Custom Wildcard Prompt

Custom Wildcard Prompt

A lightweight ComfyUI node that turns {option one|option two|...} blocks in your prompt into randomly selected values — one pick per generation, or several if you use multiple blocks. Works with any model (SD, SDXL, Flux, Qwen, etc.) and can be wired into any text input, including positive or negative prompts.

Features

• Wildcard syntax: {option one|option two|etc}
• Seed control: fix the seed to freeze the selection, or let it vary per generation.
• Multiple blocks per prompt: each {...} block is resolved independently.
• Debug output: a second STRING output shows exactly which options were selected, so you can see what the model actually received.
• Bracket safety check: if { and } counts don't match, the node returns the original text plus a syntax-error message instead of silently producing garbage.

Syntax

{option one|option two|option three}

• Options are separated by |.
• Whitespace around each option is trimmed.
• Nesting is not supported — the regex matches only the innermost {...} without inner braces.
• Empty options are dropped.

Live examples

Clothing and color

a woman wearing {a red silk dress|a blue denim jacket|a white linen shirt}, {standing on a beach|sitting in a café|walking through a forest}

Pose and emotion

portrait of a man, {smiling softly|looking away|eyes closed}, {arms crossed|hands in pockets|leaning against a wall}

Background

{cyberpunk city at night|sunlit Italian villa courtyard|misty mountain lake}, cinematic lighting

Negative prompt

{blurry|low quality|extra fingers|watermark}

Each generation picks one option per block. With two blocks above, you get 3 × 3 = 9 possible combinations per prompt.

Seed behavior

• Fixed seed → the same options are selected every run.
• Randomize / increment seed → a new combination is chosen each generation, like any other ComfyUI node with a seed input.
• The node uses a local random.Random(seed) instance, so it does not disturb the global random state used by other nodes.

Installation

Via ComfyUI Manager

Search for Custom Wildcard Prompt in the Manager and install.

Manual (from console)

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/eliseipanov/custom-willdcard-prompt.git

Then restart ComfyUI.

Note: the repository URL above is spelled custom-willdcard-prompt (with willd). If you rename the repo later, update this line and the Repository field in pyproject.toml.

Usage

1. Add the node 🛠️ Custom Wildcard Prompt (category: utils/custom).
2. Type your prompt with {...} blocks into the text field.
3. Connect the final_prompt output to the text input of a text encoder, not directly to the sampler. The encoder converts the string into CONDITIONING:
   • Qwen Image 2.1: connect final_prompt → prompt input of Text Encode Qwen Image 2.1, then its positive output → sampler's positive.
   • SD / SDXL / Flux: connect final_prompt → text input of CLIP Text Encode, then its CONDITIONING output → sampler's positive.
4. The debug_info output is a plain STRING for display only. Connect it to a text viewer such as Preview Any or Show Text to see which options were selected. Do not connect it to the sampler or encoder.
5. For a negative prompt, repeat the same pattern: final_prompt → text encoder → sampler's negative.

final_prompt (STRING) → Text Encode (Qwen 2.1 or CLIP) → positive (CONDITIONING) → Sampler
debug_info (STRING) → Preview Any / Show Text (display only)

<img width="1105" height="406" alt="custom-wildcard-prompt" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/dd4e3e80-0572-4fec-a77e-628d121ccbd0" /> *(Screenshot How-to-Use Example)*

Outputs

| Output | Type | Description | |---|---|---| | final_prompt | STRING | The prompt with all {...} blocks resolved. | | debug_info | STRING | A ✅ Selected: ... summary of the chosen options, or a syntax-error message. Usefull with Show Any Node or other text/string preview nodes |

Roadmap

1. Priority option — prefix an option with ^ to force it to always be chosen, e.g. {Option one|^Option two|etc...}. Useful when you've found the best variant (e.g. a lighting setup you liked in Qwen Edit 2.1) but don't want to delete the others yet. The ^ stays until you remove it.
2. Comment blocks — wrap any part of the prompt in /* ... */ to exclude it from the output, including any {prompt|variants} inside. Useful for temporarily disabling a section without deleting and re-adding it, or for keeping notes next to the prompt.
3. Partial text locking — mark a section of the prompt as "do not randomize", so you can edit one part, compare, and restore it without losing the rest.

Contributing

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Please open an issue or a pull request on GitHub:

• Issues: https://github.com/eliseipanov/custom-willdcard-prompt/issues
• Pull requests: https://github.com/eliseipanov/custom-willdcard-prompt/pulls

License

MIT — see LICENSE.