dgraph-io/dgraph · error

Cannot specify order at both args and facets

Error message

Cannot specify order at both args and facets

What it means

Ordering can be supplied either as orderasc/orderdesc/orderby arguments or inside a @facets(...) order clause, but not both at once, since the two orderings would conflict. treeCopy compares args.Order and args.FacetsOrder after filling arguments and rejects the combination.

Source

Thrown at query/query.go:604

		if gchild.IsCount {
			if len(gchild.Children) != 0 {
				return errors.New("Node with count cannot have child attributes")
			}
			args.DoCount = true
		}

		for argk := range gchild.Args {
			if !isValidArg(argk) {
				return errors.Errorf("Invalid argument: %s", argk)
			}
		}
		if err := args.fill(gchild); err != nil {
			return err
		}

		if len(args.Order) != 0 && len(args.FacetsOrder) != 0 {
			return errors.Errorf("Cannot specify order at both args and facets")
		}

		dst := &SubGraph{
			Attr:   gchild.Attr,
			Params: args,
		}
		if gchild.MathExp != nil {
			mathExp := &mathTree{}
			if err := mathCopy(mathExp, gchild.MathExp); err != nil {
				return err
			}
			dst.MathExp = mathExp
		}

		if gchild.Func != nil &&
			(gchild.Func.IsAggregator() || gchild.Func.IsPasswordVerifier()) {
			if len(gchild.Children) != 0 {
				return errors.Errorf("Node with %q cant have child attr", gchild.Func.Name)

View on GitHub (pinned to 759e242be6)

Solutions

1. Keep only one ordering: remove the args-level orderasc/orderdesc/orderby if facet order is what you need
2. Or remove the @facets(orderby:...) clause if node ordering is primary; facets can still be fetched with plain @facets(facet-name)
3. If both orders are truly needed, split across two aliased query branches

Example fix

// before
{
  me(func: uid(0x1)) {
    friend(orderasc: name) @facets(orderby: weight)
  }
}
// after
{
  me(func: uid(0x1)) {
    friend @facets(orderby: weight) {
      name
    }
  }
}

function assertSingleOrderSource(node) {
  const hasArgOrder = ['orderasc','orderdesc','orderby'].some(a => a in node.args);
  const hasFacetOrder = /@facets\s*\([^)]*order/.test(node.fieldSrc || '');
  if (hasArgOrder && hasFacetOrder) throw new Error('Specify order either in args or in facets, not both');
}

const hasConflictingOrders = (n) => n.args && (n.args.orderasc || n.args.orderdesc || n.args.orderby) && n.facetsOrder && n.facetsOrder.length > 0;

try {
  await txn.query(q);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.includes('order at both args and facets')) {
    throw new Error('Drop either the args-level order or @facets(orderby:...)');
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: A node has both `orderasc: predicate` (or orderby) in args and `@facets(orderby: ...)` on the same child, e.g. `friend(orderasc: name) @facets(orderby: weight)`.

Common situations: Users wanting to order nodes and simultaneously order facets copy both forms into one line; older queries with facet ordering later augmented with node-level ordering without removing one.

Related errors

• One argument expected in %s, but got %d.
• Fn %s not supported in preprocessFilter.
• Expected 1 child for not but got %d.
• Expected 2 child for not but got %d.
• Unsupported operation in facet filtering: %s.

AI-assisted analysis of dgraph-io/dgraph@759e242be6 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/051bad72293c4f73. Report an issue: GitHub.