Direct package install conflicts with vanilla ComfyUI

[ryanontheinside]

Expected Behavior

The ComfyUI fork should work as a Python package dependency alongside a vanilla ComfyUI installation, whether installed directly via pip+git or from a local clone.

Actual behavior

• Working: Installing from local clone works alongside vanilla ComfyUI:

  git clone https://github.com/hiddenswitch/ComfyUI.git hiddenswitch
  cd hiddenswitch
  git checkout ce3583ad42c024b8f060d0002cbe20c265da6dc8
  pip install .

  Result: Both vanilla ComfyUI and the package version function correctly along side one another.

• Breaking: Direct package installation breaks vanilla ComfyUI:

  pip install git+https://github.com/hiddenswitch/ComfyUI.git@ce3583ad42c024b8f060d0002cbe20c265da6dc8

  Result: After this installation, the vanilla ComfyUI installation stops working. Specifically:

  • The vanilla ComfyUI UI/workspace no longer functions
  • See included debug logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Set up vanilla ComfyUI installation
2. Try direct installation method:

   pip install git+https://github.com/hiddenswitch/ComfyUI.git@ce3583ad42c024b8f060d0002cbe20c265da6dc8

3. Observe that it fails to work properly
4. Uninstall and try local installation method:

   git clone https://github.com/hiddenswitch/ComfyUI.git
   cd ComfyUI
   git checkout ce3583ad42c024b8f060d0002cbe20c265da6dc8
   pip install .

5. Observe that it works correctly

Debug Logs

Some select errors during vanilla ComfyUI startup:


Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Ryan\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\main.py", line 295, in <module>
    event_loop, _, start_all_func = start_comfyui()
                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\Ryan\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\main.py", line 266, in start_comfyui
    hijack_progress(prompt_server)
  File "C:\Users\Ryan\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\main.py", line 228, in hijack_progress
    comfy.utils.set_progress_bar_global_hook(hook)
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AttributeError: module 'comfy.utils' has no attribute 'set_progress_bar_global_hook'. Did you mean: 'set_progress_bar_enabled'?



Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Ryan\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\nodes.py", line 2106, in load_custom_node
    module_spec.loader.exec_module(module)
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 940, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 241, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "D:\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\comfy_extras\nodes_latent.py", line 2, in <module>
    import comfy_extras.nodes_post_processing
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'comfy_extras.nodes_post_processing'

Cannot import D:\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\comfy_extras\nodes_latent.py module for custom nodes: No module named 'comfy_extras.nodes_post_processing'
Successfully imported spandrel_extra_arches: support for non commercial upscale models.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Ryan\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\nodes.py", line 2106, in load_custom_node
    module_spec.loader.exec_module(module)
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 940, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 241, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "D:\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\comfy_extras\nodes_video_model.py", line 6, in <module>
    import comfy_extras.nodes_model_merging
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'comfy_extras.nodes_model_merging'

Cannot import D:\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\comfy_extras\nodes_video_model.py module for custom nodes: No module named 'comfy_extras.nodes_model_merging'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Ryan\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\nodes.py", line 2106, in load_custom_node
    module_spec.loader.exec_module(module)
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 940, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 241, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "D:\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\comfy_extras\nodes_model_merging_model_specific.py", line 1, in <module>
    import comfy_extras.nodes_model_merging
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'comfy_extras.nodes_model_merging'

Cannot import D:\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\comfy_extras\nodes_model_merging_model_specific.py module for custom nodes: No module named 'comfy_extras.nodes_model_merging'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Ryan\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\nodes.py", line 2106, in load_custom_node
    module_spec.loader.exec_module(module)
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 940, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 241, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "D:\Cursor Projects\ryanontheinside_github\Comfy_Fresh\ComfyUI\comfy_extras\nodes_sd3.py", line 6, in <module>
    import comfy_extras.nodes_slg
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'comfy_extras.nodes_slg'

Other

This fork is fantastic - it enables so many possibilities. I'm sharing this behavior because I'm genuinely unsure if it's:

1. An actual issue in the package setup
2. Expected Python packaging behavior I'm not familiar with
3. Something that needs a different approach altogether

Any insights would be greatly appreciated! Happy to provide more details if needed.

[Chaoses-Ib]

This issue has existed for a long time, I (and @exdysa) have encountered it half a year ago: comfyanonymous#3702

I thought it's probably unfixable since they both use the same package name (e.g. comfy.utils) and just added it to the troubleshooting of ComfyScript. But if a local installation can work around it then maybe there is some Python path priority magic can fix it with direct installation.

[doctorpangloss]

I can reproduce the issue by installing locally too. I'm not sure why in your case the from-local versus remote-git installation changes the behavior.

The underlying issue is that upstream is using relative imports sometimes, but it lacks __init__.py in the right places for that to work. It generally works because things hack the sys.path anyway and paper over this mistake.

The most robust workaround is to add the missing __init__.py files yourself in upstream:

find comfy/ comfy_extras/ -type d -exec touch {}/__init__.py \;

Get-ChildItem -Path comfy/,comfy_extras/ -Directory -Recurse | ForEach-Object { if (-not (Test-Path (Join-Path $_.FullName "__init__.py"))) { New-Item -Path (Join-Path $_.FullName "__init__.py") -ItemType File } }

If you run this in the ComfyUI directory, the problem should go away. If it does I can research an approach that doesn't require adding these files and otherwise behaves the same way.

[ryanontheinside]

@doctorpangloss installing locally in editable mode behaves differently

[doctorpangloss]

@doctorpangloss installing locally in editable mode behaves differently

I believe you I just can't figure out why lol

[ryanontheinside]

Lolol ok we are on the same page then. I just didn't specify that in the issue wanted to clarify

…

On Sun, Feb 9, 2025, 6:56 PM Benjamin Berman ***@***.***> wrote: @doctorpangloss <https://github.com/doctorpangloss> installing locally in editable mode behaves differently I believe you I just can't figure out why lol — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#30 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AB2FEJYWCV7NKWRBKRLMI7T2O7TJ5AVCNFSM6AAAAABWTRT3YCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDMNBWGY3DENZYGM> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[doctorpangloss]

regarding editable mode specifically the .pth files interact in a way where they are loaded after the directory-search style imports when using comfyui upstream, whereas when installed as a package... hard to say

in the meantime I strongly recommend the workaround. I can probably convince upstream to add the __init__.py files anyway