ComfyUI: understand, install, troubleshoot

Models in ComfyUI: where they go, how to organise them

Models are not included in ComfyUI: they are installed separately, each in the folder its node expects. How to organise them, and how to share them between several installations without duplicating them.

Models are not included in ComfyUI: they are installed separately and loaded by the appropriate nodes, whether checkpoints, diffusion models, VAEs, text encoders, LoRAs, ControlNets or upscaling models, each in the folder its node expects. Organising them is part of the technical workflow, and extra paths let you share models between several installations without duplicating tens or hundreds of gigabytes. At Axiris, the choice of the models themselves is documented in the Models section.

Models are the engines of the workflow

ComfyUI does not contain the models needed for generation. It knows how to load them; installing them is up to you.

Each model is a file, sometimes a very heavy one, loaded by the node that corresponds to it. Depending on the workflow, you will typically come across:

  • checkpoints and diffusion models;
  • VAEs;
  • text encoders;
  • LoRAs;
  • ControlNets;
  • upscaling models.

Each family has its folder, and each node looks in its own. A model placed in the wrong place is a model that cannot be found: it is one of the most frequent errors after an installation, and one of the simplest to read in the console.

Organising your models

An installation used every day quickly accumulates a lot of files: several versions of the same model, trial LoRAs, components you can no longer connect to anything. Organisation then becomes part of the technical workflow: knowing what you have, where it comes from, and what you can delete.

ComfyUI also lets you declare extra paths to share models between several installations or several programs. This avoids duplicating tens or hundreds of gigabytes on the same workstation, and it lets you reinstall ComfyUI without touching the models.

Official references: Documentation: Models · ComfyUI Portable: extra model paths.

What this page does not say

This page describes the role of models in ComfyUI and their place on disk. The models themselves, which to choose, for what, with which hardware, are documented in the AI models for image creation section, with their official sources and the studio's feedback. To get started: How to choose an AI image model?, GPU, VRAM and AI image models, LoRA: specialising a model.

On a machine delivered ready

On the machine in Switzerland that Axiris rents by the hour, ComfyUI is installed and the model paths are organised; you choose and install your own models, and they find their place.

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