diff --git a/bpkg_manager/subproc.py b/bpkg_manager/subproc.py
index 525d440..5b16df0 100644
--- a/bpkg_manager/subproc.py
+++ b/bpkg_manager/subproc.py
@@ -228,15 +228,20 @@ class Repository:
         self.set_from_dict(repodict)
 
 
-    def to_dict(self) -> dict:
+    def to_dict(self, sort=False) -> dict:
         """
         Return a dict representation of the repository
         """
-        self.log.debug("Rendering to a dict")
-        self.log.debug("url: %s", self.url)
+        if self.packages:
+            packages = [p.to_dict() for p in self.packages]
+            if sort:
+                packages.sort(key=lambda p: p['bl_info']['name'].lower())
+        else:
+            packages = []
+
         return {
                 'name':     self.name,
-                'packages': [p.to_dict() for p in self.packages] if self.packages is not None else None,
+                'packages': packages,
                 'url':      self.url,
                 '_headers': self._headers,
                 }
@@ -497,7 +502,7 @@ def refresh(pipe_to_blender, storage_path: pathlib.Path, repository_url: str):
         pipe_to_blender.send(DownloadError(err.status_code, err.message))
 
     repo.to_file(repo_path) # TODO: this always writes even if repo wasn't changed
-    pipe_to_blender.send(Result(repo.to_dict()))
+    pipe_to_blender.send(Result(repo.to_dict(sort=True)))
 
 def debug_hang():
     """Hangs for an hour. For testing purposes only."""