From 8bb7cb4a90917b4c5c7d7ce4399e59c5f4ee9625 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raphael Fakhri <153192858+RaphaelFakhri@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2026 12:22:39 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] fix: keep emoji intact in avatar initials

getInitialsFromName took the first UTF-16 code unit of each word, so a
name that starts with an emoji or another character outside the BMP
rendered a lone surrogate in UserAvatar and the reactions avatar.
Take the first code point instead.
---
 package/src/utils/__tests__/utils.test.ts | 18 +++++++++++++++++-
 package/src/utils/utils.ts                |  4 +++-
 2 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/package/src/utils/__tests__/utils.test.ts b/package/src/utils/__tests__/utils.test.ts
index 0c5e75e93f..d0c9e96979 100644
--- a/package/src/utils/__tests__/utils.test.ts
+++ b/package/src/utils/__tests__/utils.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { formatMsToMinSec, getUrlWithoutParams } from '../utils';
+import { formatMsToMinSec, getInitialsFromName, getUrlWithoutParams } from '../utils';
 
 describe('getUrlWithoutParams', () => {
   const testUrlMap: Record<string, string> = {
@@ -37,3 +37,19 @@ describe('formatMsToMinSec', () => {
     expect(formatMsToMinSec(7_200_000)).toBe('2h');
   });
 });
+
+describe('getInitialsFromName', () => {
+  it('should return the uppercased first letter of each word', () => {
+    expect(getInitialsFromName('john doe')).toBe('JD');
+    expect(getInitialsFromName('  Jane   Mary Doe ')).toBe('JM');
+    expect(getInitialsFromName('Jane Mary Doe', 3)).toBe('JMD');
+    expect(getInitialsFromName('Jane', 1)).toBe('J');
+    expect(getInitialsFromName('   ')).toBe('');
+  });
+
+  it('should not split characters outside the BMP into lone surrogates', () => {
+    expect(getInitialsFromName('😀 Smiley')).toBe('😀S');
+    expect(getInitialsFromName('𝒜lice 𐐨bob')).toBe('𝒜𐐀');
+    expect(getInitialsFromName('🚀', 1)).toBe('🚀');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/package/src/utils/utils.ts b/package/src/utils/utils.ts
index 282a72dcb6..44c3eed0a5 100644
--- a/package/src/utils/utils.ts
+++ b/package/src/utils/utils.ts
@@ -388,10 +388,12 @@ export const getInitialsFromName = (name: string, numberOfInitials: number = 2)
   const trimmed = name.trim();
 
   if (!trimmed) return '';
+  // Take the first code point of each word, not the first UTF-16 code unit, so names that
+  // start with an emoji or another non-BMP character do not render a lone surrogate.
   return trimmed
     .split(/\s+/)
     .slice(0, numberOfInitials)
-    .map((n) => n.charAt(0).toUpperCase())
+    .map((n) => Array.from(n)[0].toUpperCase())
     .join('');
 };