UI Crash (RangeError) in Channel Directory when lastMessage has reactions but missing timestamp

Description:

The Channel Directory crashes the entire UI with an Uncaught RangeError: Invalid time value when navigating to /directory/channels. This happens if a channel's lastMessage metadata contains a reactions object but lacks a ts (timestamp) field. This state can be reached by disabling the "Save Last Message" setting, enable again and interact with messages sent while the setting was disabled.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Go to Workspace Settings and disable the "Save Last Message" setting.
2. Create new channel to be sure that it has no last message stored
3. Send a message to new channel
4. Go back to settings and enable the "Save Last Message" setting.
5. Add a reaction (emoji) to the message you sent in Step 3.
6. Navigate to /directory/channels

Expected behavior:

The directory should load normally. If a timestamp is missing for the last message, the "Last Message" column should either be empty or show a placeholder without crashing the application.

Actual behavior:

The application GUI crashes with an "Application Error" screen.

Server Setup Information:

• Version of Rocket.Chat Server: latest develop branch and 8.4.0
• License Type: enterprise
• Number of Users: > 100
• Operating System: debian trixie
• Deployment Method: docker
• Number of Running Instances: 1
• DB Replicaset Oplog: na
• NodeJS Version: 22.22.2
• MongoDB Version: 8.2.7

Client Setup Information

• Desktop App or Browser Version: chrome 148.0.7778.96
• Operating System: debian bookworm

Additional context

State of the directory API when the error occurs:

http://localhost:3000/api/v1/directory?count=25&type=channels&workspace=local&sort=%7B%22name%22%3A1%7D

{
	"result": [
		{
			"_id": "GENERAL",
			"ts": "2026-05-12T13:02:27.252Z",
			"t": "c",
			"name": "general",
			"usersCount": 1,
			"default": true,
		},
		{
			"_id": "6a042d0e86e0c2a37b0c19b0",
			"fname": "qq",
			"topic": "",
			"name": "qq",
			"t": "p",
			"usersCount": 1,
			"ts": "2026-05-13T07:49:34.050Z",
			"default": false,
			"lastMessage": {
				"reactions": {
					":stuck_out_tongue:": {
						"usernames": [
							"adam.admin"
						]
					}
				}
			}
		}
	],
	"count": 2,
	"offset": 0,
	"total": 2,
	"success": true
}

Relevant logs:

Server Log is ok
Browser Log:

Uncaught RangeError: Invalid time value
    at format (format.js:358:11)
    at safeFormat (dateFormat.ts:193:10)
    at formatDate (dateFormat.ts:199:9)
    at eval (useFormatDate.ts:8:55)
    at ChannelsTableRow (ChannelsTableRow.tsx:50:22)
    at renderWithHooks (modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:68796:18)
    at mountIndeterminateComponent (modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:73413:13)
    at beginWork (modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:74936:16)
    at HTMLUnknownElement.callCallback (modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:57474:14)
    at Object.invokeGuardedCallbackDev (modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:57523:16)Understand this error


modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:72014 The above error occurred in the <ChannelsTableRow> component:

