[Fixes #170] allow users of mdk to choose whether to sort by createdAt or processedAt first by dannym-arx · Pull Request #171 · marmot-protocol/mdk

dannym-arx · 2026-02-09T12:33:29Z

I don't know if this is the right approach honestly, or if this is even a good idea in the first place

This PR adds configurable message sort order across the mdk stack and a matching "last message" retrieval that respects the chosen ordering, so clients can choose to order messages by created_at (default) or by processed_at (local reception time) and get a consistent last-message value. The change propagates a new MessageSortOrder enum and a sort_order field on Pagination through storage traits, storage implementations, core APIs, and UniFFI bindings, with tests and a SQLite index to support processed-at-first queries.

What changed:

Introduced MessageSortOrder enum (CreatedAtFirst default, ProcessedAtFirst) and added sort_order: Option to Pagination in mdk-storage-traits.
Added Message::processed_at_order_cmp and compare_processed_at_keys helpers for processed-at-first ordering.
Added GroupStorage::last_message(group_id, sort_order) trait method and implemented it in memory and SQLite storages to return the most recent message according to the requested sort order.
Updated messages() implementations in mdk-memory-storage and mdk-sqlite-storage to respect Pagination.sort_order and apply the appropriate three-key ordering (processed_at, created_at, id) for ProcessedAtFirst.
Added SQLite migration V003 creating idx_messages_sorting_processed_at (mls_group_id, processed_at DESC, created_at DESC, id DESC) to optimize ProcessedAtFirst queries.
Added MDK::get_last_message(...) in mdk-core and exposed sort_order parameter and get_last_message in mdk-uniffi, including parsing for "created_at_first" and "processed_at_first".
Updated changelogs across affected crates and added/updated tests exercising sort-order behavior and pagination.

Security impact:

No cryptographic, key management, identity, SQLCipher, or file-permission changes detected.

Protocol changes:

No changes to the MLS protocol, Nostr integrations, or MIP behavior are introduced.

API surface:

Breaking/non-backward API changes: Pagination now includes sort_order: Option and new constructor with_sort_order; callers constructing Pagination directly may be affected.
New public enum: MessageSortOrder in mdk-storage-traits.
New public trait method: GroupStorage::last_message(&self, group_id: &GroupId, sort_order: MessageSortOrder) -> Result<Option, GroupError>.
New public APIs: MDK::get_last_message(...) in mdk-core and corresponding UniFFI binding Mdk::get_last_message(...); get_messages() now accepts an optional sort_order parameter at the UniFFI boundary.
Storage schema change: new SQLite index idx_messages_sorting_processed_at to support ProcessedAtFirst queries.

Testing:

Added unit/integration tests in mdk-storage-traits (shared group_tests and test_utils) validating CreatedAtFirst vs ProcessedAtFirst ordering, pagination slicing, and last_message behavior.
Added corresponding tests for memory-storage and sqlite-storage to exercise the new behavior.

…dAt first

github-actions · 2026-02-09T12:36:37Z

❌ Coverage: 90.99% → 90.5% (-0.49%)

dannym-arx · 2026-02-09T12:55:46Z

@coderabbitai no reviews?

coderabbitai · 2026-02-09T12:56:03Z

@dannym-arx, I'll review the changes in this PR right away.

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coderabbitai · 2026-02-09T12:56:12Z

