comfyui-mcp-server

ComfyUI MCP Server

Generate and refine AI images/audio/video through natural conversation

A lightweight MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that lets AI agents generate and iteratively refine images, audio, and video using a local ComfyUI instance.

You run the server, connect a client, and issue tool calls. Everything else is optional depth.

Quick Start (2–3 minutes)

This proves everything is working.

1) Clone and set up

git clone https://github.com/joenorton/comfyui-mcp-server.git
cd comfyui-mcp-server
pip install -r requirements.txt

2) Start ComfyUI

Make sure ComfyUI is installed and running locally.

cd <ComfyUI_dir>
python main.py --port 8188

3) Run the MCP server

From the repository directory:

python server.py

The server listens at:

http://127.0.0.1:9000/mcp

4) Verify it works (no AI client required)

Run the included test client:

# Use default prompt
python test_client.py

# Or provide your own prompt
python test_client.py -p "a beautiful sunset over mountains"
python test_client.py --prompt "a cat on a mat"

test_client.py will:

• connect to the MCP server
• list available tools
• fetch and display server defaults (width, height, steps, model, etc.)
• run generate_image with your prompt (or a default)
• automatically use server defaults for all other parameters
• print the resulting asset information

If this step succeeds, the system is working.

Note: The test client respects server defaults configured via config files, environment variables, or set_defaults calls. Only the prompt parameter is required; all other parameters use server defaults automatically.

That’s it.

Use with an AI Agent (Cursor / Claude / n8n)

Once the server is running, you can connect it to an AI client.

Create a project-scoped .mcp.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "comfyui-mcp-server": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Note: Some clients use "type": "http" instead of "streamable-http". Both work with this server. If auto-discovery doesn’t work, try changing the type field.

Restart your AI client. You can now call tools such as:

• generate_image
• view_image
• regenerate
• get_job
• list_assets

This is the primary intended usage mode.

What You Can Do After It Works

Once you’ve confirmed the server runs and a client can connect, the system supports:

• Iterative refinement via regenerate (no re-prompting)
• Explicit asset identity for reliable follow-ups
• Job polling and cancellation for long-running generations
• Optional image injection into the AI’s context (view_image)
• Auto-discovered ComfyUI workflows with parameter exposure
• Configurable defaults to avoid repeating common settings

Everything below builds on the same basic loop you just tested.

Migration Notes (Previous Versions)

If you’ve used earlier versions of this project, a few things have changed.

What’s the Same

• You still run a local MCP server that delegates execution to ComfyUI
• Workflows are still JSON files placed in the workflows/ directory
• Image generation behavior is unchanged at its core

What’s New

• Streamable HTTP transport replaces the older WebSocket-based approach
• Explicit job management (get_job, get_queue_status, cancel_job)
• Asset identity instead of ad-hoc URLs (stable across hostname changes)
• Iteration support via regenerate (replay with parameter overrides)
• Optional visual feedback for agents via view_image
• Configurable defaults to avoid repeating common parameters

What Changed Conceptually

Earlier versions were a thin request/response bridge. The current version is built around iteration and stateful control loops.

You can still generate an image with a single call, but you now have the option to:

• refer back to specific outputs
• refine results without re-specifying everything
• poll and cancel long-running jobs
• let AI agents inspect generated images directly

Looking for the Old Behavior?

If you want the minimal, single-shot behavior from earlier versions:

• run test_client.py (this mirrors the original usage pattern)
• call generate_image with just a prompt (server defaults handle the rest)
• ignore the additional tools

No migration is required unless you want the new capabilities.

Available Tools

Generation Tools

• generate_image: Generate images (requires prompt)
• generate_song: Generate audio (requires tags and lyrics)
• regenerate: Regenerate an existing asset with optional parameter overrides (requires asset_id)

Viewing Tools

• view_image: View generated images inline (images only, not audio/video)

Job Management Tools

• get_queue_status: Check ComfyUI queue state (running/pending jobs) - provides async awareness
• get_job: Poll job completion status by prompt_id - check if a job has finished
• list_assets: Browse recently generated assets - enables AI memory and iteration
• get_asset_metadata: Get full provenance and parameters for an asset - includes workflow history
• cancel_job: Cancel a queued or running job

Configuration Tools

• list_models: List available ComfyUI models
• get_defaults: Get current default values
• set_defaults: Set default values (with optional persistence)

Workflow Tools

• list_workflows: List all available workflows
• run_workflow: Run any workflow with custom parameters

Publish Tools

• get_publish_info: Show publish status (detected project root, publish dir, ComfyUI output root, and any missing setup)
• set_comfyui_output_root: Set ComfyUI output directory (recommended for Comfy Desktop / nonstandard installs; persisted across restarts)
• publish_asset: Publish a generated asset into the project’s web directory with deterministic compression (default 600KB)

Publish Notes:

• Session-scoped: asset_ids are valid only for the current server session; restart invalidates them.
• Zero-config in common cases: Publish dir auto-detected (public/gen, static/gen, or assets/gen); if ComfyUI output can’t be detected, set it once via set_comfyui_output_root.
• Two modes: Demo (explicit filename) and Library (auto filename + manifest update). In library mode, manifest_key is required.
• Manifest: Updated only when manifest_key is provided.
• Compression: Deterministic ladder to meet size limits; fails with a clear error if it can’t.

