Constructing a multi-field sort query for Airtable's API

Other Questions Airtable
1

I’m trying to figure out how to build a sort query for multiple fields in the Airtable API. I’ve got a list of fields I want to sort by, each with its own direction. Here’s what I’m working with:

const sortFields = [
  { column: 'name', order: 'asc' },
  { column: 'price', order: 'desc' },
  { column: 'type', order: 'asc' }
];

I’ve tried to create the query string like this:

let sortQuery = '';

sortFields.forEach(item => {
  sortQuery += `&order[${item.column}]=${item.order}`;
});

console.log(sortQuery);

But I’m pretty sure this isn’t right. How can I properly encode this for the Airtable API? I’m not sure if I need to use encodeURIComponent or if there’s a specific format I should follow. Any help would be great!

2

hey there! i’ve dealt with this before. for airtable’s API, you wanna use ‘sort’ parameter instead. try something like this:

let sortQuery = sortFields.map((field, index) =>
sort[${index}][field]=${field.column}&sort[${index}][direction]=${field.order}
).join(‘&’);

this should work better for ya. good luck!

3

As someone who’s integrated Airtable’s API into several projects, I can offer some insights. The approach you’re taking is close, but not quite right for Airtable’s specific requirements. Here’s a more effective method:

const sortQuery = sortFields.map((field, index) =>
sort[${index}][field]=${encodeURIComponent(field.column)}&sort[${index}][direction]=${field.order}
).join(‘&’);

This construction aligns with Airtable’s expected format. It properly indexes each sort field and separates the field and direction parameters. The encodeURIComponent function is crucial for handling any special characters in your field names.

Remember to prepend this query string with a ‘?’ if it’s the first parameter in your URL, or ‘&’ if it follows other parameters. This approach has consistently yielded reliable results in my experience with Airtable’s API.

4

I’ve worked extensively with Airtable’s API, and I can confirm that the ‘sort’ parameter is indeed the way to go for multi-field sorting. Here’s a more efficient approach I’ve found:

const sortQuery = sortFields.map((field, index) => 
  `sort[${index}][field]=${encodeURIComponent(field.column)}&sort[${index}][direction]=${field.order}`
).join('&');

This method creates a properly formatted query string for Airtable. The key differences are:

  1. Using encodeURIComponent for the field names to handle special characters.
  2. Constructing the entire query in one go with map and join.

Remember to append this to your base URL with a ‘?’ if it’s the first parameter, or ‘&’ if you have other parameters. This approach has consistently worked well in my projects.