## Summary
Fixes#1345 — the packets page shows "no recent activity" while MQTT
ingest is healthy because the default `/api/packets` query was `ORDER BY
first_seen DESC`, and PR #1233 redefined `first_seen` as the observer's
radio receive time (rxTime). When an observer buffers offline and
uploads hours later, its packets land with hours-old `first_seen`
values; older-ingested packets with fresher rxTime then crowd the top of
the list and the visually freshest activity disappears.
## Fix
Switch the default ordering to `t.id DESC` (ingest order) on
`/api/packets` and the closely-related endpoints. `id` is monotonic with
ingest time and immune to buffered uploads.
Endpoints changed (all use the same fix for the same reason):
| Path | Function | File |
|------|----------|------|
| `GET /api/packets` (default) | `DB.QueryPackets`, `Store.QueryPackets`
| `cmd/server/db.go`, `cmd/server/store.go` |
| `GET /api/packets?nodes=…` | `DB.QueryMultiNodePackets`,
`Store.QueryMultiNodePackets` | same |
| Node detail "recent transmissions" |
`DB.GetRecentTransmissionsForNode` | `cmd/server/db.go` |
## `since=` semantic — preserved
`since=` still filters by `first_seen` (RFC3339 path uses the
observations.timestamp subquery), i.e. "packets the network received
since X." Buffered uploads of older packets are still excluded from a
`since=15m` view even if they were ingested in the last 15 minutes. Only
the **display order** changes; filtering by receive time is unchanged.
## Audit — NOT changed
- `Store.QueryGroupedPackets` already sorts by `LatestSeen` (max
observation timestamp), which is correct for the grouped view and immune
to the buffered-upload regression.
- `GetChannelMessages` and channel `sample_json` subqueries keep
`first_seen DESC` — channel message chronology is meaningful for message
UX; if buffered uploads become a problem here too it's a separate UX
call (out of scope for #1345).
- `s.packets` insertion ordering (Load + ingest) — untouched. The fix
sorts at query time so we don't perturb `oldestLoaded` invariants.
## Tests — TDD red → green
- Red: `508f4371` adds `cmd/server/packets_order_test.go` with two cases
— order assertion (failed on master with `[fresh, buffered]`) and
since-filter semantic (RFC3339 path uses observation timestamps).
- Green: `0fd685e7` switches the SQL + in-memory ordering. Tests pass;
full `cmd/server` suite green locally (44s).
## Out of scope
- Re-thinking #1233's first_seen semantics
- Adding a UI sort toggle (issue's option 2)
- Channel-message page ordering
## Preflight
Clean (`bash ~/.openclaw/skills/pr-preflight/scripts/run-all.sh
origin/master`).
---------
Co-authored-by: openclaw-bot <bot@openclaw.local>
Kpa-clawbot
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