ComfyUI Deadline Submission

ComfyUI Deadline Plugin

Submit ComfyUI jobs to Thinkbox Deadline from inside ComfyUI.

Quick demo:

<p align="center"> <a href="https://youtu.be/NFmIvEoEPiU"> <img src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/NFmIvEoEPiU/maxresdefault.jpg" alt="ComfyUI x Deadline demo" /> </a> </p>

This plugin adds two nodes:

• Submit to Deadline sends the current workflow to the farm.
• DeadlineSeed gives each Deadline variation a predictable seed.

The submitter does not render the workflow locally. It only packages the job and sends it to Deadline.

Install

Clone this into ComfyUI/custom_nodes:

git clone https://github.com/doubletwisted/ComfyUI-Deadline-Plugin.git

Restart ComfyUI.

Then deploy the Deadline plugin:

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\deploy_deadline_plugin.ps1

The deploy script asks Deadline where the repository lives by running deadlinecommand -GetRepositoryPath, then copies plugins/ComfyUI into custom/plugins/ComfyUI.

You can also point it at the repo yourself:

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\deploy_deadline_plugin.ps1 -RepositoryPath "\\YOUR-SERVER\Repository\custom\plugins"

In Deadline Monitor, set the ComfyUI plugin's ComfyUI Installation Paths. Put one portable ComfyUI root per line:

C:\ComfyUI_windows_portable
D:\Apps\ComfyUI
\\YOUR-SERVER\software\ComfyUI

Workers try those paths in order and use the first one that contains ComfyUI\main.py and python_embeded\python.exe.

Reusing a worker's GUI session

Set these Deadline worker extra-info keys for each ComfyUI worker: ComfyUIApiUrl (for example http://127.0.0.1:8188) and ComfyUILaunchGpuUuid (an NVIDIA GPU-... UUID). The configured local endpoint is verified before a job queues its own prompt behind existing GUI work. Verification prefers the plugin's /deadline/session identity response and matching ComfyUI root; for an older already-running session, Windows port ownership, executable path, PID, and command line must match the configured installation. An unrelated service that happens to own the port is never reused. Deadline tracks only that prompt and never stops the GUI backend. If the endpoint is absent, fallback starts only on the configured port and resolves the configured NVIDIA UUID. The older Per-Worker ComfyUI Endpoints JSON setting remains a fallback for existing configurations.

For a verified reused endpoint, task inputs are copied into an isolated input/deadline/<submission-id> subtree and recorded outputs are copied to the job output directory.

Use It

Add Submit to Deadline to your workflow, set output_directory to a path the farm can see, and run the workflow in ComfyUI.

Use batch_count for how many variations you want. Use chunk_size for how many variations a Deadline task should process before it finishes. These are variations, not animation frames.

If you want seeds to change per variation, use DeadlineSeed. A base seed of 1000 becomes:

variation 0 -> 1000
variation 1 -> 1001
variation 2 -> 1002

Input Files

Normal ComfyUI loader nodes copy pasted or uploaded files into ComfyUI/input. That folder usually exists only on the machine where you submitted the job, so the plugin stages those referenced files next to your output folder:

<output parent>\input\

Workers start ComfyUI with that folder as --input-directory.

Only files used by the submitted prompt are copied. If a file already exists and is identical, it is reused. If the name collides with a different file, the plugin gives the staged copy a unique suffix.

Absolute path loader nodes are left alone. Those paths must already be valid on the farm.

Workflow Metadata

Deadline gets both files:

• prompt_to_execute.json is the API prompt the worker renders.
• workflow.json is the normal ComfyUI workflow with node positions.

The worker writes the normal workflow metadata back into the output image when ComfyUI provides it. So dragging the finished image back into ComfyUI should reopen the readable graph, not the ugly API-format graph.

Headless-safety preflight

Every variation is checked on the selected Deadline worker after input staging, seed expansion, and fixed-switch resolution. The worker:

• validates every class_type against that worker's live /object_info;
• rejects missing staged inputs and known browser-interactive nodes;
• removes fixed ImpactSwitch, LatentSwitch, and SEGSSwitch pass-through nodes by reconnecting consumers to the selected upstream input;
• sends the complete submitted extra_pnginfo.workflow to metadata-aware nodes;
• verifies that ComfyUI history reports the expected output nodes and that every reported file exists;
• permits the exact DeadlineWorkerRegistration control prompt when both worker and distributed modes are enabled; this prompt completes through history and intentionally produces no file;
• turns prompt-validation errors, execution exceptions, early process exits, HTTP timeouts, missing output, and Deadline task timeouts into task failures.

Dynamic/connected switch selections are not rewritten. Browser-driven chooser/picker/preview-bridge nodes (FL_ImagePicker, easy imageChooser, ImageChooser, PreviewChooser, PreviewBridge, and ImpactPreviewBridge) are rejected because a farm render has no user to answer them. Other nodes using PROMPT, DYNPROMPT, UNIQUE_ID, or EXTRA_PNGINFO remain supported when the worker has the node and the submission includes full workflow metadata. Unknown third-party interactive nodes cannot be identified from /object_info alone; add their exact class_type to KNOWN_UI_DEPENDENT_NODE_TYPES after confirming that they wait for frontend state.

Maintenance Scripts

There are sanitized Deadline maintenance-job templates in scripts/maintenance.

Copy them somewhere your workers can reach, edit the default paths, then submit sync jobs with:

python \\YOUR-SERVER\share\scripts\maintenance\submit_comfy_sync.py --type both

You can also run only one side:

python \\YOUR-SERVER\share\scripts\maintenance\submit_comfy_sync.py --type installation
python \\YOUR-SERVER\share\scripts\maintenance\submit_comfy_sync.py --type models

Notes

• This targets portable Windows ComfyUI workers.
• Deadline handles render timeouts. Set those in Deadline Monitor.
• /deadline/session is identity-only and is used to prove endpoint ownership. ComfyUI-Deadline-Distributed continues to own its execution routes.

Run all regression tests with python -m unittest discover -s tests -v.