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Adds configurable message sort order (CreatedAtFirst, ProcessedAtFirst), threads sort_order through Pagination, implements sort-aware messages() and new last_message() across storage layers, adds a DB index for ProcessedAtFirst, and exposes sort-order-aware APIs in core and UniFFI; tests updated for sorting and pagination.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Storage Traits API `crates/mdk-storage-traits/src/groups/mod.rs`, `crates/mdk-storage-traits/src/messages/types.rs`	Adds `MessageSortOrder` enum, `Pagination.sort_order` + constructors/accessor, comparison helpers for processed-at ordering, and `GroupStorage::last_message()` trait method.
Core MDK `crates/mdk-core/src/messages/mod.rs`	Adds `MDK::get_last_message(mls_group_id, sort_order)` delegating to storage.last_message and mapping errors. Imports `MessageSortOrder`.
Memory Storage `crates/mdk-memory-storage/src/groups.rs`	`messages()` now respects `Pagination.sort_order` and uses appropriate comparators; implements `last_message()` that returns the last message per requested sort order.
SQLite Storage `crates/mdk-sqlite-storage/src/groups.rs`, `crates/mdk-sqlite-storage/migrations/V003__add_processed_at_first_sort_index.sql`	Conditional SQL queries/ORDER BY depending on `MessageSortOrder`; adds `last_message()` using ORDER BY ... LIMIT 1; adds composite index (mls_group_id, processed_at DESC, created_at DESC, id DESC).
UniFFI bindings `crates/mdk-uniffi/src/lib.rs`	Parses string sort_order, wires it into `get_messages()` pagination, and adds `get_last_message()` UniFFI API.
Tests & Test Utilities `crates/mdk-storage-traits/src/test_utils.rs`, `crates/mdk-storage-traits/tests/shared/group_tests.rs`, `crates/mdk-storage-traits/tests/{memory_storage,sqlite_storage}.rs`	Adds shared tests for sort order, pagination under ProcessedAtFirst, and last_message behavior; integrates tests into memory and sqlite test suites.
Changelogs `**/CHANGELOG.md` (multiple crates)	Updates changelogs to document new sort-order support, last_message by sort order, and DB migration.

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant Client as UniFFI Client
  participant Core as MDK Core
  participant Storage as GroupStorage impl
  participant DB as Database

  Client->>Core: get_last_message(group_id, sort_order)
  Core->>Storage: last_message(group_id, sort_order)
  Storage->>DB: query (ORDER BY based on sort_order LIMIT 1)
  DB-->>Storage: row / none
  Storage-->>Core: Message | None
  Core-->>Client: Message | None

Estimated code review effort

🎯 4 (Complex) | ⏱️ ~45 minutes

Possibly related PRs

fix: add pagination and validation to messages query to prevent memory exhaustion #111: prior pagination work that this PR extends by adding MessageSortOrder and sort-order-aware retrieval.
fix timing issues #166: introduced processed_at/last_message_processed_at and ordering logic that this PR builds upon.

Suggested labels

breaking-change, storage

Suggested reviewers

jgmontoya
mubarakcoded

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title directly and clearly describes the main feature added in this pull request: allowing users to choose between sorting messages by createdAt or processedAt first.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	Docstring coverage is 100.00% which is sufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.
No Sensitive Identifier Leakage	✅ Passed	The pull request's modifications contain no sensitive identifier leakage. The new get_last_message method handles errors generically without exposing parameters, and the Debug trait implementation properly redacts mls_group_id fields.

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✨ Finishing touches

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Create PR with unit tests
Post copyable unit tests in a comment
Commit unit tests in branch feat/custom-message-sort-order

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jgmontoya

LGTM!

github-actions · 2026-02-10T16:21:47Z

❌ Coverage: 90.95% → 90.46% (-0.49%)

allow users of mdk to choose whether to sort by createdAt or processe…

43fe181

…dAt first

dannym-arx requested review from erskingardner, jgmontoya and mubarakcoded February 9, 2026 12:33

dannym-arx added the enhancement New feature or request label Feb 9, 2026

dannym-arx linked an issue Feb 9, 2026 that may be closed by this pull request

Allow specifying custom sort order for messages in mdk.get_messages #170

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coderabbitai bot approved these changes Feb 9, 2026

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jgmontoya approved these changes Feb 10, 2026

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mubarakcoded approved these changes Feb 10, 2026

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erskingardner approved these changes Feb 10, 2026

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Merge branch 'master' into feat/custom-message-sort-order

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erskingardner merged commit 5ef0c60 into master Feb 10, 2026
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erskingardner deleted the feat/custom-message-sort-order branch February 10, 2026 16:27

coderabbitai bot mentioned this pull request Mar 3, 2026

C and zig bindings #205

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[Fixes #170] allow users of mdk to choose whether to sort by createdAt or processedAt first#171

[Fixes #170] allow users of mdk to choose whether to sort by createdAt or processedAt first#171
erskingardner merged 2 commits intomasterfrom
feat/custom-message-sort-order

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❌ Coverage: 90.99% → 90.5% (-0.49%)

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❌ Coverage: 90.95% → 90.46% (-0.49%)

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dannym-arx commented Feb 9, 2026 •

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