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# sort

> Reference for the sort workflow task, which sorts the elements of an array in ascending or descending order.

## Task purpose

The `sort` task sorts the elements of a given array and returns the sorted array. The default sort order is ascending (A to Z, 0 to 9). This task modifies the position of elements in the original array.

## Potential use case

Use `sort` to arrange a list of names in alphabetical order, sort a collection of dates numerically, or order any array of numbers, strings, or objects.

## Properties

| Incoming  | Type    | Description                                                                   |
| --------- | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `arr`     | Array   | Required. The array to sort.                                                  |
| `key`     | String  | Optional. For arrays of objects, the property key to sort by.                 |
| `limit`   | Number  | Optional. The maximum number of records to return.                            |
| `reverse` | Boolean | Required. If `true`, sorts in descending order. Default: `false` (ascending). |

| Outgoing   | Type  | Description       |
| ---------- | ----- | ----------------- |
| `response` | Array | The sorted array. |

## Examples

### Example 1

In this example:

* `arr` is statically set to `[{"name":"cat"},{"name":"dog"},{"name":"hamster"},{"name":"ant"},{"name":"Lion"}]`. Note that `"Lion"` begins with an uppercase letter.
* `key` is `name` and `limit` is `4`.
* `reverse` is `false` (default — ascending order).

![](/_fern-img/73950ce228cf92817f248afdc6cfc1bf5f8aa2bcf2be238568e4ab6112af891a.webp)

The result is ascending order, with `"Lion"` listed first because uppercase letters sort before lowercase letters.

![](/_fern-img/c10fe7b47ed1f8da2ecfd780b1356c7543d186cd0dd4464b0f0da0a893431a98.webp)

### Example 2

In this example:

* `arr` is statically set to `[{"car":"Audi"},{"car":"Volvo"},{"car":"Honda"},{"car":"BMW"}]`. All names begin with uppercase letters.
* `key` is `car` and `limit` is left blank.
* `reverse` is `false` (default — ascending order).

![](/_fern-img/52d434405615b911bc8be67e4b69e2496f98efc1193019007499d173a0eeeea3.webp)

The result is alphabetical (ascending) order.

![](/_fern-img/1f0c3107a14e73a058250c650b0e09783e46a8c560c83adf1328ea7d3695b2bb.webp)

### Example 3

In this example:

* `arr` is statically set to `["ant","bee","Cat","dog","Elephant"]`. The values mix lowercase and uppercase.
* `key` and `limit` are left blank.
* `reverse` is `true` (descending order).

![](/_fern-img/4e45a1a4eea07eb7f8e40bb186e19ed8e90112bd47884431dcf7d729d7dfbc08.webp)

The result is descending order, with all lowercase values in reverse alphabetical order followed by the uppercase values.

![](/_fern-img/9092f63d6617dadad105f0bcd2a15789ac5c98a1aeaf4f2ecf4c68ac11bc50aa.webp)

> Reference for the sort workflow task, which sorts the elements of an array in ascending or descending order.