/comfy-gen — Generate an Image

The user wants to generate an image using ComfyUI. Their prompt is provided as the argument to this command.

Instructions

1. Parse the user's prompt. The argument after /comfy-gen is the image description: $ARGUMENTS

   If no argument was provided, ask the user what they'd like to generate.

2. Check available models. Use the list_local_models tool with model_type: "checkpoints" to see what checkpoints are installed.

3. If no checkpoints are installed — acquire one automatically.

   Do NOT ask the user to download a model. Instead, find and download one yourself:

   Option A — CivitAI (preferred if CIVITAI_API_TOKEN is set):

   • Use WebFetch to search CivitAI's REST API: https://civitai.com/api/v1/models?query=SDXL&types=Checkpoint&sort=Most+Downloaded&limit=5
   • Pick the top result that matches the user's needs (SDXL for general, Flux for quality, etc.)
   • Get the download URL from the model version: https://civitai.com/api/download/models/{modelVersionId}?token={CIVITAI_API_TOKEN}
   • Use download_model with target_subfolder: "checkpoints" to download it

   Option B — HuggingFace (default):

   • Use search_models to find a suitable checkpoint (e.g., query "SDXL" or "stable diffusion xl")
   • Find the direct .safetensors download URL from the model page (typically https://huggingface.co/{repo}/resolve/main/{filename})
   • Use download_model with target_subfolder: "checkpoints" to download it

   Sensible defaults by category:

   • General purpose: SDXL base (stabilityai/stable-diffusion-xl-base-1.0)
   • Fast generation: SDXL Turbo or Lightning
   • High quality: Flux.1 schnell or dev (if user has enough VRAM)
   • Anime: Anything-XL or similar

   Tell the user what you're downloading and why. Large checkpoints can be 2-7 GB.

4. Create the workflow. Use the create_workflow tool with:

   • template: "txt2img"
   • params: Include positive_prompt from the user's input. Set checkpoint to the model filename. Use sensible defaults (1024x1024 for SDXL, 20 steps, cfg 8).

5. Enqueue the workflow. Pass the workflow JSON from step 3 to enqueue_workflow. This returns immediately with a prompt_id.

6. Monitor progress in background. Start a background task to track the job:

   Bash(run_in_background: true):
   node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/monitor-progress.mjs" <prompt_id>
   

   This connects to ComfyUI's WebSocket and prints real-time step progress (e.g., step 3/14 (21%)), then reports completion with output filenames. You do NOT need to poll get_job_status — the background task handles everything.

   Continue the conversation while waiting. Check the background task output when notified it completed.

   If the job fails, the monitor prints error details (node, message). Use get_history for the full traceback if needed.

   Fallback: If the background script is unavailable, use get_job_status to poll until done is true.

7. Show the result. Once the background monitor reports completion, use list_output_images (limit 1) to find the newest image. Read it with the Read tool to display it to the user.

8. Open the image. Open the image so the user can see it immediately without navigating to the output folder. Use the Bash tool with the appropriate command for the OS:

   • macOS: open /path/to/image.png
   • Linux: xdg-open /path/to/image.png
   • Windows: start "" "/path/to/image.png"

   The image will be saved to ComfyUI's output directory (check get_system_stats for the --output-directory arg, or default to ~/Documents/ComfyUI/output/).

Model Selection Logic

When choosing a checkpoint, consider:

• User's prompt: Photorealistic → SDXL or Juggernaut XL. Anime/illustration → Anything-XL. Abstract → Flux.
• Available VRAM: Check get_system_stats. Flux needs ~12GB. SDXL needs ~6GB. SD 1.5 works on ~4GB.
• Speed vs quality: For quick tests, prefer turbo/lightning models (4-8 steps). For quality, use full models (20+ steps).

CivitAI Integration

If the environment variable CIVITAI_API_TOKEN is available, prefer CivitAI for model discovery because it has:

• A larger selection of fine-tuned models
• Community ratings and reviews
• Better categorization (photorealistic, anime, illustration, etc.)

CivitAI REST API endpoints:

• Search: GET https://civitai.com/api/v1/models?query={query}&types=Checkpoint&sort=Most+Downloaded&limit=5
• Model details: GET https://civitai.com/api/v1/models/{modelId}
• Download: GET https://civitai.com/api/download/models/{modelVersionId}?token={token}

Always include the token query parameter when downloading.

Example

User: /comfy-gen a beautiful sunset over mountains with golden light

Steps:

• List checkpoints → none found
• Search HuggingFace for "SDXL" → find stabilityai/stable-diffusion-xl-base-1.0
• Download sd_xl_base_1.0.safetensors to checkpoints folder
• Create txt2img workflow with the prompt and downloaded model
• Enqueue the workflow, poll for completion
• Show the generated image

Notes

• Always randomize the seed (let the template handle it) unless the user requests a specific seed
• If the user specifies dimensions, aspect ratio, steps, or other parameters, pass them through to create_workflow
• For negative prompts, use a sensible default like "blurry, low quality, deformed" unless the user specifies one
• If ComfyUI is not reachable, tell the user to check that it's running
• After downloading a model, it's immediately available — no restart needed