Sorting

Columns can be made sortable so users can click column headers to sort the table.

Enable Sorting

->column('name', 'Name', sortable: true)
->column('created_at', 'Created', sortable: true)

Sortable columns show a sort indicator in the header. Clicking cycles through: ascending → descending → no sort.

Query Parameter

The active sort is stored in the sort query parameter:

• ?sort=name - ascending by name
• ?sort=-name - descending by name
• (no param) - no sort applied

For named tables, the param is prefixed: ?users_sort=name.

Default Sort

Set the sort applied when no sort query param is present:

$table->defaultSort('name');           // ascending
$table->defaultSort('name', 'desc');   // descending
$table->defaultSortDesc('created_at'); // shorthand for desc

You can also use a leading - in the sort key:

$table->defaultSort('-created_at'); // descending

Custom Sort Logic

Pass a closure to sortable for full control over the ORDER BY:

->column('full_name', 'Name', sortable: function ($query, string $direction) {
    $query->orderBy('last_name', $direction)
          ->orderBy('first_name', $direction);
})

The closure receives:

1. $query - the Eloquent query builder
2. $direction - 'asc' or 'desc'

Sorting on Relationship Columns

Sorting by a nested column (dot notation) requires the Power Joins package:

composer require kirschbaum-development/eloquent-power-joins

->column('company.name', 'Company', sortable: true)

Without the package, use a custom sort closure instead:

->column('company', 'Company', sortable: function ($query, string $direction) {
    $query->join('companies', 'users.company_id', '=', 'companies.id')
          ->orderBy('companies.name', $direction);
})

Checking Sort State

In PHP you can check if any sort is active:

$table->isSorted(); // bool