install_comfyui

Install, update and configure the local ComfyUI installation, its sidebar panel, and this MCP server itself. Driven by the action parameter:

• action:"install" — Install ComfyUI locally: git-clone it into target_path, create a dedicated workspace virtualenv (/.venv), and install Python requirements INTO that venv (never the Python running this MCP server) via pip or uv. ComfyUI-Manager is installed from manager_requirements.txt when present, else git-cloned as a fallback. Mirrors comfy-cli install. LOCAL, subprocess-only and independent of any remote --comfyui-url target; the target dir must be empty or non-existent (an existing install is never overwritten). Runs SYNCHRONOUSLY and can take several minutes (large git clone + full torch/dependency install); the call blocks until done. On success returns a JSON report { installed, targetPath, venvPath, comfyuiUrl, managerInstalled, managerVia, version, pythonInstaller, steps[] }. Does NOT start ComfyUI. target_path is REQUIRED.

• action:"update" — Update the ComfyUI CORE install: runs git pull in the configured ComfyUI directory and reinstalls its Python requirements (auto-detecting uv vs pip). Requires a local install (COMFYUI_PATH); returns a clear error when targeting a remote instance via --comfyui-url. The requirements install targets the running server's own interpreter (recorded when this server launched ComfyUI, or an explicit COMFYUI_PYTHON); when that interpreter cannot be verified the update refuses rather than install into a guessed environment — start ComfyUI or connect first. Does NOT touch custom nodes.

• action:"update_all" — Update ALL installed CUSTOM NODES via the ComfyUI-Manager HTTP API. Mirrors comfy-cli update all. This does NOT update ComfyUI core — use action:"update" for that. Works against the connected instance (local or remote); updates run asynchronously and a ComfyUI restart may be required afterward. REFUSED while the comfyui-mcp sidebar panel is version-pinned, because 'all' would move the pinned panel too and ComfyUI-Manager cannot update everything-except-one-pack — clear the pin with action:"panel" + panel_action:"unpin", or update the other packs individually by id.

• action:"panel" — Install, update, reinstall, sync, pin, unpin, unlock, or report status of the ComfyUI sidebar panel ('comfyui-agent-panel' on the Comfy Registry; repo comfyui-mcp-panel) in the LOCAL ComfyUI's custom_nodes, selected by panel_action (default "status"). Uses the same ComfyUI-Manager path as install_custom_node and always targets the 'nightly' (git-HEAD) channel. Local-only (no-op/refuses in remote/cloud mode) and NEVER modifies a dev install (a symlinked panel dir). After install/update/reinstall/sync, ComfyUI must be RESTARTED to load the new/updated node — this tool does not auto-restart. The panel is also auto-installed-if-missing when the MCP server loads. A version PIN (panel_action:"pin") holds the panel where it is: while a pin is set, install/update/reinstall/sync and the auto-install all refuse, and 'sync' only warns that a newer panel exists. Panel operations are serialized across orchestrator processes by a lock file that is never auto-reclaimed — if a crashed orchestrator wedges it, panel_action:"unlock" reclaims the lock once it is provably abandoned. This is the SIDEBAR PANEL only; it never touches ComfyUI core or this npm package.

• action:"self_update" — Check or apply a self-update of the comfyui-mcp NPM PACKAGE (this MCP server), selected by self_update_action (default "status"). The server also auto-checks on start (opt out with COMFYUI_MCP_AUTOUPDATE=0). Detects the install mode: a dev install (npm link / source checkout) is NEVER updated; global/local installs are updated via npm; npx fetches latest on next run. The running process cannot hot-swap its own code — after an update you must RECONNECT (/mcp) or restart the orchestrator to load the new version. This tool does not auto-restart. On Windows the running orchestrator holds its own sharp DLL locked, so an in-place npm replace fails (EBUSY); the update is then handed to a deferred helper that finishes it once the orchestrator has fully stopped, and the new version loads at the next start. A failed update reports npm's own error output. This updates comfyui-mcp ITSELF — not ComfyUI (action:"update"), not the sidebar panel (action:"panel"), and not custom nodes (install_comfyui (action:"update_all")).

• action:"environment" — Report ComfyUI environment info (mirrors comfy-cli env): the running instance details from /system_stats (OS, Python, ComfyUI version, GPU/VRAM — works for remote targets) plus local probes when a workspace path is available (Python version, git revision, ComfyUI-Manager version, and key pip packages like torch/CUDA). The local python probe targets the interpreter the RUNNING server uses (its venv / embedded / standalone python, resolved from the live server), never a bare python on PATH. Degrades gracefully and NEVER guesses: when the correct interpreter can't be confirmed, local.python_probe_trusted is false, local.packages is omitted, and local.python_probe_reason says why — an absent package list means UNDETERMINED, never 'not installed'. READ-ONLY.

• action:"configure_manager" — Configure ComfyUI-Manager settings, mirroring comfy-cli manager subcommands; manager_setting picks which setting and value its new value. Most settings use the ComfyUI-Manager HTTP API (works against remote ComfyUI); set_network_mode and set_security_level have no HTTP setter and are written to Manager's config.ini (requires a known local ComfyUI path; restart ComfyUI to apply).