nodejs/node · error · FilterArgumentError

You can only sort by either "key" or "value"

Error message

You can only sort by either "key" or "value"

What it means

The dictsort filter sorts the items of a mapping. Its `by` argument selects the sort key: 'key' (pos 0) or 'value' (pos 1). Any other string is meaningless to the filter and is rejected with FilterArgumentError.

Source

Thrown at tools/inspector_protocol/jinja2/filters.py:230

        {% for item in mydict|dictsort %}
            sort the dict by key, case insensitive

        {% for item in mydict|dictsort(reverse=true) %}
            sort the dict by key, case insensitive, reverse order

        {% for item in mydict|dictsort(true) %}
            sort the dict by key, case sensitive

        {% for item in mydict|dictsort(false, 'value') %}
            sort the dict by value, case insensitive
    """
    if by == 'key':
        pos = 0
    elif by == 'value':
        pos = 1
    else:
        raise FilterArgumentError(
            'You can only sort by either "key" or "value"'
        )

    def sort_func(item):
        value = item[pos]

        if not case_sensitive:
            value = ignore_case(value)

        return value

    return sorted(value.items(), key=sort_func, reverse=reverse)


@environmentfilter
def do_sort(
    environment, value, reverse=False, case_sensitive=False, attribute=None
):

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b2de5e052)

Solutions

1. Use by='key' (the default) or by='value' in the dictsort call.
2. If you need to sort by a nested field, first map items to that field then sort, instead of passing the field name to dictsort.

Example fix

{# before #}
{{ mydict|dictsort(false, 'name') }}

{# after #}
{{ mydict|dictsort(false, 'value') }}

ALLOWED = ('key', 'value')
if by not in ALLOWED:
    raise ValueError("dictsort `by` must be one of %r" % (ALLOWED,))

def is_dictsort_by(value: str) -> bool:
    return value in ('key', 'value')

from jinja2.exceptions import FilterArgumentError
try:
    out = env.call_filter('dictsort', value, args=(False, by))
except FilterArgumentError:
    by = 'key'
    out = env.call_filter('dictsort', value, args=(False, by))

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking {{ mydict|dictsort(case_sensitive, by) }} where `by` is anything other than the literal strings 'key' or 'value' (e.g. 'name', 'field', 'attribute').

Common situations: Confusing dictsort with other filters (attr/map) that take an attribute name; copy-pasting a sort field name from another part of the template.

Related errors

• can't handle positional and keyword arguments at the same ti
• method must be common, ceil or floor
• Unexpected keyword argument %r
• map requires a filter argument
• Missing parameter for attribute name

AI-assisted analysis of nodejs/node@1b2de5e052 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f0045810eb3cd198. Report an issue: GitHub.