From 45ef515d0fa44d08892f3ac289dae68d52a9b971 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Phil Kuang <pkuang@factset.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2021 13:42:28 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] refactor(catalogClient): return fetched entities sorted by
 ref

Signed-off-by: Phil Kuang <pkuang@factset.com>
---
 .changeset/forty-dodos-own.md                    |  5 +++++
 .../catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.test.ts     |  8 ++++----
 packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts     | 16 +++++++++++++++-
 3 files changed, 24 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 .changeset/forty-dodos-own.md

diff --git a/.changeset/forty-dodos-own.md b/.changeset/forty-dodos-own.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6b60872f9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/forty-dodos-own.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/catalog-client': patch
+---
+
+Return entities sorted alphabetically by ref
diff --git a/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.test.ts b/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.test.ts
index 98b378f5b0..1fcc242fa7 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.test.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.test.ts
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ describe('CatalogClient', () => {
         apiVersion: '1',
         kind: 'Component',
         metadata: {
-          name: 'Test1',
+          name: 'Test2',
           namespace: 'test1',
         },
       },
@@ -55,13 +55,13 @@ describe('CatalogClient', () => {
         apiVersion: '1',
         kind: 'Component',
         metadata: {
-          name: 'Test2',
+          name: 'Test1',
           namespace: 'test1',
         },
       },
     ];
     const defaultResponse: CatalogListResponse<Entity> = {
-      items: defaultServiceResponse,
+      items: defaultServiceResponse.reverse(),
     };
 
     beforeEach(() => {
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ describe('CatalogClient', () => {
       );
     });
 
-    it('should entities from correct endpoint', async () => {
+    it('should fetch entities from correct endpoint', async () => {
       const response = await client.getEntities({}, { token });
       expect(response).toEqual(defaultResponse);
     });
diff --git a/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts b/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts
index 141929f3da..00e417a886 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-client/src/CatalogClient.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import {
   Location,
   LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
   ORIGIN_LOCATION_ANNOTATION,
+  stringifyEntityRef,
   stringifyLocationReference,
 } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import { ResponseError } from '@backstage/errors';
@@ -89,7 +90,20 @@ export class CatalogClient implements CatalogApi {
       `/entities${query}`,
       options,
     );
-    return { items: entities };
+
+    const refCompare = (a: Entity, b: Entity) => {
+      const aRef = stringifyEntityRef(a);
+      const bRef = stringifyEntityRef(b);
+      if (aRef < bRef) {
+        return -1;
+      }
+      if (aRef > bRef) {
+        return 1;
+      }
+      return 0;
+    };
+
+    return { items: entities.sort(refCompare) };
   }
 
   async getEntityByName(