Wildcard Gold (ComfyUI)

Wildcard Gold is a ComfyUI text node that expands <name>-style tokens into lines from custom_wildcards/*.txt files, with recursive expansion, variable binding, and deterministic seeding. It is designed to work out of the box in any ComfyUI install without manual path configuration.

Examples

Assume ComfyUI/custom_wildcards/people.txt contains two lines Alice and Bob, and ComfyUI/custom_wildcards/pets/dogs.txt contains corgi.

Basic expansion

Template: A portrait of <people>
Output:   A portrait of Alice

Choose among files and bind a variable

Template: <people|pets/dogs:1> smiles. <people|pets/dogs:1> holds a treat.
Output:   corgi smiles. corgi holds a treat.

Nested expansion with missing policy

Template: A <people> and <nonexistent:1> at sunset
Missing policy: empty
Output: A Bob and  at sunset

Installing

• Place this repository in ComfyUI/custom_nodes/LiquidGold-WildcardGold (or any folder inside custom_nodes).
• Wildcard files live under custom_wildcards/:
  • ComfyUI/custom_wildcards (top-level)
  • Any custom_nodes/**/custom_wildcards directories (discovered recursively)
• Only .txt files are read; hidden folders and __pycache__ are skipped.

Node inputs/outputs

• Category: text/Wildcard Gold
• Node name: 🟡 Wildcard Gold
• Inputs
  • template (STRING, multiline): The prompt template to expand.
  • seed_mode (fixed | randomize): Use the provided seed or generate a fresh one per run.
  • seed (INT): 64-bit seed used when seed_mode is fixed.
  • max_passes (INT): Maximum number of recursive passes when expanding nested tokens (default 3).
  • missing_policy (keep | empty | error): How to handle tokens with no matching wildcard file.
• Output
  • prompt (STRING): Final expanded text.

Token syntax

• <name> expands using custom_wildcards/name.txt.
• <folder/name> expands using a nested file, e.g., custom_wildcards/folder/name.txt.
• <a|b|c> chooses one of several wildcard files. Choices that do not exist are ignored; if none exist the missing policy applies.
• <token:1> (or any numeric suffix) binds the expansion for all matching tokens with the same key set and number so they stay consistent inside a single run.
• Tokens inside wildcard lines are expanded too, enabling recursive composition up to max_passes passes.

Missing wildcards

• keep: leave the token untouched.
• empty: remove the token.
• error: raise an error that stops the node and reports which wildcard was missing.

Seeding and determinism

• seed_mode = fixed uses the provided seed (masked to 64 bits) for deterministic choices.
• seed_mode = randomize draws a cryptographically strong random seed per run; the node is always treated as changed so ComfyUI re-executes it.

Wildcard loading and caching

• Wildcards are resolved in order: the top-level custom_wildcards directory first, followed by every custom_nodes/**/custom_wildcards folder. Duplicate basenames are merged for convenience so <person> works across folders.
• The loader caches a hash of wildcard paths, mtimes, and sizes; the cache refreshes automatically when any tracked file changes.
• Each wildcard line is read as-is (UTF-8 with errors="ignore") and blank lines are skipped.