File Sorting

mbr supports configurable multi-level sorting for file listings in the browser sidebar and section pages.

Default Behavior

By default, files are sorted alphabetically by title (falling back to filename if no title is set).

Configuration

Configure sorting in .mbr/config.toml using the [[sort]] array:

[[sort]]
field = "order"
order = "asc"
compare = "numeric"

[[sort]]
field = "title"
order = "asc"
compare = "string"

Sort Field Options

Built-in Fields

Any other field name is looked up in the file’s frontmatter.

Multi-Level Sorting

Sort criteria are evaluated in order. The first non-equal comparison determines the order. This enables patterns like:

• Sort by order, then by title for ties
• Sort by pinned status, then by modified date

Missing Value Behavior

Files missing a sort field are placed after files that have it. This enables useful patterns:

Documentation Ordering

Add an order field to control page sequence:

---
title: Getting Started
order: 1
---

Files without order appear after ordered files.

Pinned Items

Pin important items to the top:

---
title: Important Announcement
pinned: true
---

# .mbr/config.toml
[[sort]]
field = "pinned"
order = "desc"
compare = "numeric"

[[sort]]
field = "modified"
order = "desc"
compare = "numeric"

Pinned items appear first (boolean true = 1, false = 0), then remaining items by modification date.

Examples

Blog (Newest First)

[[sort]]
field = "modified"
order = "desc"
compare = "numeric"

Wiki (Alphabetical)

[[sort]]
field = "title"
order = "asc"
compare = "string"

Documentation (Ordered Sections)

[[sort]]
field = "order"
order = "asc"
compare = "numeric"

[[sort]]
field = "title"
order = "asc"
compare = "string"

Priority Queue

[[sort]]
field = "priority"
order = "desc"
compare = "numeric"

[[sort]]
field = "title"
order = "asc"
compare = "string"

How It Works

flowchart TD
    A[Files to Sort] --> B{First Sort Field}
    B -->|Equal| C{Second Sort Field}
    B -->|Different| D[Return Order]
    C -->|Equal| E{More Fields?}
    C -->|Different| D
    E -->|Yes| F[Next Field]
    E -->|No| G[Keep Original Order]
    F --> B

For each pair of files, sort fields are compared in order until a difference is found. Files missing a field value are placed after files with values.