    at ChannelsTableRow (/client/views/directory/tabs/channels/ChannelsTable/ChannelsTableRow.tsx:17:29)
    at tbody
    at Box (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:9305:54)
    at TableBody
    at GenericTableBody
    at table
    at Box (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:9305:54)
    at div
    at Box (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:9305:54)
    at Table (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:18987:18)
    at div
    at Box (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:9305:54)
    at BaseScrollbars
    at CustomScrollbars (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:5133:11)
    at div
    at Box (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:9305:54)
    at GenericTable (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:6657:11)
    at ChannelsTable (/client/views/directory/tabs/channels/ChannelsTable/ChannelsTable.tsx:21:15)
    at ChannelsTab (/client/views/directory/tabs/channels/ChannelsTab.tsx:14:32)
    at div
    at Box (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:9305:54)
    at PageContent
    at section
    at Box (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:9305:54)
    at Page (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:4773:11)
    at DirectoryPage (/client/views/directory/DirectoryPage.tsx:19:19)
    at Suspense
    at main
    at Box (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:9305:54)
    at MainContent (/client/views/root/MainLayout/MainContent.tsx:12:24)
    at div
    at Box (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:9305:54)
    at LayoutWithSidebar (/client/views/root/MainLayout/LayoutWithSidebar.tsx:25:30)
    at TwoFactorAuthSetupCheck (/client/views/root/MainLayout/TwoFactorAuthSetupCheck.tsx:17:36)
    at PasswordChangeCheck (/client/views/root/MainLayout/PasswordChangeCheck.tsx:16:32)
    at UsernameCheck (/client/views/root/MainLayout/UsernameCheck.tsx:16:26)
    at LoggedInArea (/client/views/root/MainLayout/LoggedInArea.tsx:24:25)
    at AuthenticationCheck (/client/views/root/MainLayout/AuthenticationCheck.tsx:23:36)
    at Preload (/client/views/root/MainLayout/Preload.tsx:14:20)
    at MainLayout (/client/views/root/MainLayout/MainLayout.tsx:16:23)
    at AppLayoutThemeWrapper (/client/components/AppLayoutThemeWrapper.tsx:12:34)
    at DocumentTitleWrapper (/client/views/root/DocumentTitleWrapper.tsx:31:33)
    at Suspense
    at AppLayout (/client/views/root/AppLayout.tsx:46:5)
    at OmnichannelProvider (/client/providers/OmnichannelProvider.tsx:41:32)
    at MediaCallProvider (/client/providers/MediaCallProvider.tsx:15:30)
    at VideoConfContextProvider (/client/providers/VideoConfProvider.tsx:17:37)
    at ActionManagerProvider (/client/providers/ActionManagerProvider.tsx:17:34)
    at UserPresenceProvider (/client/providers/UserPresenceProvider.tsx:15:33)
    at OmnichannelRoomIconProvider (/client/components/RoomIcon/OmnichannelRoomIcon/provider/OmnichannelRoomIconProvider.tsx:16:40)
    at EmojiPickerProvider (/client/providers/EmojiPickerProvider/EmojiPickerProvider.tsx:19:32)
    at AuthorizationProvider (/client/providers/AuthorizationProvider.tsx:16:34)
    at ModalProvider (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:7543:26)
    at DeviceProvider (/client/providers/DeviceProvider/DeviceProvider.tsx:32:27)
    at CustomSoundProvider (/client/providers/CustomSoundProvider/CustomSoundProvider.tsx:17:32)
    at AuthenticationProvider (/client/providers/AuthenticationProvider/AuthenticationProvider.tsx:28:35)
    at LayoutProvider (/client/providers/LayoutProvider.tsx:20:27)
    at UserProvider (/client/providers/UserProvider/UserProvider.tsx:55:25)
    at AvatarUrlProvider (/client/providers/AvatarUrlProvider.tsx:14:30)
    at ToastMessageInnerProvider (/client/providers/ToastMessagesProvider.tsx:19:38)
    at ToastBarProvider (/node_modules/@rocket.chat/fuselage-toastbar/dist/esm/ToastBarProvider.js:21:29)
    at ToastMessagesProvider (/client/providers/ToastMessagesProvider.tsx:92:34)
    at TooltipProvider (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:7614:28)
    at SessionProvider (/client/providers/SessionProvider.tsx:27:28)
    at TranslationProviderInner (/client/providers/TranslationProvider.tsx:216:37)
    at I18nextProvider (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:116837:5)
    at TranslationProvider (/client/providers/TranslationProvider.tsx:166:32)
    at SettingsProvider (/client/providers/SettingsProvider.tsx:22:29)
    at RouterProvider (/client/providers/RouterProvider.tsx:14:27)
    at ServerProvider (/client/providers/ServerProvider.tsx:135:27)
    at MeteorProvider (/client/providers/MeteorProvider.tsx:31:27)
    at QueryClientProvider (http://localhost:3000/packages/modules.js?hash=b1aaff80e14880c75f56b39e02105db0dbd4fd69:118140:3)
    at Suspense
    at ErrorBoundary (/node_modules/react-error-boundary/dist/react-error-boundary.umd.js:78:37)
    at OutermostErrorBoundary (/client/views/root/OutermostErrorBoundary.tsx:27:35)
    at AppRoot

Start at client/views/directory/tabs/channels/ChannelsTable/ChannelsTableRow.tsx, following the stack trace through useFormatDate.ts and dateFormat.ts. Reproduce the directory view with a lastMessage containing reactions but no ts, then verify the ChannelsTable renders without a RangeError and shows an empty or placeholder Last Message value.