Reintroduce section sorting to the roomlist

res/css/_components.pcss

@@ -278,6 +278,7 @@
 @import "./views/rooms/RoomListPanel/_RoomListPrimaryFilters.pcss";
 @import "./views/rooms/RoomListPanel/_RoomListSearch.pcss";
 @import "./views/rooms/RoomListPanel/_RoomListSecondaryFilters.pcss";
+@import "./views/rooms/RoomListPanel/_RoomListSectionHeaderView.pcss";
 @import "./views/rooms/RoomListPanel/_RoomListSkeleton.pcss";
 @import "./views/rooms/_AppsDrawer.pcss";
 @import "./views/rooms/_Autocomplete.pcss";

res/css/views/rooms/RoomListPanel/_RoomListSectionHeaderView.pcss

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2025 New Vector Ltd.
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR GPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
+ * Please see LICENSE files in the repository root for full details.
+ */
+
+.mx_RoomListSectionHeaderView {
+    height: 48px;
+    width: 100%;
+    padding-left: var(--cpd-space-3x);
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: end;
+
+    > h4 {
+        margin-top: 0;
+        margin-bottom: 4px;
+        font: var(--cpd-font-body-sm-semibold);
+        color: var(--cpd-color-text-action-accent);
+    }
+}

src/components/utils/ListView.tsx

@@ -88,9 +88,10 @@ export function ListView<Item, Context = any>(props: IListViewProps<Item, Contex
     const virtuosoHandleRef = useRef<VirtuosoHandle>(null);
     /** Reference to the DOM element containing the virtualized list */
     const virtuosoDomRef = useRef<HTMLElement | Window>(null);
+    const firstFocusableItem = props.items.find(props.isItemFocusable);
     /** Key of the item that should have tabIndex == 0 */
     const [tabIndexKey, setTabIndexKey] = useState<string | undefined>(
-        props.items[0] ? getItemKey(props.items[0]) : undefined,
+        firstFocusableItem ? getItemKey(firstFocusableItem) : undefined,
     );
     /** Range of currently visible items in the viewport */
     const [visibleRange, setVisibleRange] = useState<ListRange | undefined>(undefined);
@@ -113,10 +114,10 @@ export function ListView<Item, Context = any>(props: IListViewProps<Item, Contex
 
     // Ensure the tabIndexKey is set if there is none already or if the existing key is no longer displayed
     useEffect(() => {
-        if (items.length && (!tabIndexKey || keyToIndexMap.get(tabIndexKey) === undefined)) {
-            setTabIndexKey(getItemKey(items[0]));
+        if (firstFocusableItem && (!tabIndexKey || keyToIndexMap.get(tabIndexKey) === undefined)) {
+            setTabIndexKey(getItemKey(firstFocusableItem));
         }
-    }, [items, getItemKey, tabIndexKey, keyToIndexMap]);
+    }, [firstFocusableItem, getItemKey, tabIndexKey, keyToIndexMap]);
 
     /**
      * Scrolls to a specific item index and sets it as focused.

src/components/viewmodels/roomlist/RoomListHeaderViewModel.tsx

@@ -121,11 +121,15 @@ export interface RoomListHeaderViewState {
     /**
      * Change the sort order of the room-list.
      */
-    sort: (option: SortOption) => void;
+    sort: (option: SortOption, useSections: boolean) => void;
     /**
      * The currently active sort option.
      */
     activeSortOption: SortOption;
+    /**
+     * Whether to group rooms into sections
+     */
+    useSections: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -147,7 +151,7 @@ export function useRoomListHeaderViewModel(): RoomListHeaderViewState {
 
     /* Actions */
 
-    const { activeSortOption, sort } = useSorter();
+    const { activeSortOption, useSections, sort } = useSorter();
 
     const createChatRoom = useCallback((e: Event) => {
         defaultDispatcher.fire(Action.CreateChat);
@@ -219,6 +223,7 @@ export function useRoomListHeaderViewModel(): RoomListHeaderViewState {
         openSpacePreferences,
         openSpaceSettings,
         activeSortOption,
+        useSections,
         sort,
     };
 }

src/components/viewmodels/roomlist/useRoomListNavigation.ts

@@ -5,27 +5,28 @@
  * Please see LICENSE files in the repository root for full details.
  */
 
