From 199394934de5415ced4fe2d9386cd1ccdd0bada4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alex Goodman <wagoodman@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2025 10:17:10 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] preserve --from order (#4350)

Signed-off-by: Alex Goodman <wagoodman@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 cmd/syft/internal/commands/cataloger_list.go |  4 +-
 cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog.go         | 13 ++-
 cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog_test.go    | 94 +++++++++++++++++++-
 3 files changed, 104 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/cmd/syft/internal/commands/cataloger_list.go b/cmd/syft/internal/commands/cataloger_list.go
index 1dcb4b121..18d95c307 100644
--- a/cmd/syft/internal/commands/cataloger_list.go
+++ b/cmd/syft/internal/commands/cataloger_list.go
@@ -87,8 +87,8 @@ func runCatalogerList(opts *catalogerListOptions) error {
 }
 
 func catalogerListReport(opts *catalogerListOptions, allTaskGroups [][]task.Task) (string, error) {
-	defaultCatalogers := options.Flatten(opts.DefaultCatalogers)
-	selectCatalogers := options.Flatten(opts.SelectCatalogers)
+	defaultCatalogers := options.FlattenAndSort(opts.DefaultCatalogers)
+	selectCatalogers := options.FlattenAndSort(opts.SelectCatalogers)
 	selectedTaskGroups, selectionEvidence, err := task.SelectInGroups(
 		allTaskGroups,
 		cataloging.NewSelectionRequest().
diff --git a/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog.go b/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog.go
index 6f33f7b9e..e365b7416 100644
--- a/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog.go
+++ b/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog.go
@@ -284,10 +284,10 @@ func (cfg *Catalog) PostLoad() error {
 
 	cfg.From = Flatten(cfg.From)
 
-	cfg.Catalogers = Flatten(cfg.Catalogers)
-	cfg.DefaultCatalogers = Flatten(cfg.DefaultCatalogers)
-	cfg.SelectCatalogers = Flatten(cfg.SelectCatalogers)
-	cfg.Enrich = Flatten(cfg.Enrich)
+	cfg.Catalogers = FlattenAndSort(cfg.Catalogers)
+	cfg.DefaultCatalogers = FlattenAndSort(cfg.DefaultCatalogers)
+	cfg.SelectCatalogers = FlattenAndSort(cfg.SelectCatalogers)
+	cfg.Enrich = FlattenAndSort(cfg.Enrich)
 
 	// for backwards compatibility
 	cfg.DefaultCatalogers = append(cfg.DefaultCatalogers, cfg.Catalogers...)
@@ -312,6 +312,11 @@ func Flatten(commaSeparatedEntries []string) []string {
 			out = append(out, strings.TrimSpace(s))
 		}
 	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func FlattenAndSort(commaSeparatedEntries []string) []string {
+	out := Flatten(commaSeparatedEntries)
 	sort.Strings(out)
 	return out
 }
diff --git a/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog_test.go b/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog_test.go
index d74931be1..7753da5c6 100644
--- a/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog_test.go
+++ b/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog_test.go
@@ -79,6 +79,98 @@ func TestCatalog_PostLoad(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestFlatten(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    []string
+		expected []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "preserves order of comma-separated values",
+			input:    []string{"registry,docker,oci-dir"},
+			expected: []string{"registry", "docker", "oci-dir"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "preserves order across multiple entries",
+			input:    []string{"registry,docker", "oci-dir"},
+			expected: []string{"registry", "docker", "oci-dir"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "trims whitespace",
+			input:    []string{"  registry  ,  docker  ", "  oci-dir  "},
+			expected: []string{"registry", "docker", "oci-dir"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "handles single value",
+			input:    []string{"registry"},
+			expected: []string{"registry"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "handles empty input",
+			input:    []string{},
+			expected: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "preserves reverse alphabetical order",
+			input:    []string{"zebra,yankee,xray"},
+			expected: []string{"zebra", "yankee", "xray"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := Flatten(tt.input)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, got)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestFlattenAndSort(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    []string
+		expected []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "sorts comma-separated values",
+			input:    []string{"registry,docker,oci-dir"},
+			expected: []string{"docker", "oci-dir", "registry"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "sorts across multiple entries",
+			input:    []string{"registry,docker", "oci-dir"},
+			expected: []string{"docker", "oci-dir", "registry"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "trims whitespace and sorts",
+			input:    []string{"  registry  ,  docker  ", "  oci-dir  "},
+			expected: []string{"docker", "oci-dir", "registry"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "handles single value",
+			input:    []string{"registry"},
+			expected: []string{"registry"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "handles empty input",
+			input:    []string{},
+			expected: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "sorts reverse alphabetical order",
+			input:    []string{"zebra,yankee,xray"},
+			expected: []string{"xray", "yankee", "zebra"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := FlattenAndSort(tt.input)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, got)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func Test_enrichmentEnabled(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		directives string
@@ -139,7 +231,7 @@ func Test_enrichmentEnabled(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
 		t.Run(test.directives, func(t *testing.T) {
-			got := enrichmentEnabled(Flatten([]string{test.directives}), test.test)
+			got := enrichmentEnabled(FlattenAndSort([]string{test.directives}), test.test)
 			assert.Equal(t, test.expected, got)
 		})
 	}