Sort

Order records by one or more keys; ties keep their input order.

Order records by one or more keys; ties keep their input order.

When to use it

Choose one or more keys and their direction. Input order is preserved for ties. Sorting before limiting or keeping the first duplicate makes those operations predictable.

Add and configure

1. Add Sort from the workflow step picker.
2. Give the step a recognisable name and connect its required inputs.
3. Set the options below. Nested names identify fields within an object or a list item.
4. Validate the recipe, inspect the test result, then run it on the intended data.

The step identifier used in the editor’s code view is sort.

Settings

Inputs and outputs

Effects, testing, and recovery

Transforms or passes records without a declared external side effect.

The declared preview behaviour is to execute this step. Reads, processing, or model usage can therefore be real. Read dry runs before using a preview with live connections.

No duplicate-prevention key is declared for this step. The step declares safe replay for its supported recovery path.

Example: Newest first, undated last

Step settings:

{
  "keys": [
    {
      "direction": "desc",
      "path": "$.published_at",
      "type": "datetime"
    }
  ]
}

Input records:

[
  {
    "published_at": "2026-09-01T08:00:00Z",
    "title": "old"
  },
  {
    "title": "undated"
  },
  {
    "published_at": "2026-09-02T08:00:00+02:00",
    "title": "new"
  }
]

Expected output for this example:

[
  {
    "published_at": "2026-09-02T08:00:00+02:00",
    "title": "new"
  },
  {
    "published_at": "2026-09-01T08:00:00Z",
    "title": "old"
  },
  {
    "title": "undated"
  }
]

Example: By team, then highest score first

Step settings:

{
  "keys": [
    "$.team",
    {
      "direction": "desc",
      "path": "$.score"
    }
  ]
}

Input records:

[
  {
    "score": 7,
    "team": "b"
  },
  {
    "score": 3,
    "team": "a"
  },
  {
    "score": 9,
    "team": "a"
  }
]

Expected output for this example:

[
  {
    "score": 9,
    "team": "a"
  },
  {
    "score": 3,
    "team": "a"
  },
  {
    "score": 7,
    "team": "b"
  }
]

Example: Numeric strings as numbers

Step settings:

{
  "keys": [
    {
      "path": "$.price",
      "type": "number"
    }
  ]
}

Input records:

[
  {
    "price": "10"
  },
  {
    "price": "9.5"
  },
  {
    "price": "n/a"
  }
]

Expected output for this example:

[
  {
    "price": "9.5"
  },
  {
    "price": "10"
  },
  {
    "price": "n/a"
  }
]

Check the result

Inspect the selected run’s status, counts, errors, and output records. An empty collection can be a valid result, and a completed step can contain per-record failures where the step defines that behaviour. Check the next step’s expected record shape before publishing or delivering the result.