ComfyUI-Manager: Installing Custom Nodes

Why Custom Nodes Exist

ComfyUI ships with a solid set of built-in nodes — enough to run any standard text-to-image, image-to-image, or basic upscaling workflow. But the ecosystem of what ComfyUI can do extends far beyond the built-in set. ControlNet preprocessing, AnimateDiff motion modules, IPAdapter style transfer, ADetailer face restoration, advanced samplers, FLUX-specific loaders — all of these come as custom node packages.

A custom node package is a collection of Python files that add new nodes to ComfyUI. They live in the ComfyUI/custom_nodes/ folder. Traditionally, installing them required using git to clone the repository into that folder manually. ComfyUI-Manager eliminates that friction — it provides a graphical interface for discovering, installing, updating, and removing custom node packages without touching the command line.

Is ComfyUI-Manager Already Installed?

If you used the Desktop app, ComfyUI-Manager is already included and enabled by default. Look for a Manager button in the top bar of the interface, or a Manager option in the menu. If you see it, skip to "Opening Manager and Installing Nodes."

If you used the Portable package or manual installation and do not see a Manager button, you need to install it manually once.

Installing ComfyUI-Manager (If Not Pre-Installed)

For Portable and manual installations:

• Open a terminal (activate your conda environment first if using the manual install: conda activate comfyenv).
• Navigate to the ComfyUI/custom_nodes/ folder: cd /path/to/ComfyUI/custom_nodes
• Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI-Manager.git
• Install its dependencies: cd ComfyUI-Manager && pip install -r requirements.txt
• Restart ComfyUI: stop the running process (Ctrl+C in the terminal) and run python main.py again.

After restarting, the Manager button appears in the ComfyUI interface.

Opening Manager and Installing Missing Nodes

Click the Manager button in the top bar (or top-right area, depending on your interface version). The Manager panel opens with several options.

The most common task is installing nodes that a loaded workflow requires but you do not have. After loading a new workflow that shows red boxes:

• Click Install Missing Custom Nodes in the Manager panel.
• Manager scans the current workflow for nodes that are not installed and lists them.
• Check the boxes next to the nodes you want to install (or click Select All).
• Click Install. Manager downloads and installs each package.
• When installation completes, Manager will prompt you to restart ComfyUI. Do so — nodes are not available until ComfyUI restarts.

After restarting, reload the workflow. The red boxes should be replaced by normal nodes.

Browsing and Installing New Nodes

To explore what custom nodes are available:

• Open Manager → Install Custom Nodes.
• A searchable list of thousands of custom node packages appears, organized by category and sorted by popularity or update date.
• Use the search box to find nodes by name or keyword. For example, search "controlnet" to find ControlNet-related packages, or "animatediff" for animation nodes.
• Each entry shows the package name, a short description, the number of stars on GitHub, and when it was last updated. Click the install button next to any package.
• After installing, restart ComfyUI.

When exploring custom nodes, prioritize packages that are actively maintained (updated within the last few months) and have high star counts — these are the ones most likely to work correctly and receive bug fixes.

Updating and Managing Installed Nodes

Custom nodes need occasional updates, especially when ComfyUI itself is updated — API changes can break older custom nodes. To update:

• Open Manager → Update All. This updates every installed custom node package to its latest version.
• Restart ComfyUI after updating.

To remove a custom node package you no longer need: Open Manager → Manage Custom Nodes, find the package, and click Uninstall. This deletes the files from custom_nodes/ and removes the nodes from the available node list on restart.

A note on dependency conflicts: occasionally, two custom node packages require conflicting versions of the same Python library. If ComfyUI fails to start after installing a new package (with an error about incompatible library versions in the Console), use Manager to uninstall the newest package and search for an alternative.