From a5d73e75d384a5107cdcec2d948353bff0550fbb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Mark Rapson <git@lzstealth.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Oct 2026 20:15:13 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Fix media library date ordering

---
 CHANGELOG.md                             |  1 +
 src/web/routes/settings/media-library.js |  6 ++--
 test/media-library.test.js               | 39 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 03827ce..d5f0a33 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Media Library newest-first and oldest-first sorting now uses actual creation timestamps.
 - Browser requests now show the shared formatted error page for plain-text HTTP errors.
 - Template region position and stacking fields now update the preview immediately.
 - Region inputs no longer submit the template form when Enter is pressed.
diff --git a/src/web/routes/settings/media-library.js b/src/web/routes/settings/media-library.js
index 339b18b..6e6aed6 100644
--- a/src/web/routes/settings/media-library.js
+++ b/src/web/routes/settings/media-library.js
@@ -102,15 +102,15 @@ function filterAndSortAssets(assets, query) {
   filtered.sort(function (left, right) {
     const leftName = String(left.original_name || '').toLowerCase();
     const rightName = String(right.original_name || '').toLowerCase();
-    const leftDate = String(left.created_at || '');
-    const rightDate = String(right.created_at || '');
     if (query.sort === 'name-asc' || query.sort === 'name-desc') {
       return (query.sort === 'name-asc' ? 1 : -1) * leftName.localeCompare(rightName);
     }
     if (query.sort === 'size-asc' || query.sort === 'size-desc') {
       return (query.sort === 'size-asc' ? 1 : -1) * (Number(left.file_size) - Number(right.file_size));
     }
-    return (query.sort === 'date-asc' ? 1 : -1) * leftDate.localeCompare(rightDate);
+    const leftDate = left.created_at instanceof Date ? left.created_at.getTime() : Date.parse(String(left.created_at || '')) || 0;
+    const rightDate = right.created_at instanceof Date ? right.created_at.getTime() : Date.parse(String(right.created_at || '')) || 0;
+    return (query.sort === 'date-asc' ? 1 : -1) * (leftDate - rightDate);
   });
   return filtered;
 }
diff --git a/test/media-library.test.js b/test/media-library.test.js
index 2ae1158..83f41b5 100644
--- a/test/media-library.test.js
+++ b/test/media-library.test.js
@@ -25,6 +25,45 @@ test('media library normalizes only media URLs', () => {
   assert.equal(normalizeMediaPath('/assets/photo.png'), null);
 });
 
+test('media library sorts Date-valued creation timestamps chronologically', async () => {
+  const originalSyncMediaAssets = mediaLibrary.syncMediaAssetsFromDirectory;
+  const originalCountReferences = mediaLibrary.countMediaAssetReferences;
+  const assets = [
+    { id: 1, original_name: 'October 14', media_type: 'image', file_size: 1, created_at: new Date('2026-10-14T12:00:00Z') },
+    { id: 2, original_name: 'October 15', media_type: 'image', file_size: 1, created_at: new Date('2026-10-15T12:00:00Z') },
+    { id: 3, original_name: 'October 17', media_type: 'image', file_size: 1, created_at: new Date('2026-10-17T12:00:00Z') }
+  ];
+  const handlers = {};
+  mediaLibrary.syncMediaAssetsFromDirectory = async function () { return 0; };
+  mediaLibrary.countMediaAssetReferences = async function () { return 0; };
+
+  try {
+    registerMediaLibraryRoutes({
+      get(route, ...middleware) { handlers[route] = middleware.at(-1); },
+      post() {}
+    }, {
+      pool: { async query() { return [assets]; } },
+      pages: {},
+      upload: { single() { return function () {}; } },
+      uploadDir: os.tmpdir(),
+      requirePermission() { return function () {}; }
+    });
+
+    const response = { json(data) { this.data = data; } };
+    const next = function (error) { if (error) throw error; };
+    const request = { currentUser: { permissions: [] }, query: { offset: '0', limit: '24', sort: 'date-desc' } };
+    await handlers['/media-library/assets'](request, response, next);
+    assert.deepEqual(response.data.assets.map(asset => asset.original_name), ['October 17', 'October 15', 'October 14']);
+
+    request.query.sort = 'date-asc';
+    await handlers['/media-library/assets'](request, response, next);
+    assert.deepEqual(response.data.assets.map(asset => asset.original_name), ['October 14', 'October 15', 'October 17']);
+  } finally {
+    mediaLibrary.syncMediaAssetsFromDirectory = originalSyncMediaAssets;
+    mediaLibrary.countMediaAssetReferences = originalCountReferences;
+  }
+});
+
 test('media library optimizes large raster uploads in place', async () => {
   const uploadDir = await fs.promises.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'pulse-media-optimize-'));
   const filePath = path.join(uploadDir, 'large.jpg');