Mastering ComfyUI! Top 5 Recommended Custom Nodes
- Custom nodes are convenient
- They have disadvantages
- Aim for minimal use
Introduction
Hello, I'm Easygoing.
Today, I’ll introduce some convenient custom nodes for using ComfyUI.
Manage with ComfyUI-Manager!
Managing ComfyUI extensions is convenient with ComfyUI-Manager.
First, let’s go over how to install ComfyUI-Manager using Stability Matrix.
On the Stability Matrix package selection screen, click the jigsaw puzzle icon for ComfyUI to open the extension management screen.
Enter "manager" in the search bar and install ComfyUI-Manager.
How to Use ComfyUI-Manager
Once ComfyUI-Manager is installed, a blue Manager button appears at the top of the ComfyUI canvas.
Clicking the blue button launches the Manager, displaying the menu screen.
This time, we’ll use the following two features:
- Custom Nodes Manager
- Install Missing Custom Nodes
Custom Nodes Manager
Custom Nodes Manager is a feature that allows you to manage custom nodes collectively.
You can filter the list of custom nodes using the Filter option or search for specific custom nodes by name.
Install Missing Custom Nodes
When opening a workflow in ComfyUI that lacks certain custom nodes, an error message like the following appears:
Additionally, missing nodes in the workflow are highlighted with a red border.
In this state, clicking Install Missing Custom Nodes in ComfyUI-Manager displays a list of the missing custom nodes.
With the list displayed, click the bulk check button in the top left to install all missing custom nodes at once!
Essential Custom Nodes for ComfyUI
Now, let’s introduce five essential custom nodes for using ComfyUI.
ComfyUI-Custom-Scripts
ComfyUI-Custom-Scripts, marked by a 🐍 snake icon, is a custom node that enhances ComfyUI’s overall functionality.
- Prompt Autocomplete
- Save Workflow as Image
- Load Text: Load text files
- Save Text: Save to text files
- String Function: Concatenate or replace text
- Math Expression: Perform calculations
Prompt Autocomplete
pysssss is the nickname for ComfyUI-Custom-Scripts. To use prompt autocomplete, you need to enable it in the pysssss settings.
First, click the ComfyUI settings button (gear icon) in the bottom left.
Select pysssss from the menu, then click Manage Custom Words in the top right.
Click Load in the top right to display the list of words for completion, then click Save to apply.
This enables automatic word completion during prompt input.
Save Workflow as Image
With ComfyUI-Custom-Scripts, you can easily create images containing workflow information.
To do this, right-click on the ComfyUI canvas → Workflow Image → Export → PNG.
rgthree-comfy
rgthree-comfy is a custom node that primarily enhances ComfyUI’s Group functionality.
- Display Bypass/Mute buttons in the top right of Groups
- Switches to toggle Group Bypass and Mute
Display Bypass/Mute Buttons in the Top Right of Groups!
To display Bypass and Mute buttons in the top right of Groups using rgthree-comfy, go to ComfyUI settings, select rgthree, and click rgthree-comfy settings.
Check Show fast toggles in Group Headers to display the toggle buttons, significantly improving ComfyUI’s usability.
ComfyUI-Impact-Pack
ComfyUI-Impact-Pack is a custom node that adds numerous features, particularly excelling in Detailer-related functions for redrawing parts of illustrations.
Masks to SEGS Node and Detailer (SEGS) Node
- Partial corrections using Detailer
For details on how to use Detailer, refer to my previous article:
ComfyUI-KJNodes
ComfyUI-KJNodes is another custom node that adds a wide range of features.
- Text management
- Image resizing and processing
- Performance improvements
ComfyUI-KJNodes includes functions for concatenating text or processing images, as well as custom nodes supporting the latest optimization techniques like Sage Attention and torch.compile.
cg-use-everywhere
Next, cg-use-everywhere is a custom node that wirelessly connects nodes.
Wireless outputs, once set, can connect to multiple input points, making them particularly effective for complex workflows.
- Anything Everywhere: Transmit wirelessly
- Anything Everywhere3: Transmit three at once
- Prompts Everywhere: Transmit prompts
- Seed Everywhere: Transmit seeds
- Anything Everywhere?: Transmit with specified conditions
Anything Everywhere automatically connects wirelessly to the corresponding input type just by connecting to the output point.
