Sorting¶

Trail offers flexible sorting within groups: sort by frontmatter properties, maintain sequential chains, or combine both approaches.

Sort Keys¶

Sort keys define how items are ordered within a group, based on frontmatter properties.

Setting Up Sort Keys¶

Open Settings → Trail
Expand the group you want to sort
In the Sorting section, click Add sort key
Enter the property name and direction

Sort Key Settings¶

Property¶

The frontmatter property to sort by. Case-insensitive.

Examples: order, date, priority, title

Direction¶

Direction	Behavior
Ascending (a→z)	Smallest/earliest first
Descending (z→a)	Largest/latest first

Multiple Sort Keys¶

Add multiple sort keys for tie-breaking. Items are sorted by the first key, then by the second for items with equal first values, and so on.

Example: Sort by priority, then by date

Property	Direction
`priority`	Ascending
`date`	Descending

Notes with the same priority are sorted by date (newest first).

Default Sort Order¶

When no sort keys are defined, items are sorted alphabetically by file name.

Chain Sort¶

Chain sort is designed for sequential relations like next/prev. It keeps chains of connected notes together instead of scattering them alphabetically.

What's a Chain?¶

When notes form a sequence via sequential relations:

Note A -next-> Note B -next-> Note C

This is a chain: A → B → C.

Chain Sort Priority¶

The Chain sort priority setting controls how chains interact with property sorting:

Mode	Behavior
Primary	Chains stay intact, sorted by head's properties
Secondary	Property sort first, chains within same property groups
Disabled	No chain sorting, pure property/alphabetical sort

Chain Sort: Primary Mode¶

Chains are the primary organizing principle.

How it works:

Identify chains of connected notes
Sort chains by the head note's properties
Within each chain, maintain sequence order

Example:

Notes with dates:

Day 1 (date: 2024-01-01) → Day 2 (date: 2024-01-02) → Day 3 (date: 2024-01-03)
Meeting A (date: 2024-01-02) → Meeting B (date: 2024-01-05)

With Chain sort: Primary and sort by date ascending:

Day 1
  Day 2
    Day 3
Meeting A
  Meeting B

Chains stay intact. The Day chain starts on 01-01, Meeting chain on 01-02, so Day comes first.

Chain Sort: Secondary Mode¶

Properties are the primary organizing principle, but chains within the same property group stay together.

How it works:

Sort all items by properties
Within items that have the same property values, keep chains together

Example:

Notes with status:

Task A (status: active) → Task B (status: active)
Task C (status: active)
Task D (status: done)

With Chain sort: Secondary and sort by status:

▼ Active
  Task A
    Task B
  Task C
▼ Done
  Task D

Property grouping first, chain integrity second.

Chain Sort: Disabled¶

Pure property/alphabetical sorting. Chain connections are ignored for ordering.

When to use:

When you don't have sequential relations in the group
When you want strict property ordering regardless of connections
For simple hierarchies where chains don't matter

Sorting Examples¶

Task Priority¶

Sort keys:

Property	Direction
`priority`	Ascending
`due`	Ascending

Chain sort: Disabled

Sorts tasks by priority (1 before 2 before 3), then by due date.

Chronological Notes¶

Sort keys:

Property	Direction
`date`	Ascending

Chain sort: Primary

Chains of connected notes stay together, ordered by when the chain starts.

Alphabetical with Chains¶

Sort keys: None (alphabetical default)

Chain sort: Primary

Chains stay together, sorted alphabetically by the head note's name.

Research Papers by Year¶

Sort keys:

Property	Direction
`year`	Descending
`author`	Ascending

Chain sort: Disabled

Newest papers first, alphabetically by author within each year.

Sequential Relations¶

For chain sort to work, your relations need Visual direction: Sequential.

The default next and prev relations have this set. For custom sequential relations, set the visual direction in the relation settings.

Sequential relations are:

Treated as chains when chain sort is enabled
Rendered as flat lists (not nested trees)
Sorted within their chain by the order of connections

Sort Order Reordering¶

Multiple sort keys can be reordered using the arrow buttons. Earlier keys take precedence.

Order matters:

priority → date: Group by priority, then sort by date within
date → priority: Group by date, then sort by priority within

Missing Property Values¶

Notes without a sort property are placed:

At the end for ascending sort
At the beginning for descending sort

This keeps sorted items together, with unsorted items grouped separately.

Best Practices¶

Match Sort to Purpose¶

Purpose	Recommended Setup
Sequential content (chapters, days)	Chain sort: Primary, sort by date/order
Hierarchies (projects, categories)	Chain sort: Disabled, sort by name/priority
Mixed content	Chain sort: Secondary, sort by type/status

Use Explicit Order Properties¶

Instead of relying on file names or dates, consider an explicit order property:

---
order: 1
---

This gives you full control over sort order.

Keep It Simple¶

Complex multi-key sorting can be confusing. Start with one sort key and add more only if needed.