Support ordering by nested columns deeper than one level in .order()

[bobbybol]

Feature request

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Currently, .order() in supabase-js only supports ordering by nested relations one level deep.

For example:

.from('customers')
.select(`
  *,
  accounts(full_name)
`)
.order('accounts(full_name)', { ascending: true })

This works as expected and orders the customers table globally by accounts.full_name.

However, when trying to order by a column that is more than one level deep (grandchild relation), it fails.

Example:

.from('connections')
.select(`
  *,
  customers (
    *,
    accounts(full_name)
  )
`)
.order('customers(accounts(full_name))', { ascending: true })

This does not work because .order() does not support nested paths beyond one level.

Describe the solution you'd like

It should be possible to order a parent table by a nested column at any depth of relation (not just the immediate child).

For example, the following should work:

.from('connections')
.select(`
  *,
  customers (
    *,
    accounts(full_name)
  )
`)
.order('customers.accounts(full_name)', { ascending: true })

This would order connections globally by accounts.full_name via the customers relation.

Describe alternatives you've considered

• Creating SQL views that flatten the join and expose the nested column at the top level, then ordering by that column.
• Writing RPC functions that pre-join and sort the data server-side.

These workarounds solve the problem but add extra complexity and maintenance overhead. Native support in .order() would be much more ergonomic and consistent with how .select() already handles nested relations.

Additional context

• Docs example: Ordering by foreign tables
• GitHub discussion confirming limitation: supabase/discussions/19252