actualbudget/actual

[Bug]: Duplicate entry in rule one of list after payee name merge

Open

#6486 opened on Dec 25, 2025

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bughelp wantedrulesuser interface

Description

Verified issue does not already exist?

  • I have searched and found no existing issue

What happened?

If a user has a rule with multiple entries in the "one of" list (consider Payee A and Payee B) for payee match and the payee names are merged into Payee A, reopening the rule will show Payee A twice in the "one of" list. Removing the duplicate will unintentionally remove both entries from the rule.

How can we reproduce the issue?

  1. Create a default rule to assign a category. For example, when payee is one of "Burger Drops Montreal", "Burger Drops Toronto", or "Campechano" and assign a category of "restaurants"
  2. Create a new PRE rule where any imported payee with a name containing "Burger Drops" is renamed to "Burger Drops" and apply to all existing entries.
  3. Accept the merge of payee names where rules will be merged
  4. Open the first rule and see duplicate entries in the "one of" list
  5. Remove the duplicate "Burger Drops" entry and save
  6. Re-open the rule and see that "Burger Drops" is gone entirely

Where are you hosting Actual?

Docker

What browsers are you seeing the problem on?

Chrome

Operating System

MacOS

Contributor guide

Tech stack
javascriptreact
Domain
frontend
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Understanding of Actual's rule systemFamiliarity with React components
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Investigate the rule editing component (likely in packages/desktop client/src/components/rules/) and the payee merge logic. The bug suggests that when payee names are merged, the rule's 'one of' list is not deduplicated upon reopening. Check how rules are saved and loaded, particularly the handling of duplicate entries. Look at the mergePayees function and the rule edit form's load logic. Consider adding a deduplication step when loading the rule or when saving after merge.