Sorting

Making Columns Sortable

Column::make('name', 'Name')->sortable()
TextColumn::make('email', 'Email')->sortable()

Non-sortable columns show no sort indicator. Sortable columns show ⇅ when inactive, a chevron up when ascending, and a chevron down when descending.

Default Sort

Use the - prefix for descending, just like the URL parameter format:

class ServerTable extends Table
{
    protected string $defaultSort = '-created_at';  // desc
}

class UserTable extends Table
{
    protected string $defaultSort = 'name';  // asc
}

Sort Priority

Sorting uses a three-tier priority:

1. User sort (highest) - ?sort=name (asc) or ?sort=-name (desc) in the URL
2. Pre-existing query orders - orderBy clauses already on the query
3. Default sort (lowest) - $defaultSort

// Pre-existing order preserved until user explicitly sorts
ServerTable::make(
    Server::query()->orderByRaw('FIELD(status, "active", "pending", "failed")')
);

Sort Param Format

Sorting uses a single sort URL parameter with a - prefix for descending:

URL	Meaning
?sort=name	Sort by name ascending
?sort=-name	Sort by name descending
(no sort param)	Default sort applies

When using an identifier (e.g. 'users'), the param becomes ?usersSort=name.

Sort Behaviour

• Clicking a sortable header: first click - ascending, second click - descending, third click - clears sort (returns to default)
• Invalid sort column values fall through to pre-existing query orders, then to the default sort

Custom Sort Key

Use accessor() when the sort column differs from the display column:

Column::make('author', 'Author')
    ->accessor('users.name')   // sorts by users.name
    ->sortable()
    ->value(fn ($m) => $m->user->name)

Sorting Relationship Columns

Dot-notation columns automatically use the dot path as their sort key. For sorting to work, the relation table must be joined in the query - eager loading is not sufficient for SQL ORDER BY:

// In your table class or via a beforeQuery hook
Table::beforeQuery(ServerTable::class, function ($query, array &$columns) {
    $query->join('users', 'servers.owner_id', '=', 'users.id')
          ->select('servers.*');
});

// Then the dot-notation column is sortable
Column::make('owner.name', 'Owner')->sortable()
// Sort key sent to DB: owner.name (interpreted as table.column)