diff --git a/tests/api.test.js b/tests/api.test.js
index 5373d62..66a08df 100644
--- a/tests/api.test.js
+++ b/tests/api.test.js
@@ -74,6 +74,54 @@ describe('GET /api/instances', () => {
     expect(res.body).toHaveLength(1)
     expect(res.body[0].name).toBe('plex')
   })
+
+  it('sorts by vmid ascending', async () => {
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 200, name: 'b' })
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 100, name: 'a' })
+    const res = await request(app).get('/api/instances?sort=vmid&order=asc')
+    expect(res.body[0].vmid).toBe(100)
+    expect(res.body[1].vmid).toBe(200)
+  })
+
+  it('sorts by vmid descending', async () => {
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 100, name: 'a' })
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 200, name: 'b' })
+    const res = await request(app).get('/api/instances?sort=vmid&order=desc')
+    expect(res.body[0].vmid).toBe(200)
+    expect(res.body[1].vmid).toBe(100)
+  })
+
+  it('sorts by name descending', async () => {
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 1, name: 'alpha' })
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 2, name: 'zebra' })
+    const res = await request(app).get('/api/instances?sort=name&order=desc')
+    expect(res.body[0].name).toBe('zebra')
+    expect(res.body[1].name).toBe('alpha')
+  })
+
+  it('sorts by created_at desc — id tiebreaker preserves insertion order', async () => {
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 1, name: 'first' })
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 2, name: 'second' })
+    const res = await request(app).get('/api/instances?sort=created_at&order=desc')
+    expect(res.body[0].name).toBe('second')  // id=2 before id=1
+    expect(res.body[1].name).toBe('first')
+  })
+
+  it('sorts by updated_at desc — id tiebreaker preserves insertion order', async () => {
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 1, name: 'a' })
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 2, name: 'b' })
+    const res = await request(app).get('/api/instances?sort=updated_at&order=desc')
+    expect(res.body[0].name).toBe('b')  // id=2 before id=1
+    expect(res.body[1].name).toBe('a')
+  })
+
+  it('ignores invalid sort field and falls back to name asc', async () => {
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 1, name: 'zebra' })
+    await request(app).post('/api/instances').send({ ...base, vmid: 2, name: 'alpha' })
+    const res = await request(app).get('/api/instances?sort=bad_field')
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200)
+    expect(res.body[0].name).toBe('alpha')
+  })
 })
 
 // ── GET /api/instances/stacks ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/tests/db.test.js b/tests/db.test.js
index f216572..0cc65b7 100644
--- a/tests/db.test.js
+++ b/tests/db.test.js
@@ -58,6 +58,71 @@ describe('getInstances', () => {
     createInstance({ name: 'plex2', state: 'degraded', stack: 'production', vmid: 2, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
     expect(getInstances({ search: 'plex', state: 'deployed' })).toHaveLength(1);
   });
+
+  it('sorts by vmid ascending', () => {
+    createInstance({ name: 'b', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 200, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    createInstance({ name: 'a', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 100, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    const result = getInstances({ sort: 'vmid' });
+    expect(result[0].vmid).toBe(100);
+    expect(result[1].vmid).toBe(200);
+  });
+
+  it('sorts by vmid descending', () => {
+    createInstance({ name: 'a', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 100, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    createInstance({ name: 'b', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 200, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    const result = getInstances({ sort: 'vmid', order: 'desc' });
+    expect(result[0].vmid).toBe(200);
+    expect(result[1].vmid).toBe(100);
+  });
+
+  it('sorts by name descending', () => {
+    createInstance({ name: 'alpha', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 1, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    createInstance({ name: 'zebra', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 2, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    const result = getInstances({ sort: 'name', order: 'desc' });
+    expect(result[0].name).toBe('zebra');
+    expect(result[1].name).toBe('alpha');
+  });
+
+  it('sorts by created_at asc — id is tiebreaker when timestamps are equal (same second)', () => {
+    // datetime('now') has second precision; rapid inserts share the same timestamp.
+    // The implementation uses id ASC as secondary sort so insertion order is preserved.
+    createInstance({ name: 'first',  state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 1, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    createInstance({ name: 'second', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 2, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    const result = getInstances({ sort: 'created_at', order: 'asc' });
+    expect(result[0].name).toBe('first');   // id=1 before id=2
+    expect(result[1].name).toBe('second');
+  });
+
+  it('sorts by created_at desc — id is tiebreaker when timestamps are equal (same second)', () => {
+    createInstance({ name: 'first',  state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 1, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    createInstance({ name: 'second', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 2, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    const result = getInstances({ sort: 'created_at', order: 'desc' });
+    expect(result[0].name).toBe('second');  // id=2 before id=1
+    expect(result[1].name).toBe('first');
+  });
+
+  it('sorts by updated_at asc — id is tiebreaker when timestamps are equal (same second)', () => {
+    createInstance({ name: 'a', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 1, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    createInstance({ name: 'b', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 2, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    const result = getInstances({ sort: 'updated_at', order: 'asc' });
+    expect(result[0].name).toBe('a');   // id=1 before id=2
+    expect(result[1].name).toBe('b');
+  });
+
+  it('sorts by updated_at desc — id is tiebreaker when timestamps are equal (same second)', () => {
+    createInstance({ name: 'a', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 1, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    createInstance({ name: 'b', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 2, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    const result = getInstances({ sort: 'updated_at', order: 'desc' });
+    expect(result[0].name).toBe('b');   // id=2 before id=1
+    expect(result[1].name).toBe('a');
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to name asc for an invalid sort field', () => {
+    createInstance({ name: 'zebra', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 1, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    createInstance({ name: 'alpha', state: 'deployed', stack: 'production', vmid: 2, atlas: 0, argus: 0, semaphore: 0, patchmon: 0, tailscale: 0, andromeda: 0, tailscale_ip: '', hardware_acceleration: 0 });
+    const result = getInstances({ sort: 'injected; DROP TABLE instances--' });
+    expect(result[0].name).toBe('alpha');
+  });
 });
 
 // ── getInstance ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────