Fix updated issue list pagination sort

Co-Authored-By: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>

server/src/__tests__/issues-service.test.ts

@@ -380,6 +380,46 @@ describeEmbeddedPostgres("issueService.list participantAgentId", () => {
     expect(result.map((issue) => issue.id)).toEqual([titleMatchId, descriptionMatchId]);
   });
 
+  it("can page issues by most recently updated before priority", async () => {
+    const companyId = randomUUID();
+    const oldCriticalIssueId = randomUUID();
+    const recentMediumIssueId = randomUUID();
+
+    await db.insert(companies).values({
+      id: companyId,
+      name: "Paperclip",
+      issuePrefix: `T${companyId.replace(/-/g, "").slice(0, 6).toUpperCase()}`,
+      requireBoardApprovalForNewAgents: false,
+    });
+
+    await db.insert(issues).values([
+      {
+        id: oldCriticalIssueId,
+        companyId,
+        title: "Old critical issue",
+        status: "todo",
+        priority: "critical",
+        updatedAt: new Date("2026-05-01T10:00:00.000Z"),
+      },
+      {
+        id: recentMediumIssueId,
+        companyId,
+        title: "Recent medium issue",
+        status: "todo",
+        priority: "medium",
+        updatedAt: new Date("2026-05-17T21:12:29.993Z"),
+      },
+    ]);
+
+    const result = await svc.list(companyId, {
+      limit: 1,
+      sortField: "updated",
+      sortDir: "desc",
+    });
+
+    expect(result.map((issue) => issue.id)).toEqual([recentMediumIssueId]);
+  });
+
   it("ranks comment matches ahead of description-only matches", async () => {
     const companyId = randomUUID();
     const commentMatchId = randomUUID();

server/src/routes/issues.ts

@@ -1762,6 +1762,8 @@ export function issueRoutes(
       ? Number.parseInt(rawOffset, 10)
       : null;
     const attention = req.query.attention as string | undefined;
+    const sortField = req.query.sortField as string | undefined;
+    const sortDir = req.query.sortDir as string | undefined;
 
     if (assigneeUserFilterRaw === "me" && (!assigneeUserId || req.actor.type !== "board")) {
       res.status(403).json({ error: "assigneeUserId=me requires board authentication" });
@@ -1791,6 +1793,14 @@ export function issueRoutes(
       res.status(400).json({ error: "offset must be a non-negative integer" });
       return;
     }
+    if (sortField !== undefined && sortField !== "updated") {
+      res.status(400).json({ error: "sortField must be 'updated' when provided" });
+      return;
+    }
+    if (sortDir !== undefined && sortDir !== "asc" && sortDir !== "desc") {
+      res.status(400).json({ error: "sortDir must be 'asc' or 'desc' when provided" });
+      return;
+    }
     const offset = parsedOffset ?? 0;
 
     const result = await svc.list(companyId, {
@@ -1823,6 +1833,8 @@ export function issueRoutes(
       q: req.query.q as string | undefined,
       limit,
       offset,
+      sortField: sortField === "updated" ? "updated" : undefined,
+      sortDir: sortDir === "asc" || sortDir === "desc" ? sortDir : undefined,
     });
     const issueIds = result.map((issue) => issue.id);
     const [handoffStates, recoveryActionByIssue] = await Promise.all([

server/src/services/issues.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { Buffer } from "node:buffer";
-import { and, asc, desc, eq, gt, inArray, isNull, like, lt, ne, notInArray, or, sql } from "drizzle-orm";
+import { and, asc, desc, eq, gt, inArray, isNull, like, lt, ne, notInArray, or, sql, type SQL } from "drizzle-orm";
 import type { Db } from "@paperclipai/db";
 import {
   activityLog,
@@ -239,6 +239,8 @@ export interface IssueFilters {
   q?: string;
   limit?: number;
   offset?: number;
+  sortField?: "updated";
+  sortDir?: "asc" | "desc";
 }
 
 type IssueRow = typeof issues.$inferSelect;
@@ -782,6 +784,43 @@ function latestIssueActivityAt(...values: Array<Date | string | null | undefined
   return normalized[0] ?? null;
 }
 
