outline/outline · error · Error

Sort field must be one of title,index

Error message

Sort field must be one of title,index

What it means

The third leg of the Collection.sort validator: field must be one of 'title' or 'index'. Any other field name (e.g. 'createdAt', 'name') is rejected even if the shape and direction are valid.

Source

Thrown at server/models/Collection.ts:291

  @Column({
    type: DataType.JSONB,
    validate: {
      isSort(value: CollectionSort) {
        if (
          typeof value !== "object" ||
          !value.direction ||
          !value.field ||
          Object.keys(value).length !== 2
        ) {
          throw new Error("Sort must be an object with field,direction");
        }

        if (!["asc", "desc"].includes(value.direction)) {
          throw new Error("Sort direction must be one of asc,desc");
        }

        if (!["title", "index"].includes(value.field)) {
          throw new Error("Sort field must be one of title,index");
        }
      },
    },
  })
  sort: CollectionSort;

  /** Whether the collection is archived, and if so when. */
  @IsDate
  @Column(DataType.DATE)
  archivedAt: Date | null;

  /** The minimum permission level required to manage templates in this collection. */
  @IsIn([[CollectionPermission.Admin, CollectionPermission.ReadWrite]])
  @Default(CollectionPermission.Admin)
  @Column(DataType.STRING)
  templateManagement: CollectionPermission;

  /** Allows the configuration of commenting per collection. */

View on GitHub (pinned to 935a44d4c0)

Solutions

1. Use only 'title' or 'index' as the sort field.
2. If you need other sort criteria, extend the validator allow-list and ensure the DB query supports it.
3. Constrain the UI sort dropdown to the supported fields.

Example fix

// before
sort: { field: 'createdAt', direction: 'asc' }

// after
sort: { field: 'title', direction: 'asc' }

const ALLOWED = ['title', 'index'] as const;
if (!ALLOWED.includes(sort.field)) {
  throw new ValidationError(`sort.field must be one of ${ALLOWED.join(',')}`);
}

const isSortField = (f: unknown): f is 'title' | 'index' =>
  f === 'title' || f === 'index';

When it happens

Trigger: Setting sort.field to anything other than 'title' or 'index', e.g. when a client tries to sort by a custom attribute.

Common situations: Assuming arbitrary fields are sortable; carrying over a sort field from another product; UI exposing columns the backend doesn't support sorting by.

Related errors

• Sort direction must be one of asc,desc
• Sort must be an object with field,direction
• Revision does not belong to this document
• The name of this group is already in use
• Must be a fully qualified domain name

AI-assisted analysis of outline/outline@935a44d4c0 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/61de7fe60be37aee. Report an issue: GitHub.