Overriding Default Order

API Platform provides an easy way to override the default order of items in your collection.

By default, items in the collection are ordered in ascending (ASC) order by their resource identifier(s). If you want to customize this order, you must add an order attribute on your ApiResource annotation:

<?php
// api/src/ApiResource/Book.php with Symfony or app/ApiResource/Book.php with Laravel
namespace App\ApiResource;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;

#[ApiResource(order: ['foo' => 'ASC'])]
class Book
{
    // ...

    /**
     * ...
     */
    public $foo;

    // ...
}

# api/config/api_platform/resources/Book.yaml
# The YAML syntax is only supported for Symfony
App\ApiResource\Book:
    order:
        foo: ASC

This order attribute is used as an array: the key defines the order field, the values defines the direction. If you only specify the key, ASC direction will be used as default. For example, to order by foo & bar:

<?php
// api/src/ApiResource/Book.php with Symfony or app/ApiResource/Book.php with Laravel
namespace App\ApiResource;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;

#[ApiResource(order: ['foo', 'bar'])]
class Book
{
    // ...

    /**
     * ...
     */
    public $foo;

    /**
     * ...
     */
    public $bar;

    // ...
}

# api/config/api_platform/resources/Book.yaml
# The YAML syntax is only supported for Symfony
App\ApiResource\Book:
    order: ["foo", "bar"]

It’s also possible to configure the default order on an association property:

<?php
// api/src/ApiResource/Book.php with Symfony or app/ApiResource/Book.php with Laravel
namespace App\ApiResource;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;

#[ApiResource(order: ['author.username'])]
class Book
{
    // ...

    /**
     * @var User
     */
    public $author;

    // ...
}

# api/config/api_platform/resources/Book.yaml
# The YAML syntax is only supported for Symfony
App\ApiResource\Book:
    order: ["author.username"]

Another possibility is to apply the default order for a specific collection operation.

<?php
// api/src/ApiResource/Book.php with Symfony or app/ApiResource/Book.php with Laravel
namespace App\ApiResource;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;

#[ApiResource(operations: [
    new GetCollection(),
    new GetCollection(name: 'get_desc_custom', uriTemplate: 'custom_collection_desc_foos', order: ['name' => 'DESC'])],
    new GetCollection(name: 'get_asc_custom', uriTemplate: 'custom_collection_asc_foos', order: ['name' => 'ASC'])]
])]
class Book
{
    // ...

    /**
     * @var string
     */
    public $name;

    // ...
}

# api/config/api_platform/resources/Book.yaml
# The YAML syntax is only supported for Symfony
App\ApiResource\Book:
    ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection: ~
    get_desc_custom:
        class: ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection
        uriTemplate: custom_collection_desc_foos
        order:
            name: DESC
    get_asc_custom:
        class: ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection
        uriTemplate: custom_collection_asc_foos
        order:
            name: ASC

# Global Default Order and Operation Order Precedence

api_platform.defaults.order (set under the defaults: key in api_platform.yaml) applies an order to every operation. It is not a fallback that yields to operation-level configuration — it is a cross-cutting invariant that is always applied.

When an operation also defines its own order, the two arrays are merged: the global default keys come first, followed by the operation-level keys. This means the global default takes priority in the SQL ORDER BY clause, and the operation-level keys act as tie-breakers.

For example, given this configuration:

# config/packages/api_platform.yaml
api_platform:
    defaults:
        order:
            createdAt: DESC

And this resource:

<?php
// api/src/ApiResource/Book.php
namespace App\ApiResource;

use ApiPlatform\Metadata\ApiResource;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\GetCollection;

#[ApiResource(operations: [
    new GetCollection(order: ['title' => 'ASC']),
])]
class Book
{
    public \DateTimeImmutable $createdAt;
    public string $title;
}

The effective order for the GetCollection operation is ['createdAt' => 'DESC', 'title' => 'ASC'], producing ORDER BY createdAt DESC, title ASC. The global default is prepended to the operation-level order, not replaced by it.

This behavior is intentional. api_platform.defaults.order is designed for invariants such as “always order by createdAt DESC” that must hold across all collections regardless of which operation is called.

If you want an operation to use a specific order with no global keys prepended, do not set api_platform.defaults.order. Instead, set the order explicitly on each operation or resource where you need it. For more control over ordering logic, implement a custom Doctrine ORM extension that replaces the built-in OrderExtension.