when the deeplink is used - from a logged in and logged out account.
• 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.
• If a new page is added, I verified it's using the ScrollView component to make it scrollable when more elements are added to the page.
• I added unit tests for any new feature or bug fix in this PR to help automatically prevent regressions in this user 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.

Screenshots/Videos

Web

Screen.Recording.2026-02-03.at.05.31.49.mov

m-Web

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d5ec9d05-efc1-4b75-ac8e-a48b70ca9622

[shawnborton]

These keep expiring on me...

[shawnborton]

I will message you later today.

[chuckdries]

This is making me wish we had ad-hoc builds for helpdot...

we have them. but they don't work on forks due to permission issues

Totally forgot about that! I copied this branch to our remote and opened a dummy PR to build it. For everyone wanting to test this change, use this link:

https://e8dc728a.helpdot.pages.dev/

I'll have to manually push any new commits here to there as we make changes but it's trivially easy to do so no biggie

[shawnborton]

Nice!

Looks like we have the wrong heading style in this second and third row of cards here:

[rushatgabhane]

@shawnborton thank you, fixed!

[rushatgabhane]

also fixed the margin - 12px top, 8px bottom

[shawnborton]

Thanks!

[chuckdries]

New preview link with the above commits applied https://85ed9bbf.helpdot.pages.dev/

[stephanieelliott]

Wow this looks great!

[rushatgabhane]

@chuckdries wanna help review this? it's c+ approved already

[chuckdries]

Looking quite slick! I just have a question about the functionality of the url parameters on the search page.

Basically, if the user makes multiple queries on the search page, we update the URL of the page each time they do, but the search page only ends up occupying a single slot in their browser history/back button stack. In this demonstration, see how I make 3 queries, each with a distinct url, but the back button only takes me to one of them. On one hand, if the user is someone who pays attention to their url bar, this might be surprising. But on the other hand, if they don't notice that, then I guess it's not surprising that "search" is just one step in their browsing history. CC @shawnborton @dubielzyk-expensify curious if you have thoughts?

replaceState.demonstration.mp4

[chuckdries]

Has anyone specifically discussed the decision to use replaceState here? It's probably right but I want to call it out just in case.

[dannymcclain]

I would personally probably expect the back button to take me back to each individual search, but I don't feel very strongly about that.

[rushatgabhane]

love the feedback! I'll admit, I didn't think much about it.

alrightt, let me update that. it'll also match what we do in newDot so.. easy call to make ig

[rushatgabhane]

wdyt?

Screen.Recording.2026-02-07.at.01.10.26.mov

[dannymcclain]

Hmm, let's see what the rest of the @Expensify/design team thinks. I'm not as sure now that I see it haha.

[dubielzyk-expensify]

I dont' disagree that the browser back button should go through the search results, but I don't think the table of contents back button should do it. To me that should navigate the hierarchy. They're separate to me.

[shawnborton]

Yup, totally agree with that.

[shawnborton]

Another thing I am noticing - do we have a version of this graphic for dark mode? I would think the white parts of the rays coming out of the book would match the dark part of the app:

Here are updated graphics for light mode and dark mode if that helps:
HelpSiteIllustrations.zip