fix(db): normalize timestamps and fix recently added album sorting (#5176)

* fix(db): normalize timestamps and fix recently added album sorting

SQLite stores timestamps as TEXT and uses string comparison for ORDER BY.
Timestamps in RFC3339 T-format ('2024-01-01T10:00:00Z') sort incorrectly
against space-format ('2024-01-01 10:00:00+00:00') because 'T' (ASCII 84)
> ' ' (ASCII 32), causing albums with T-format timestamps to appear as
newer than they are in the "Recently Added" list.

This adds a migration to normalize all T-format timestamps across all
tables to the space-format expected by go-sqlite3, wraps the
recently_added sort with datetime() to make it format-agnostic, and
replaces the plain album timestamp indexes with expression indexes to
maintain query performance.

* fix(test): improve recently_added sort test robustness

Use same-date timestamps (2024-01-15T08:00:00Z vs 2024-01-15 20:00:00)
so the T-vs-space character difference at position 10 actually triggers
the sorting bug. Initialize index variables to -1 and assert both test
albums are found before comparing positions.

* chore(db): update migration timestamp to 2026-03-16

db/migrations/20260316000000_normalize_timestamps.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+-- +goose Up
+
+-- Normalize T-format timestamps (RFC3339Nano with 'T' separator) to SQLite-compatible format.
+-- SQLite uses string comparison for ORDER BY on TEXT columns, so 'T' (ASCII 84) > ' ' (ASCII 32)
+-- causes T-format timestamps to sort after space-format ones, breaking "Recently Added" ordering.
+
+UPDATE album SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE album SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE album SET imported_at = replace(replace(imported_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE imported_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE album SET external_info_updated_at = replace(replace(external_info_updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE external_info_updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE media_file SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE media_file SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE media_file SET birth_time = replace(replace(birth_time, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE birth_time LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE artist SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE artist SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE artist SET external_info_updated_at = replace(replace(external_info_updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE external_info_updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE annotation SET play_date = replace(replace(play_date, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE play_date LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE annotation SET starred_at = replace(replace(starred_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE starred_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE annotation SET rated_at = replace(replace(rated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE rated_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE playlist SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE playlist SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE playlist SET evaluated_at = replace(replace(evaluated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE evaluated_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE user SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE user SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE user SET last_login_at = replace(replace(last_login_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE last_login_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE user SET last_access_at = replace(replace(last_access_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE last_access_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE player SET last_seen = replace(replace(last_seen, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE last_seen LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE playqueue SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE playqueue SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE bookmark SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE bookmark SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE share SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE share SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE share SET expires_at = replace(replace(expires_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE expires_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE share SET last_visited_at = replace(replace(last_visited_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE last_visited_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE radio SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE radio SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE folder SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE folder SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE folder SET images_updated_at = replace(replace(images_updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE images_updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE library SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE library SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE library SET last_scan_at = replace(replace(last_scan_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE last_scan_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE library SET last_scan_started_at = replace(replace(last_scan_started_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE last_scan_started_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE scrobble_buffer SET play_time = replace(replace(play_time, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE play_time LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE scrobble_buffer SET enqueue_time = replace(replace(enqueue_time, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE enqueue_time LIKE '%T%';
+
+UPDATE plugin SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+UPDATE plugin SET updated_at = replace(replace(updated_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00') WHERE updated_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+-- Replace plain indexes with expression indexes for datetime()-based sorting
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS album_created_at;
+CREATE INDEX album_created_at ON album(datetime(created_at));
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS album_updated_at;
+CREATE INDEX album_updated_at ON album(datetime(updated_at));
+
+-- +goose Down
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS album_created_at;
+CREATE INDEX album_created_at ON album(created_at);
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS album_updated_at;
+CREATE INDEX album_updated_at ON album(updated_at);

persistence/album_repository.go

@@ -143,9 +143,9 @@ var albumFilters = sync.OnceValue(func() map[string]filterFunc {
 
 func recentlyAddedSort() string {
 	if conf.Server.RecentlyAddedByModTime {
-		return "updated_at"
+		return "datetime(album.updated_at)"
 	}
-	return "created_at"
+	return "datetime(album.created_at)"
 }
 
 func recentlyPlayedFilter(string, any) Sqlizer {

persistence/album_repository_test.go

@@ -85,6 +85,53 @@ var _ = Describe("AlbumRepository", func() {
 		})
 	})
 
+	Describe("recently_added sort", func() {
+		It("sorts correctly regardless of timestamp format (T-format vs space-format)", func() {
+			// Both timestamps share the same date prefix "2024-01-15" so the T vs space
+			// character at position 10 determines sort order in raw string comparison.
+			// Without normalization, 'T' (ASCII 84) > ' ' (ASCII 32) makes the older
+			// T-format timestamp sort AFTER the newer space-format one.
+
+			// Older album: morning of Jan 15, stored in T-format
+			olderAlbum := &model.Album{LibraryID: 1, ID: "ts-older", Name: "Older Album"}
+			Expect(albumRepo.Put(olderAlbum)).To(Succeed())
+			_, err := albumRepo.executeSQL(squirrel.Update("album").
+				Set("created_at", "2024-01-15T08:00:00Z").
+				Where(squirrel.Eq{"id": "ts-older"}))
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			// Newer album: evening of Jan 15, stored in space-format
+			newerAlbum := &model.Album{LibraryID: 1, ID: "ts-newer", Name: "Newer Album"}
+			Expect(albumRepo.Put(newerAlbum)).To(Succeed())
+			_, err = albumRepo.executeSQL(squirrel.Update("album").
+				Set("created_at", "2024-01-15 20:00:00+00:00").
+				Where(squirrel.Eq{"id": "ts-newer"}))
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			albums, err := albumRepo.GetAll(model.QueryOptions{Sort: "recently_added", Order: "desc"})
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			// Find positions of our test albums
+			olderIdx, newerIdx := -1, -1
+			for i, a := range albums {
+				switch a.ID {
+				case "ts-older":
+					olderIdx = i
+				case "ts-newer":
+					newerIdx = i
+				}
+			}
+			Expect(olderIdx).To(BeNumerically(">=", 0), "older album not found in results")
+			Expect(newerIdx).To(BeNumerically(">=", 0), "newer album not found in results")
+			// Newer album (evening, space-format) should come before older album (morning, T-format) in desc order
+			Expect(newerIdx).To(BeNumerically("<", olderIdx),
+				"Newer album (20:00 space-format) should sort before older album (08:00 T-format) in desc order")
+
+			// Clean up
+			_, _ = albumRepo.executeSQL(squirrel.Delete("album").Where(squirrel.Eq{"id": []string{"ts-older", "ts-newer"}}))
+		})
+	})
+
 	Context("Filters", func() {
 		var albumWithoutAnnotation model.Album