diff --git a/model/insight/metric_data.go b/model/insight/metric_data.go
index 66af1812..fcc6e37b 100644
--- a/model/insight/metric_data.go
+++ b/model/insight/metric_data.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package insight
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"infini.sh/framework/core/util"
 	"regexp"
 )
 
@@ -66,6 +67,31 @@ func (m *Metric) AutoTimeBeforeGroup() bool {
 	}
 	return true
 }
+func (m *Metric) ValidateSortKey() error {
+	if len(m.Sort) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if len(m.Items) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	var mm = map[string]*MetricItem{}
+	for _, item := range m.Items {
+		mm[item.Name] = &item
+	}
+	for _, sortItem := range m.Sort {
+		if !util.StringInArray([]string{"desc", "asc"}, sortItem.Direction){
+			return fmt.Errorf("unknown sort direction [%s]", sortItem.Direction)
+		}
+		if v, ok := mm[sortItem.Key]; !ok && !util.StringInArray([]string{"_key", "_count"}, sortItem.Key){
+			return fmt.Errorf("unknown sort key [%s]", sortItem.Key)
+		}else{
+			if v.Statistic == "derivative" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("can not sort by pipeline agg [%s]", v.Statistic)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
 
 type MetricItem struct {
 	Name string `json:"name,omitempty"`
diff --git a/plugin/api/insight/metric_util.go b/plugin/api/insight/metric_util.go
index c1121288..e71c5fe8 100644
--- a/plugin/api/insight/metric_util.go
+++ b/plugin/api/insight/metric_util.go
@@ -115,6 +115,10 @@ func GenerateQuery(metric *insight.Metric) (interface{}, error) {
 
 	var rootAggs util.MapStr
 	groups := metric.Groups
+	err = metric.ValidateSortKey()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
 	if grpLength := len(groups); grpLength > 0 {
 		var lastGroupAgg util.MapStr