-import { type Room } from "matrix-js-sdk/src/matrix";
-
 import dispatcher from "../../../dispatcher/dispatcher";
 import { useDispatcher } from "../../../hooks/useDispatcher";
 import { Action } from "../../../dispatcher/actions";
 import { type ViewRoomDeltaPayload } from "../../../dispatcher/payloads/ViewRoomDeltaPayload";
 import type { ViewRoomPayload } from "../../../dispatcher/payloads/ViewRoomPayload";
 import { SdkContextClass } from "../../../contexts/SDKContext";
 import { RoomNotificationStateStore } from "../../../stores/notifications/RoomNotificationStateStore";
+import { isRoomListRoom, type RoomListEntry } from "../../../stores/room-list-v3/RoomListStoreV3.ts";
 
 /**
  * Hook to navigate the room list using keyboard shortcuts.
  * It listens to the ViewRoomDelta action and updates the room list accordingly.
- * @param rooms
+ * @param entries
  */
-export function useRoomListNavigation(rooms: Room[]): void {
+export function useRoomListNavigation(entries: RoomListEntry[]): void {
     useDispatcher(dispatcher, (payload) => {
         if (payload.action !== Action.ViewRoomDelta) return;
         const roomId = SdkContextClass.instance.roomViewStore.getRoomId();
         if (!roomId) return;
 
+        const rooms = entries.filter(isRoomListRoom);
+
         const { delta, unread } = payload as ViewRoomDeltaPayload;
         const filteredRooms = unread
             ? // Filter the rooms to only include unread ones and the active room

src/components/viewmodels/roomlist/useSorter.ts

@@ -35,8 +35,9 @@ const sortOptionToSortingAlgorithm = {
 };
 
 interface SortState {
-    sort: (option: SortOption) => void;
+    sort: (option: SortOption, useSections: boolean) => void;
     activeSortOption: SortOption;
+    useSections: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -48,15 +49,18 @@ export function useSorter(): SortState {
     const [activeSortingAlgorithm, setActiveSortingAlgorithm] = useState(() =>
         SettingsStore.getValue("RoomList.preferredSorting"),
     );
+    const [useSections, setUseSections] = useState(() => SettingsStore.getValue("RoomList.useSections"));
 
-    const sort = (option: SortOption): void => {
+    const sort = (option: SortOption, useSections: boolean): void => {
         const sortingAlgorithm = sortOptionToSortingAlgorithm[option];
-        RoomListStoreV3.instance.resort(sortingAlgorithm);
+        RoomListStoreV3.instance.resort(sortingAlgorithm, useSections);
         setActiveSortingAlgorithm(sortingAlgorithm);
+        setUseSections(useSections);
     };
 
     return {
         sort,
         activeSortOption: sortingAlgorithmToSortingOption[activeSortingAlgorithm!],
+        useSections,
     };
 }

src/components/viewmodels/roomlist/useStickyRoomList.tsx

@@ -11,22 +11,21 @@ import { SdkContextClass } from "../../../contexts/SDKContext";
 import { useDispatcher } from "../../../hooks/useDispatcher";
 import dispatcher from "../../../dispatcher/dispatcher";
 import { Action } from "../../../dispatcher/actions";
-import type { Room } from "matrix-js-sdk/src/matrix";
 import type { Optional } from "matrix-events-sdk";
 import SpaceStore from "../../../stores/spaces/SpaceStore";
-import { type RoomsResult } from "../../../stores/room-list-v3/RoomListStoreV3";
+import { isRoomListRoom, type RoomListEntry, type RoomsResult } from "../../../stores/room-list-v3/RoomListStoreV3";
 
-function getIndexByRoomId(rooms: Room[], roomId: Optional<string>): number | undefined {
-    const index = rooms.findIndex((room) => room.roomId === roomId);
+function getIndexByRoomId(rooms: RoomListEntry[], roomId: Optional<string>): number | undefined {
+    const index = rooms.findIndex((room) => isRoomListRoom(room) && room.roomId === roomId);
     return index === -1 ? undefined : index;
 }
 
