Consider deprecating old controllers API

**Feature request**
It would be great to have sorting for models.

**Use case**
Many users need this functionality for production deployments.

**Implementation idea**
Add a new config option `enable_sorting` with default `false`.

No files, tests, or entry points are named. First reconcile whether this concerns deprecating the controllers API or adding model sorting, then locate the relevant configuration and controller/model code; done should match the agreed scope and define the behavior of the default-disabled option.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.