warpdotdev/warp · warning

--sort-by and --sort-order are not supported with JSON outpu

Error message

--sort-by and --sort-order are not supported with JSON output

What it means

ensure_json_sort_is_not_requested (app/src/ai/agent_sdk/agent_management.rs:335-347) rejects combining JSON output (--output-format json or forced JSON) with --sort-by or --sort-order, because the JSON path returns the server ordering verbatim while sorting is a client-side rendering concern for the non-JSON table. The check runs before any request is made.

Source

Thrown at app/src/ai/agent_sdk/agent_management.rs:345

fn request_is_empty(request: &UpdateAgentRequest) -> bool {
    request.name.is_none()
        && request.description.is_none()
        && request.prompt.is_none()
        && request.secrets.is_none()
        && request.skills.is_none()
        && request.base_model.is_none()
        && request.environment_id.is_none()
}

fn ensure_json_sort_is_not_requested(
    output_format: OutputFormat,
    json_output: &JsonOutput,
    args: &AgentListArgs,
) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    if (matches!(output_format, OutputFormat::Json) || json_output.force_json_output())
        && (args.sort_by.is_some() || args.sort_order.is_some())
    {
        return Err(anyhow!(
            "--sort-by and --sort-order are not supported with JSON output"
        ));
    }

    Ok(())
}

fn sort_agents(
    agents: &mut [AgentResponse],
    sort_by: Option<AgentSortByArg>,
    sort_order: Option<SortOrderArg>,
) {
    let sort_by = sort_by.unwrap_or(AgentSortByArg::Name);
    let default_order = match sort_by {
        AgentSortByArg::Name => SortOrderArg::Asc,
        AgentSortByArg::CreatedAt => SortOrderArg::Desc,
    };
    let sort_order = sort_order.unwrap_or(default_order);

View on GitHub (pinned to e72fd7aacb)

Solutions

1. Drop the sort flags and sort the JSON client-side, e.g. pipe through jq 'sort_by(.name)'
2. Keep --sort-by/--sort-order and use the default (non-JSON) output where sorting is applied

Example fix

# before
agents list --output-format json --sort-by name
# after
agents list --output-format json | jq 'sort_by(.name)'

if (matches!(output_format, OutputFormat::Json) || json_output.force_json_output())
    && (args.sort_by.is_some() || args.sort_order.is_some())
{
    // strip the sort flags (sort client-side after parsing the JSON) or switch to non-JSON output
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running agents list with --output-format json together with --sort-by and/or --sort-order.

Common situations: Scripts that always request sorted JSON; users switching an existing sorted invocation to JSON without dropping the sort flags.

Related errors

• schema_unavailable_or_invalid
• No updates requested
• Expected JSON object with 'reviews' key
• claude -p exited {result.returncode} stderr: {result.stderr}
• {role}_settings_unavailable_or_invalid

AI-assisted analysis of warpdotdev/warp@e72fd7aacb (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cfba1c6d9a8b7097. Report an issue: GitHub.