 function getRoomsWithStickyRoom(
-    rooms: Room[],
+    rooms: RoomListEntry[],
     oldIndex: number | undefined,
     newIndex: number | undefined,
     isRoomChange: boolean,
-): { newRooms: Room[]; newIndex: number | undefined } {
+): { newRooms: RoomListEntry[]; newIndex: number | undefined } {
     const updated = { newIndex, newRooms: rooms };
     if (isRoomChange) {
         /*
@@ -83,8 +82,8 @@ export interface StickyRoomListResult {
  * - Provides a list of rooms such that the active room is sticky i.e the active room is kept
  * in the same index even when the order of rooms in the list changes.
  * - Provides the index of the active room.
- * @param rooms list of rooms
- * @see {@link StickyRoomListResult} details what this hook returns..
+ * @param roomsResult list of rooms
+ * @see {@link StickyRoomListResult} details what this hook returns.
  */
 export function useStickyRoomList(roomsResult: RoomsResult): StickyRoomListResult {
     const [listState, setListState] = useState<StickyRoomListResult>({

src/components/views/rooms/RoomListPanel/RoomList.tsx

@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
  * Please see LICENSE files in the repository root for full details.
  */
 
-import React, { useCallback, useRef, useState, type JSX } from "react";
-import { type Room } from "matrix-js-sdk/src/matrix";
+import React, { type JSX, useCallback, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { type ScrollIntoViewLocation } from "react-virtuoso";
 import { isEqual } from "lodash";
 
@@ -18,6 +17,12 @@ import { type FilterKey } from "../../../../stores/room-list-v3/skip-list/filter
 import { getKeyBindingsManager } from "../../../../KeyBindingsManager";
 import { KeyBindingAction } from "../../../../accessibility/KeyboardShortcuts";
 import { Landmark, LandmarkNavigation } from "../../../../accessibility/LandmarkNavigation";
+import {
+    isRoomListRoom,
+    isRoomListSectionHeader,
+    type RoomListEntry,
+} from "../../../../stores/room-list-v3/RoomListStoreV3.ts";
+import { RoomListSectionHeaderView } from "./RoomListSectionHeaderView.tsx";
 
 interface RoomListProps {
     /**
@@ -37,6 +42,11 @@ const ROOM_LIST_ITEM_HEIGHT = 48;
  * We would likely need to simplify the item content to improve this case.
  */
 const EXTENDED_VIEWPORT_HEIGHT = 25 * ROOM_LIST_ITEM_HEIGHT;
+
+const getItemKey = (item: RoomListEntry): string => {
+    return isRoomListSectionHeader(item) ? item.key : item.roomId;
+};
+
 /**
  * A virtualized list of rooms.
  */
@@ -48,38 +58,38 @@ export function RoomList({ vm: { roomsResult, activeIndex } }: RoomListProps): J
     const getItemComponent = useCallback(
         (
             index: number,
-            item: Room,
+            item: RoomListEntry,
             context: ListContext<{
                 spaceId: string;
                 filterKeys: FilterKey[] | undefined;
             }>,
             onFocus: (e: React.FocusEvent) => void,
         ): JSX.Element => {
-            const itemKey = item.roomId;
+            const itemKey = getItemKey(item);
             const isRovingItem = itemKey === context.tabIndexKey;
             const isFocused = isRovingItem && context.focused;
             const isSelected = activeIndex === index;
-            return (
-                <RoomListItemView
-                    room={item}
-                    key={itemKey}
-                    isSelected={isSelected}
-                    isFocused={isFocused}
-                    tabIndex={isRovingItem ? 0 : -1}
-                    roomIndex={index}
-                    roomCount={roomCount}
-                    onFocus={onFocus}
-                    listIsScrolling={isScrolling}
-                />
-            );
+            if (isRoomListSectionHeader(item)) {
+                return <RoomListSectionHeaderView section={item} />;
+            } else {
+                return (
+                    <RoomListItemView
+                        room={item}
+                        key={itemKey}
+                        isSelected={isSelected}
+                        isFocused={isFocused}
+                        tabIndex={isRovingItem ? 0 : -1}
+                        roomIndex={index}
+                        roomCount={roomCount}
+                        onFocus={onFocus}
+                        listIsScrolling={isScrolling}
+                    />
+                );
+            }
         },
         [activeIndex, roomCount, isScrolling],
     );
 