+function issueListOrderBy(
+  companyId: string,
+  {
+    hasSearch,
+    priorityOrder,
+    searchOrder,
+    sortField,
+    sortDir,
+  }: {
+    hasSearch: boolean;
+    priorityOrder: SQL;
+    searchOrder: SQL;
+    sortField?: IssueFilters["sortField"];
+    sortDir?: IssueFilters["sortDir"];
+  },
+) {
+  const canonicalLastActivityAt = issueCanonicalLastActivityAtExpr(companyId);
+  if (sortField === "updated") {
+    const activityOrder = sortDir === "asc"
+      ? asc(canonicalLastActivityAt)
+      : desc(canonicalLastActivityAt);
+    const updatedOrder = sortDir === "asc" ? asc(issues.updatedAt) : desc(issues.updatedAt);
+    const idOrder = sortDir === "asc" ? asc(issues.id) : desc(issues.id);
+    return hasSearch
+      ? [asc(searchOrder), activityOrder, updatedOrder, idOrder]
+      : [activityOrder, updatedOrder, idOrder];
+  }
+
+  return [
+    hasSearch ? asc(searchOrder) : asc(priorityOrder),
+    asc(priorityOrder),
+    desc(canonicalLastActivityAt),
+    desc(issues.updatedAt),
+    desc(issues.id),
+  ];
+}
+
 async function labelMapForIssues(dbOrTx: any, issueIds: string[]): Promise<Map<string, IssueLabelRow[]>> {
   const map = new Map<string, IssueLabelRow[]>();
   if (issueIds.length === 0) return map;
@@ -3521,18 +3560,17 @@ export function issueService(db: Db) {
           ELSE 6
         END
       `;
-      const canonicalLastActivityAt = issueCanonicalLastActivityAtExpr(companyId);
       const baseQuery = db
         .select(issueListSelect)
         .from(issues)
         .where(and(...conditions))
-        .orderBy(
-          hasSearch ? asc(searchOrder) : asc(priorityOrder),
-          asc(priorityOrder),
-          desc(canonicalLastActivityAt),
-          desc(issues.updatedAt),
-          desc(issues.id),
-        );
+        .orderBy(...issueListOrderBy(companyId, {
+          hasSearch,
+          priorityOrder,
+          searchOrder,
+          sortField: filters?.sortField,
+          sortDir: filters?.sortDir,
+        }));
       const pageQuery = offset > 0
         ? (limit === undefined ? baseQuery.offset(offset) : baseQuery.limit(limit).offset(offset))
         : (limit === undefined ? baseQuery : baseQuery.limit(limit));

ui/src/api/issues.test.ts

@@ -51,6 +51,18 @@ describe("issuesApi.list", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("passes issue list sort options through to the company issues endpoint", async () => {
+    await issuesApi.list("company-1", {
+      limit: 500,
+      sortField: "updated",
+      sortDir: "desc",
+    });
+
+    expect(mockApi.get).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      "/companies/company-1/issues?limit=500&sortField=updated&sortDir=desc",
+    );
+  });
+
   it("posts recovery action resolution to the source issue endpoint", async () => {
     await issuesApi.resolveRecoveryAction("issue-1", {
       actionId: "00000000-0000-0000-0000-0000000000aa",

ui/src/api/issues.ts

@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ export const issuesApi = {
       q?: string;
       limit?: number;
       offset?: number;
+      sortField?: "updated";
+      sortDir?: "asc" | "desc";
     },
   ) => {
     const params = new URLSearchParams();
@@ -86,6 +88,8 @@ export const issuesApi = {
     if (filters?.q) params.set("q", filters.q);
     if (filters?.limit) params.set("limit", String(filters.limit));
     if (filters?.offset !== undefined) params.set("offset", String(filters.offset));
+    if (filters?.sortField) params.set("sortField", filters.sortField);
+    if (filters?.sortDir) params.set("sortDir", filters.sortDir);
     const qs = params.toString();
     return api.get<Issue[]>(`/companies/${companyId}/issues${qs ? `?${qs}` : ""}`);
   },

ui/src/pages/Issues.tsx

@@ -145,6 +145,8 @@ export function Issues() {
       includeRoutineExecutions: true,
       limit: issuePageSize,
       offset: pageParam,
+      sortField: "updated",
+      sortDir: "desc",
     }),
     initialPageParam: 0,
     getNextPageParam: (lastPage, _allPages, lastPageParam) =>