[Idea] Minor Improvements

[Commit25uccess]

Affected area

Other

Problem or opportunity

Improvements and/or missing features

Desired outcome

• Keyboard shortcuts like Command + K for quick search
• Random profile avatar instead of initials (like Slack maybe?)
• Ability to type in date and time instead of pure selection
• Option to search through "Archived" groups (in "All expenses")
• Ability to hide a particular expense/income item from a group

  Say, I also want to record personal expenses on a trip with friends but I don't want to bother my friends with my expenses in the group

Alternatives or workarounds

No response

Additional context

No response

Before submitting

• I searched existing issues for similar ideas.
• I removed personal, financial, and secret information from this public proposal.

[pullfrog]

I evaluated the four ideas in issue #88 against the current codebase. All four are actionable, but they differ sharply in scope — three are small, self-contained UX changes that fit the existing "quality-of-life" workflow, while one is a cross-cutting data-model change that deserves its own scoped design. Proposed plan below.

Assessment

1. ⌘/Ctrl+K quick search — small, independent

The app already depends on cmdk (CommandDialog in apps/web/src/components/ui/command.tsx), uses TanStack Router, and has a global expenses page (/expenses) with full-text search (q filter + SearchBar). apps/web/src/AppShell.tsx is a natural host for a global palette.

• Plan: Add a CommandDialog-based palette mounted in AppShell, opened by a global cmd/ctrl+K keydown listener (plus a header button on desktop). Results: recent groups (reuse existing trpc group-list data) navigate via router links; free-text falls through to /expenses?q=.... New i18n strings via bun i18n. Extend apps/web/src/tests/components/AppShell.test.tsx.
• Effort: Small; client-only, no API changes.

2. Random profile avatar instead of plain initials — small, independent

AccountAvatar (apps/web/src/components/account-avatar.tsx:26) renders initials on a static primary-tinted background. The app already ships profile-photo upload, so this is about the fallback when no photo exists.

• Plan: Derive a deterministic hue/gradient from a hash of the account name so each participant gets a distinct Slack-like colored avatar, keeping the initials as the glyph and the existing AvatarImage path unchanged. Verify all AccountAvatar sizes and the stack/ring variants stay legible.
• Effort: Small; single component, no API changes.

3. Typed date and time input — medium, independent

The generic DateInput (apps/web/src/components/ui/date-input.tsx) already supports typing (Enter commits a locale-parsed value). The gap is the expense form: ExpenseDateTimeField (apps/web/src/app/groups/[groupId]/expenses/expense-form/expense-date-time-field.tsx) is button-only and opens a calendar + 15-minute-step time timeline — no free-text entry.

• Plan: Add a text input to ExpenseDateTimeField accepting both date and time, parsed with existing helpers (parseDateInputDisplay, parseTimeMinutes, wallTimeToUtc), with the existing picker retained as fallback. Handle locale-specific formats, invalid input, and DST validation. New i18n strings; cover with component tests.
• Effort: Medium; UI-only, no API/DB changes.

4. Hide an expense/income from the group ("personal expenses") — large, needs its own scoped design

This is a data-model + permission + aggregation change that ripples through nearly every part of the system, not a one-line toggle. Key decisions and touch points:

• Product decision required: are personal expenses invisible to other members entirely, or merely excluded from balances? The issue's motivation ("don't bother my friends") points to creator-only visibility.
• DB: new column on Expense (personal / hiddenFromGroup) + Prisma migration (new YYYYMMDDHHmmss prefix per CONTRIBUTING.md; never reuse an existing one).
• Domain: filter personal expenses from all group-wide math — packages/domain/src/totals.ts and balances.ts already special-case settlements via isSettlementCategory; a parallel isPersonalExpense-style guard must cover getTotalGroupSpending, getTotalActiveUserPaidFor/Share, budgets.ts, and the group stats dashboard.
• API: accept the flag on create/update; exclude personal expenses from group list/balance/stats reads for other members; strip them in redactGroupForViewer (public view links must never leak another member's personal expenses).
• Cross-cutting consumers: settlements, activity feed, notifications, exports (lib/exports/*), CSV/PDF reports, recurring-expense series (worker must preserve the flag), and the global /expenses and overview.get queries.
• Web: form toggle, expense-card badge, and an owner-only "show personal" filter.
• Effort: Large — realistically a multi-PR effort with its own design review; too big to batch with items 1–3.

Recommended sequencing

1. PR A — item 1 (command palette).
2. PR B — item 2 (avatars).
3. PR C — item 3 (typed date/time).
4. Separate issue/design — item 4 (personal/hidden expenses), starting with the visibility-semantics decision above.

Items 1–3 can land independently and unblocked. Item 4 should be tracked separately so it gets the design and privacy review it needs.

Task list (3/3 completed)

• Analyze issue [Idea] Minor Improvements #88 and gather codebase context
• Assess feasibility of each of the 4 proposed improvements
• Produce structured plan and post via report_progress

  ^{｜ Implement plan ➔ ｜ View workflow run ｜ via Pullfrog ｜ Using openai-compatible/deepseek-v4-flash-free ｜ 𝕏}

[obsilover]

I also think being able to hide specific expenses is a really interesting feature. It’s perfect for staying aware of all our personal expenses on a trip. For example, if we’re 3–4 friends going on a trip and we buy souvenirs for our families, adding them all would quickly clutter the expenses list.