MongoDB Sort

MongoDB Sort: Sorting Documents in Node.js

Sorting documents returned by MongoDB query cursors in Node.js applications is configured using the .sort() method, passing direction values 1 for ascending or -1 for descending order.

Query Sorting Execution

flowchart LR
    A["Raw Document Collection"] --> B["cursor.sort({ price: -1, title: 1 })"]
    B --> C["Highest Price Documents First (Price DESC)"]
    C --> D["Alphabetical Secondary Sort (Title ASC)"]

Practical Code Example

import { MongoClient } from 'mongodb';

const uri = 'mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017';
const client = new MongoClient(uri);

async function executeSortedQueries() {
    try {
        await client.connect();
        const db = client.db('kodersolution_no_sql');
        const products = db.collection('products');

        // 1. Sort by single field descending (-1)
        const highestPriceFirst = await products
            .find({})
            .sort({ price: -1 })
            .toArray();

        console.log('--- Highest Price Products ---');
        highestPriceFirst.forEach(p => console.log(`$${p.price} - ${p.title}`));

        // 2. Sort by multiple fields (category ASC, price DESC)
        const multiSort = await products
            .find({})
            .sort({ category: 1, price: -1 })
            .toArray();

        console.log('--- Multi-Field Sorted Products ---');
        multiSort.forEach(p => console.log(`[${p.category}] $${p.price} - ${p.title}`));
    } catch (err) {
        console.error('MongoDB Sort Error:', err.message);
    } finally {
        await client.close();
    }
}

executeSortedQueries();

Best Practices & Gotchas

• Use Integer Directions: Pass 1 for ascending order and -1 for descending order in .sort({ field: 1 }).
• Compound Indexes for Sorting: Build compound indexes matching your sort order (e.g. { category: 1, price: -1 }) to avoid expensive 32MB in-memory sort caps.
• Chaining Order: In Node.js driver cursor chaining, call .sort() before .limit().

Self-Check Challenge

What values represent ascending and descending order in MongoDB .sort() specification objects?