Node packs

Custom nodes made by other people: what they are, how people install them, and the risk of running someone else's code.

#In plain words

ComfyUI ships with built-in ("core") nodes. Everything else comes in node packs (custom nodes): folders of Python code in custom_nodes/ that add new nodes when ComfyUI starts. Thousands exist: new model families before core supports them (WanVideoWrapper), preprocessors (comfyui_controlnet_aux), GGUF loaders, video helpers, utilities.

#How people install them

• ComfyUI Manager (built into ComfyUI Desktop and recent versions, or installed as a pack itself): search the registry, install, restart ComfyUI. It can also install the packs a loaded workflow is missing.
• comfy-cli: comfy node install <name>.
• By hand: git clone the pack into custom_nodes/, install its Python requirements into ComfyUI's own Python, restart.

After installing, restart ComfyUI so the new nodes load. Then, in this app, choose Sync ▸ Sync now so the library and the lessons see them. The app never installs anything.

#The risk

A node pack is a program. It runs with the same rights as ComfyUI on your computer: it can read and write your files, reach the network and install more software. A malicious or careless pack can do damage, and there have been real cases of packs that stole data.

• Prefer well-known packs with many users and an active repository.
• Install from the official registry through ComfyUI Manager, which has security levels and flags known bad packs.
• Be wary of a workflow that asks for many unknown packs.
• Keep ComfyUI and packs updated, and remove packs you do not use.
• Run ComfyUI in a separate environment (a virtual environment, a container or another user account) if you try many packs.

#Typical mistakes

• Red or missing nodes after opening a workflow: its packs are not installed, or failed to import (see ComfyUI's start-up log, "IMPORT FAILED").
• Two packs that break each other's Python requirements: one of them stops loading.
• Expecting a pack's nodes to connect to core nodes: some use their own types.

#How the app helps

• The Library groups nodes into Core and Node packs.
• A lesson that needs a pack says It needs the node pack … and names missing nodes.
• Check lists nodes that are not installed in your ComfyUI, with the class to look for.

#See also

• Where ComfyUI files live
• Unsafe model formats
• Reading someone else's workflow
• The node library
• Security