Quick Start:

Example agent conversation flow:

User: “Generate a hero image for my website and publish it as hero.webp”

Agent: Checks publish configuration

• Calls get_publish_info() → sees status “ready”

Agent: Generates image

• Calls generate_image(prompt="a hero image for a website") → gets asset_id

Agent: Publishes asset

• Calls publish_asset(asset_id="...", target_filename="hero.webp") → success

User: “Now generate a logo and add it to the manifest as ‘site-logo’”

Agent: Generates and publishes with manifest

• Calls generate_image(prompt="a modern logo") → gets asset_id
• Calls publish_asset(asset_id="...", manifest_key="site-logo") → auto-generates filename, updates manifest

See docs/HOW_TO_TEST_PUBLISH.md for detailed usage and testing instructions.

Custom Workflows

Add custom workflows by placing JSON files in the workflows/ directory. Workflows are automatically discovered and exposed as MCP tools.

Workflow Placeholders

Use PARAM_* placeholders in workflow JSON to expose parameters:

• PARAM_PROMPT → prompt: str (required)
• PARAM_INT_STEPS → steps: int (optional)
• PARAM_FLOAT_CFG → cfg: float (optional)

Example:

{
  "3": {
    "inputs": {
      "text": "PARAM_PROMPT",
      "steps": "PARAM_INT_STEPS"
    }
  }
}

The tool name is derived from the filename (e.g., my_workflow.json → my_workflow tool).

Configuration

The server supports configurable defaults to avoid repeating common parameters. Defaults can be set via:

• Runtime defaults: Use set_defaults tool (ephemeral, lost on restart)
• Config file: ~/.config/comfy-mcp/config.json (persistent)
• Environment variables: COMFY_MCP_DEFAULT_* prefixed variables

Defaults are resolved in priority order: per-call values → runtime defaults → config file → environment variables → hardcoded defaults.

For complete configuration details, see docs/REFERENCE.md.

Detailed Reference

Complete parameter lists, return schemas, configuration options, and advanced workflow metadata are documented in:

• API Reference - Complete tool reference, parameters, return values, and configuration
• Architecture - Design decisions and system overview

Project Structure

comfyui-mcp-server/
├── server.py              # Main entry point
├── comfyui_client.py      # ComfyUI API client
├── asset_processor.py     # Image processing utilities
├── test_client.py         # Test client
├── managers/              # Core managers
│   ├── workflow_manager.py
│   ├── defaults_manager.py
│   └── asset_registry.py
├── tools/                 # MCP tool implementations
│   ├── generation.py
│   ├── asset.py
│   ├── job.py             # Job management tools
│   ├── configuration.py
│   └── workflow.py
├── models/                # Data models
│   ├── workflow.py
│   └── asset.py
└── workflows/             # Workflow JSON files
    ├── generate_image.json
    └── generate_song.json

Notes

• The server binds to localhost by default. Do not expose it publicly without authentication or a reverse proxy.
• Ensure your models exist in <ComfyUI_dir>/models/checkpoints/
• Server uses streamable-http transport (HTTP-based, not WebSocket)
• Workflows are auto-discovered - no code changes needed
• Assets expire after 24 hours (configurable)
• view_image only supports images (PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF)
• Asset identity uses (filename, subfolder, type) instead of URL for robustness
• Full workflow history is stored for provenance and reproducibility
• regenerate uses stored workflow data to recreate assets with parameter overrides
• Session isolation: list_assets can filter by session for clean AI agent context

Troubleshooting

Server won’t start:

• Check ComfyUI is running on port 8188 (default)
• Verify Python 3.8+ is installed (python --version)
• Check all dependencies are installed: pip install -r requirements.txt
• Check server logs for specific error messages

Client can’t connect:

• Verify server shows “Server running at http://127.0.0.1:9000/mcp” in the console
• Test server directly: curl http://127.0.0.1:9000/mcp (should return MCP response)
• Check .mcp.json is in project root (or correct location for your client)
• Try both "type": "streamable-http" and "type": "http" - both are supported
• For Cursor-specific issues, see docs/MCP_CONFIG_README.md

Tools not appearing:

• Check workflows/ directory has JSON files with PARAM_* placeholders
• Check server logs for workflow parsing errors
• Verify ComfyUI has required custom nodes installed (if using custom workflows)
• Restart the MCP server after adding new workflows

Asset not found errors:

• Assets expire after 24 hours by default (configurable via COMFY_MCP_ASSET_TTL_HOURS)
• Assets are lost on server restart (ephemeral by design)
• Use get_asset_metadata to verify asset exists before using regenerate
• Check server logs to see if asset was registered successfully

Known Limitations (v1.0)

• Ephemeral asset registry: asset_id references are only valid while the MCP server is running (and until TTL expiry). After restart, previously-issued asset_ids can’t be resolved, and regenerate will fail for those assets.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for development guidelines.

Acknowledgements

• @venetanji - streamable-http foundation & PARAM_* system

Maintainer

@joenorton

License

Apache License 2.0