Fix item() reordering dict keys inside inline tables

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 - Preserve trailing whitespace when replacing a super table, including assigning it onto itself. ([#534](https://github.com/python-poetry/tomlkit/pull/534))
 - Fix `str()` and `repr()` of out-of-order table proxies to show their merged values. ([#536](https://github.com/python-poetry/tomlkit/pull/536))
 - Reject decimal integer literals that exceed Python's integer-string conversion limit instead of coercing them to infinity. ([#538](https://github.com/python-poetry/tomlkit/pull/538))
+- Fix `item()` silently reordering a dict's keys (dict-valued keys forced last) when converting a list of dicts into an inline table, even with the default `sort_keys=False`. A misplaced parenthesis in the sort key left the reordering active regardless of `sort_keys`; concrete `[table]`/array-of-tables entries were unaffected since `Container.append` already repositions scalars ahead of table headers on its own. ([#546](https://github.com/python-poetry/tomlkit/issues/546))
 
 ## [0.15.0] - 2026-05-10
 

tests/test_items.py

@@ -654,6 +654,23 @@ def test_item_array_of_dicts_converted_to_aot() -> None:
     )
 
 
+def test_item_list_of_dicts_as_inline_table_keeps_key_order() -> None:
+    # A dict inside a list that also holds non-dict values is rendered as an
+    # InlineTable, not a [table]/AoT. Unlike a real table header, an inline
+    # table has no ordering constraint that would justify moving dict-valued
+    # keys to the end, so with the default sort_keys=False the original key
+    # order must survive even though "a"'s value is itself a dict.
+    a = item([1, {"a": {"x": 1}, "b": 2}])
+
+    assert a.as_string() == "[1, {a = {x = 1}, b = 2}]"
+
+    # sort_keys=True should still sort, dict-valued keys last, even though
+    # "a" comes first in the input.
+    sorted_a = item([1, {"a": {"x": 1}, "b": 2}], _sort_keys=True)
+
+    assert sorted_a.as_string() == "[1, {b = 2, a = {x = 1}}]"
+
+
 def test_add_float_to_int() -> None:
     content = "[table]\nmy_int = 2043"
     doc = parse(content)

tomlkit/items.py

@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ def item(value: Any, _parent: Item | None = None, _sort_keys: bool = False) -> I
 
                 for k, _v in sorted(
                     v.items(),
-                    key=lambda i: (isinstance(i[1], dict), i[0] if _sort_keys else 1),
+                    key=lambda i: (isinstance(i[1], dict), i[0]) if _sort_keys else 1,
                 ):
                     i = item(_v, _parent=table, _sort_keys=_sort_keys)
                     if isinstance(table, InlineTable):