-    const getItemKey = useCallback((item: Room): string => {
-        return item.roomId;
-    }, []);
-
     const scrollIntoViewOnChange = useCallback(
         (params: {
             context: ListContext<{ spaceId: string; filterKeys: FilterKey[] | undefined }>;
@@ -127,7 +137,7 @@ export function RoomList({ vm: { roomsResult, activeIndex } }: RoomListProps): J
             items={roomsResult.rooms}
             getItemComponent={getItemComponent}
             getItemKey={getItemKey}
-            isItemFocusable={() => true}
+            isItemFocusable={isRoomListRoom}
             onKeyDown={keyDownCallback}
             isScrolling={setIsScrolling}
             increaseViewportBy={{

src/components/views/rooms/RoomListPanel/RoomListOptionsMenu.tsx

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  * Please see LICENSE files in the repository root for full details.
  */
 
-import { IconButton, Menu, MenuTitle, Tooltip, RadioMenuItem } from "@vector-im/compound-web";
+import { IconButton, Menu, MenuTitle, Tooltip, RadioMenuItem, CheckboxMenuItem } from "@vector-im/compound-web";
 import React, { type Ref, type JSX, useState, useCallback } from "react";
 import OverflowHorizontalIcon from "@vector-im/compound-design-tokens/assets/web/icons/overflow-horizontal";
 
@@ -36,11 +36,15 @@ export function RoomListOptionsMenu({ vm }: Props): JSX.Element {
     const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
 
     const onActivitySelected = useCallback(() => {
-        vm.sort(SortOption.Activity);
+        vm.sort(SortOption.Activity, vm.useSections);
     }, [vm]);
 
     const onAtoZSelected = useCallback(() => {
-        vm.sort(SortOption.AToZ);
+        vm.sort(SortOption.AToZ, vm.useSections);
+    }, [vm]);
+
+    const onUseSectionsSelected = useCallback(() => {
+        vm.sort(vm.activeSortOption, !vm.useSections);
     }, [vm]);
 
     return (
@@ -63,6 +67,11 @@ export function RoomListOptionsMenu({ vm }: Props): JSX.Element {
                 checked={vm.activeSortOption === SortOption.AToZ}
                 onSelect={onAtoZSelected}
             />
+            <CheckboxMenuItem
+                label={_t("room_list|sort_sections")}
+                checked={vm.useSections}
+                onSelect={onUseSectionsSelected}
+            />
         </Menu>
     );
 }

src/components/views/rooms/RoomListPanel/RoomListSectionHeaderView.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2025 New Vector Ltd.
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR GPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
+ * Please see LICENSE files in the repository root for full details.
+ */
+
+import React, { type JSX, type ReactNode } from "react";
+
+import {
+    type RoomListSectionHeader,
+    RoomListSectionKey,
+} from "../../../../stores/room-list-v3/skip-list/SectionProcessor.ts";
+import { _t } from "../../../../shared-components/utils/i18n.tsx";
+
+interface RoomListSectionHeaderViewProps extends React.HTMLAttributes<HTMLDivElement> {
+    section: RoomListSectionHeader;
+}
+
+function sectionTitle(section: RoomListSectionKey): ReactNode {
+    switch (section) {
+        case RoomListSectionKey.Favourite:
+            return _t("room_list|sections|favourite");
+        case RoomListSectionKey.Unread:
+            return _t("room_list|sections|unread");
+        case RoomListSectionKey.Chat:
+            return _t("room_list|sections|chat");
+        case RoomListSectionKey.LowPriority:
+            return _t("room_list|sections|low_priority");
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * An item in the room list
+ */
+export function RoomListSectionHeaderView({ section, ...props }: RoomListSectionHeaderViewProps): JSX.Element {
+    return (
+        <div className="mx_RoomListSectionHeaderView" {...props}>
+            <h4>{sectionTitle(section.key)}</h4>
+        </div>
+    );
+}

src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json

@@ -2200,6 +2200,12 @@
             "open_room": "Open room %(roomName)s"
         },
         "room_options": "Room Options",
+        "sections": {
+            "chat": "Chats",
+            "favourite": "Favourites",
+            "low_priority": "Low priority",
+            "unread": "Unreads"
+        },
         "show_less": "Show less",
         "show_n_more": {
             "one": "Show %(count)s more",
@@ -2210,6 +2216,7 @@
         "sort_by": "Sort by",
         "sort_by_activity": "Activity",
         "sort_by_alphabet": "A-Z",
+        "sort_sections": "Group rooms by type",
         "sort_type": {
             "activity": "Activity",
             "atoz": "A-Z"