SharePoint Online Search REST API parameter sortlist is causing an error (again)

[mcgeeky]

Target SharePoint environment

SharePoint Online

What SharePoint development model, framework, SDK or API is this about?

SharePoint REST API

Developer environment

None

What browser(s) / client(s) have you tested

• 💥 Internet Explorer
• 💥 Microsoft Edge
• 💥 Google Chrome
• 💥 FireFox
• 💥 Safari
• mobile (iOS/iPadOS)
• mobile (Android)
• not applicable
• other (enter in the "Additional environment details" area below)

Additional environment details

No response

Describe the bug / error

The SharePoint API endpoint _api/search is returning an error when using the sortlist parameter sortlist='[docid]:ascending'

The error returned is 400 BAD REQUEST with the message:

We didn't understand your search terms. Make sure they're using proper syntax

The full error code is:

<m:error xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ado/2007/08/dataservices/metadata">
<m:code>-1, Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.REST.SearchServiceException</m:code>
<m:message xml:lang="en-US">We didn't understand your search terms. Make sure they're using proper syntax.</m:message>
</m:error>

This appears to be the same error, or similar to, the one I reported in May 2024 which was subsequently fixed.

If this is a breaking change that has been deployed to SharePoint Online, we need the breaking change rollout stopped and then reverted before the impact spreads further to other tenants.

The sortlist parameter with [docid]=ascending is valid search syntax as per the Microsoft help article here. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/general-development/pagination-for-large-result-sets

Steps to reproduce

Open Edge browser, sign in to your SharePoint site then copy and paste this URL in to the address bar and hit return, after changing YOURDOMAIN for your SharePoint tenant name:

https://YOURDOMAIN.sharepoint.com/_api/search/query?querytext='contentclass:STS_Site+(WebTemplate:GROUP OR WebTemplate:TEAMCHANNEL)'&sortlist='[docid]:ascending'

You will receive an error message.

If the sortlist parameter is removed from the query then it will succeed:

https://YOURDOMAIN.sharepoint.com/_api/search/query?querytext='contentclass:STS_Site+(WebTemplate:GROUP OR WebTemplate:TEAMCHANNEL)'

This will return an error on impacted tenants only. It appears to be affecting only a subset of tenants at present.

Expected behavior

The expected SharePoint search results should be returned, not an error.

[m365-agent-toolkit-assistant]

👋 Hi Myles Jeffery (@mcgeeky),

Thank you for reporting this issue. Here is an AI-generated initial response:

Classification: Bug — the reported 400 response for sortlist='[docid]:ascending' conflicts with the documented SharePoint Search REST behavior. The cause of the current failure is not yet confirmed.

• Microsoft Learn explicitly uses bracketed [docid] for ascending sorting and large-result pagination.
• The reporter’s query and error closely mirror the 2024 report; users reported that the earlier failure later stopped. That history does not establish a new rollout or rollback.

What to do now:

1. Recheck the same query with and without sortlist on affected and unaffected tenants. Omitting it is only a temporary option if sorted results and DocId-based pagination are unnecessary.
2. Open a Microsoft 365 support case with the request URL, UTC timestamp, tenant, response headers/correlation ID, and both responses. Request investigation of the documented syntax; no current fix or rollout is verified.

Useful links:

• SharePoint/sp-dev-docs#9728 — Earlier matching sortlist error
• Pagination for large result sets

---

Note: AI-generated guidance may be incomplete or incorrect. Please verify suggestions before applying them.

[mcgeeky]

Bringing this to your attention Mikael Svenson (@wobba)

[pdl5p]

I had reports of this happening yesterday too, looks like that issue from 2024 is back.

[bcameron1231]

I am seeing this as well. On one tenant sortList fails, on a different tenant it's working.