Wireless connection points are shown as double circles, and selecting Show UE Links from the right-click menu allows you to confirm the actual connections.
Create a Switch with cg-use-everywhere!
By combining cg-use-everywhere with rgthree-comfy, you can easily create a switch to toggle workflows midway.
The two models on the left are both connected to the model input of the KSampler on the right, but muting the lower group automatically connects the upper one.
Switches using Groups and cg-use-everywhere are visually clear and highly recommended.
Rename Slots to Prevent Crosstalk!
When using multiple Anything Everywhere nodes, renaming slots can prevent crosstalk.
In this case, right-click on the connection point, select Rename Slot to change the name, and on the output side, use the Anything Everywhere? node to specify the slot name in the middle field to connect them separately.
Other Custom Nodes
So far, we’ve covered five essential custom nodes, but here are some other useful ones briefly.
Object Detection and Image Captioning
- ComfyUI-Florence2: Object detection, image captioning
- comfyui-tensorops: Required to run ComfyUI-Florence2
- ComfyUI-segment-anything-2: Contour detection
- ComfyUI-Image-Filters: General image manipulation, especially contour tracing
The Florence-2 image recognition AI has a wide range of applications, including object detection and image captioning.
Creative Captioning
- comfy-cliption: Caption images using CLIP-L
While Florence-2’s captions are accurate, using the traditional CLIP-L allows for more varied and creative prompts.
Background Removal
ComfyUI_BiRefNet_ll is a custom node for removing backgrounds from illustrations.
Using a dedicated model, it can remove backgrounds with high accuracy.
ControlNet Preprocessing
Recent image generation AIs have improved prompt comprehension, reducing the need for ControlNet.
However, ControlNet remains effective for precise composition, and comfyui_controlnet_aux includes nearly all preprocessors.
Disadvantages of Custom Nodes
So far, we’ve introduced custom nodes that make ComfyUI more convenient.
Now, let’s look at the disadvantages of custom nodes.
May Become Unusable Due to ComfyUI Updates
ComfyUI receives 2–3 updates per day.
When updates affect ComfyUI’s core components, custom nodes often become unusable.
Custom nodes are generally released based on the goodwill of their creators, so updates are performed at their discretion.
Fixing custom nodes may take several days, and workflows with many custom nodes are more prone to issues during updates.
Out Of Memory (OOM) Errors Are More Likely
Another important point is that using custom nodes increases the likelihood of Out Of Memory (OOM) errors.
ComfyUI adjusts model loading based on VRAM capacity, but it does not recognize the capacity of models loaded by custom nodes by default, relying on the custom node’s implementation.
Florence2Run node’s model unloading settings
If the custom node does not properly unload models or recognize their capacity, the following can occur:
Example: With 12GB VRAM
With 12GB VRAM, ComfyUI recognizes the currently used VRAM and loads new models to fit within 12GB.
However, if a custom node loads a yellow model, ComfyUI does not recognize its capacity, assuming VRAM is available.
It then attempts to load a red model of the same size, exceeding VRAM capacity and causing an Out Of Memory (OOM) error.
In this case, the OOM error occurs during the most VRAM-intensive process, making the cause harder to identify.
If a custom node does not properly unload models, you need to manually unload them using the UnloadAllModels node before VRAM is exceeded.
- ComfyUI-Unload-Model Custom Node
While custom nodes are convenient, using many increases the likelihood of issues, so aim for minimal use.
Summary: Custom Nodes Are Convenient, But…
- Custom nodes are convenient
- They have disadvantages
- Aim for minimal use
ComfyUI’s custom nodes can be easily created by anyone, contributing to ComfyUI’s unparalleled extensibility.
While custom nodes are very convenient, they can also make ComfyUI’s operation unstable.
The five custom nodes introduced initially are essential extensions for using ComfyUI, but frequently used ones are gradually being implemented into ComfyUI’s default features.
Aim to use ComfyUI’s default nodes as much as possible while incorporating minimal custom nodes to create clear workflows.
Thank you for reading to the end!