How to alphabetize/sort reference type options in Sanity schema

I totally understand your client's frustration! Finding the right section in an unsorted reference list can be really tedious. Good news - you can definitely sort reference results alphabetically in Sanity Studio.

Sorting Reference Results Alphabetically

The key is to use the options.sort property on your reference field. Here's how to set it up:

{
  name: 'section',
  type: 'reference',
  to: [{type: 'sectionType'}],
  options: {
    sort: [{field: 'title', direction: 'asc'}]
  }
}

The sort option takes an array of objects, each with a field and direction property. You can use:

• direction: 'asc' - alphabetical A-Z
• direction: 'desc' - reverse alphabetical Z-A

You can even sort by multiple fields:

options: {
  sort: [
    {field: 'category', direction: 'asc'},
    {field: 'title', direction: 'asc'}
  ]
}

Combining Filtering and Sorting

The options.filter property you mentioned is separate from sorting - it's for constraining which documents appear in the reference picker. You can use both together:

{
  name: 'section',
  type: 'reference',
  to: [{type: 'sectionType'}],
  options: {
    filter: '_type == "sectionType" && published == true',
    filterParams: {}, // if you need parameters
    sort: [{field: 'title', direction: 'asc'}]
  }
}

The filter property accepts a GROQ filter expression to narrow down which documents are available, while sort controls the order they appear in.

Making References Even More Findable

While you're improving the experience, you might also want to ensure your sections have good preview configurations. This helps your client see meaningful titles in the reference picker:

// In your sectionType schema
preview: {
  select: {
    title: 'title',
    subtitle: 'description'
  }
}

This combination of alphabetical sorting via options.sort plus clear preview titles should make finding sections much easier for your client!