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.

The column named by defaultSort is the exception: clearing its sort would only re-apply the same default, so it toggles between ascending and descending.

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

QueryBuilder runs a closure instead of its own ORDER BY when sortable holds one, and the closure receives:

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

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

The closure only runs while its column is the active sort, so $direction is always '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, sorting a nested column throws a PowerJoinsException. Join the relationship yourself on the query you hand to the table instead:

TableBuilder::for(
    User::query()
        ->join('companies', 'users.company_id', '=', 'companies.id')
        ->select('users.*', 'companies.name as company_name')
)->column('company_name', 'Company', sortable: true);

Checking Sort State

In PHP you can check if any sort is active:

$table->isSorted(); // bool