oldest

Add an ascending ORDER BY on a timestamp column. Sugar for orderBy(column, 'asc') — the symmetric counterpart of latest().

Signature

FedacoBuilder<T>.oldest(column?: string): this
FedacoBuilder<T>.latest(column?: string): this

Parameters

Name	Default	Description
column	model's created_at column ('created_at' by default)	Column to order by ASC (oldest) or DESC (latest).

Real-World Use Cases

1. First-created first

await User.createQuery().create({ id: 1, email: 'linbolen@gradii.com' });
await User.createQuery().create({ id: 2, email: 'xsilen@gradii.com' });

const models = await new User().NewQuery().oldest('id').get();
console.log(models[0].email); // 'linbolen@gradii.com'
console.log(models[1].email); // 'xsilen@gradii.com'

Equivalent to:

const models = await User.createQuery().orderBy('id', 'asc').get();

2. List in registration order

const users = await User.createQuery().oldest().get();

Without an argument, oldest orders by the model's created_at column.

3. Combined with paginate

let page = await User.createQuery().oldest('id').paginate(1, 2);
// page.items[0].email — earliest record on page 1.

page = await User.createQuery().oldest('id').paginate(2, 2);

The order is preserved when paginating — without it, paginated results have non-deterministic content.

4. Combined with pluck

const keyed = await User.createQuery()
  .oldest('id')
  .pluck('users.email', 'users.id');
// { 1: 'linbolen@gradii.com', 2: 'xsilen@gradii.com' }

pluck's second argument is the key column — combined with oldest('id'), the resulting object is iterated in insertion order.

5. latest for descending order

const newest = await Post.createQuery().latest().first();
// equivalent to .orderBy('created_at', 'desc').first()

When to Skip the Sugar

Use full orderBy(...) when:

• The column isn't created_at-shaped — oldest / latest are deliberately about timestamps.
• You want to combine multiple sort columns (orderBy('priority').orderBy('created_at')).
• You want descending on a non-timestamp column.

Common Pitfalls

• Defaults to created_at. If your model uses a different timestamp (@CreatedAtColumn with a custom column name), pass the column explicitly or override GetCreatedAtColumn() on the model.
• oldest adds an order; it doesn't replace. Subsequent orderBy clauses keep stacking. Call reorder() first if you want to reset.

See Also

• paginate — naturally pairs with an order.
• first — "first in chosen order".
• latest — descending sibling.
• pluck — keyed plucks rely on order.