phacility/phabricator · error · Exception

Query "%s" does not support a builtin order "%s". Supported

Error message

Query "%s" does not support a builtin order "%s". Supported orders are: %s.

What it means

Thrown by PhabricatorCursorPagedPolicyAwareQuery::setOrder() when the requested order key is not present in getBuiltinOrderAliasMap() for the concrete query class. Builtin orders are the named, ready-made sort orders each application query defines (with aliases); the exception message lists every supported key, so it is self-describing.

Source

Thrown at src/infrastructure/query/policy/PhabricatorCursorPagedPolicyAwareQuery.php:892

   *
   * This is a high-level method which selects an ordering from a predefined
   * list of builtin orders, as provided by @{method:getBuiltinOrders}. These
   * options are user-facing and not exhaustive, but are generally convenient
   * and meaningful.
   *
   * You can also use @{method:setOrderVector} to specify a low-level ordering
   * across individual orderable columns. This offers greater control but is
   * also more involved.
   *
   * @param string Key of a builtin order supported by this query.
   * @return this
   * @task order
   */
  public function setOrder($order) {
    $aliases = $this->getBuiltinOrderAliasMap();

    if (empty($aliases[$order])) {
      throw new Exception(
        pht(
          'Query "%s" does not support a builtin order "%s". Supported orders '.
          'are: %s.',
          get_class($this),
          $order,
          implode(', ', array_keys($aliases))));
    }

    $this->builtinOrder = $aliases[$order];
    $this->orderVector = null;

    return $this;
  }


  /**
   * Set a grouping order to apply before primary result ordering.
   *

View on GitHub (pinned to 5720a38cfe)

Solutions

1. Read the exception message: it enumerates the supported orders for the exact query class — pick one of those
2. Whitelist user-supplied sort keys against array_keys($query->getBuiltinOrderAliasMap()) before calling setOrder()
3. For custom orderings, define the columns in getOrderableColumns() and use setOrderVector() instead

Example fix

// before
$query->setOrder($user_supplied_order);

// after: whitelist before applying
$aliases = $query->getBuiltinOrderAliasMap();
if (isset($aliases[$user_supplied_order])) {
  $query->setOrder($user_supplied_order);
} else {
  $query->setOrder('id');
}

// Whitelist against the query's own alias map before calling setOrder().
$aliases = $query->getBuiltinOrderAliasMap();
if (!isset($aliases[$order])) {
  $order = 'id'; // safe default present on virtually all queries
}
$query->setOrder($order);

function isValidBuiltinOrder(PhabricatorCursorPagedPolicyAwareQuery $query, $order) {
  return isset($query->getBuiltinOrderAliasMap()[$order]);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling setOrder('priority') on a query class whose builtin orders are only e.g. 'name', 'age', 'id'; using an alias only supported by a different query class; passing null or a typo'd key.

Common situations: Copy-pasting sort logic between query classes that support different orders; upgrading Phabricator when a builtin order is renamed or removed; constructing queries dynamically from user input without whitelisting.

Related errors

• This query ("%s") does not support sorting by order key "%s"
• Order vector "%s" is invalid: the last column in an order mu
• Order vector "%s" is invalid: only the last column in an ord
• Event queries which generate ghost events must include eithe
• Specify one or more queries to export with "--query".

AI-assisted analysis of phacility/phabricator@5720a38cfe (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/befa48136e7a0f34. Report an issue: GitHub.