Sort a list: sort

The sort filter sorts the items of a list in ascending order by default. You can reverse the order, control case sensitivity, and sort by a specific attribute of each item.

This is one of the most frequently used filters when working with entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] collections. It allows you to sort sensorsSensors return information about a thing, for instance the level of water in a tank. [Learn more] by their state value to find the highest or lowest reading, sort lights by brightness, or sort entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] alphabetically by name. Combined with first or last, you can quickly find the minimum or maximum value from any group of entities.

Usage

Here’s how to use this template function. Copy any example and adjust it to your setup.

{{ [3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9] | sort | list }}

[1, 1, 3, 4, 5, 9]

Function signature

The signature is a technical summary of this template function. It shows the name of the function, the values (called parameters) it accepts, and what type of data each parameter expects (for example, a piece of text or a number).

Function parameters that have a = with a value after them are optional. If you leave them out, the default value shown is used automatically. Function parameters without a default are required.

sort(
    value: list,
    reverse: bool = False,
    case_sensitive: bool = False,
    attribute: str | None = None,
) -> list

Function parameters

The following parameters can be provided to this filter.

Sort in descending order

Use reverse=true to sort from highest to lowest.

{{ [3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9] | sort(reverse=true) | list }}

[9, 5, 4, 3, 1, 1]

Sort by attribute

Sort a list of objects by a specific attribute. This is particularly powerful with entity state objects.

{{
  expand("group.temperature_sensors")
  | sort(attribute="state")
  | map(attribute="entity_id")
  | list
}}

["sensor.bedroom_temp", "sensor.living_room_temp",
 "sensor.kitchen_temp"]

Good to know

• The default sort is case-insensitive. Pass case_sensitive=true for exact-case ordering.
• Sorting a list of entity states sorts strings alphabetically, so "9" comes after "10". Convert values to numbers first if you need numeric ordering.
• Mixing types (strings and numbers together) raises an error.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Template, paste the example into the Template editor, and watch the result update on the right. Edit the values to see how the function adapts to your own entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more].

More examples

Real scenarios where this function comes up in automations and templates. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Find the brightest light

Sort lights by brightness in descending order and get the first one.

{{
  expand("group.all_lights")
  | selectattr("state", "eq", "on")
  | sort(attribute="attributes.brightness", reverse=true)
  | map(attribute="entity_id")
  | first
}}

light.living_room

Sort entities alphabetically by friendly name

Sort a group of entities by their friendly name attribute for display.

{% for entity in expand("group.all_lights")
  | sort(attribute="name") %}
  {{ entity.name }}: {{ entity.state }}
{% endfor %}

Bedroom light: off
Kitchen light: on
Living room light: on

Get the coldest and warmest temperatures

Use sort with first and last to find both extremes.

{% set sensors = expand("group.temperature_sensors")
   | sort(attribute="state") %}
Coldest: {{ sensors | first | attr("entity_id") }}
Warmest: {{ sensors | last | attr("entity_id") }}

Coldest: sensor.bedroom_temperature
Warmest: sensor.kitchen_temperature

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with your template and expected result, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related template functions

These functions work well alongside this one:

• Reverse a list or string: reverse - Reverses the order of items in a list or characters in a string.

• Get first item: first - Returns the first item of a list or the first character of a string.

• Get last item: last - Returns the last item of a list or the last character of a string.

• Sort a dictionary: dictsort - Sorts a dictionary by its keys or values, returning a list of key/value pairs.

• Remove duplicate values: unique - Removes duplicate values from a list, keeping only unique items.