CRUN Nodes Next

CRUN Nodes Next

An independent CRUN integration for ComfyUI, by Felipe Silva. Built on the lessons of KIE Nodes Next, with separate credentials, code, node IDs and installation. This project is not affiliated with CRUN or Comfy Org.

0.4.2 — native media workflows and verified H3 video

A normal video node now returns VIDEO directly. Image nodes return IMAGE and MASK; speech/music nodes return AUDIO. Connect these outputs to Comfy's Preview/Save nodes. The creative node submits, waits for its existing task, downloads the selected result, and returns usable native media.

Load Image / Load Video / Load Audio
                  |
       CRUN task + model version
                  |
          IMAGE / VIDEO / AUDIO
                  |
             Preview / Save

The main menu presents task-focused Studio families, Effects and AI Tools whose output type is known. Family dropdowns retain each model's own fields, choices, reference roles and limits. Advanced URL/JSON inputs remain secondary. Switching a model returns the action to Prepare and preserves any positive credit cap.

Native reference roles include first/last frames, image batches, masks, motion video, source video and ordered video/audio references where the documented simple fields are supported. For example, Kling Motion Control accepts a native motion VIDEO, and Seedance Reference to Video exposes ordered VIDEO/AUDIO ports. These adapters do not make every provider's similarly named model interchangeable.

Real image and video round trips have passed. An approved Nano Banana Pro 1K test created, downloaded, decoded and saved native IMAGE/MASK media for a confirmed 8-credit charge; its completed asset reopened locally without a provider request. On 27 October 2026, the installed CRUN Studio MiniMax H3 Image to Video node uploaded a first-frame image, generated a five-second 480P video at standard speed, and delivered native VIDEO to Save Video. The saved H.264 file was 480 × 480 at 24 fps with 124 frames; CRUN reported a 12.5-credit task charge. The receipt displayed the quote, actual cost and timestamped balance check. These two paths do not validate every model, reference role or live audio operation. See VALIDATION.md.

The 0.4.1 panel update keeps help and credit panels aligned to node width, reduces the empty receipt height and keeps the Advanced button visible. Resizing and Advanced controls passed in a separate Comfy canvas. The original reported overflow was not reproduced there, so confirmation in the original workflow remains separate from that test.

Start with a Studio workflow

Open a Studio- recipe in Comfy's template library or from example_workflows. Choose the task and model version, then load media into its named reference roles. Known typed Model/Effect/Tool recipes also end in the appropriate Preview/Save path. Preparation-only and unknown-output operations remain Advanced API examples; their presence is not a working-media claim.

1. Prepare validates and encodes locally. It never uploads, quotes, reads a balance or creates a task. Validation/status feedback explains missing inputs; downstream media is blocked until an actual result exists.
2. Estimate uploads required native references and asks CRUN for a quote. It does not create a generation. Review the model, settings, reference transmission and cost before running Generate.
3. Generate validates, uploads required media, quotes, checks any active cap and available balance, and submits once for a new request/Take. It then waits, saves the selected result locally and supplies its native output.
4. Reuse a Take: the same prepared request and Take use the recorded task instead of submitting another one. Increase Take only when intentionally requesting a new paid result. Changing model, settings, references or Take changes the request; do not assume the same Take number freezes all edits.
5. Resume after interruption: rerun the same unchanged request/Take, or paste the accepted ID into Resume existing task under Advanced. In Estimate or Generate, explicit resume retrieves that ID without the old prompt/reference files, upload, quote or new submission. Native references are lazy during explicit recovery; disconnect any missing-file source nodes if Comfy rejects their own file validation before execution. Prepare always remains local.

Native connections and advanced URL fallbacks cannot both fill the same field. Ordered numbered references start at slot 1 without gaps. Unsupported connections are preserved and reported, rather than silently removed when selecting a model. Some nested reference structures and GIF-specific inputs still require their original URL/JSON format.

Normal creative generators run through a connected Preview/Save output path; they are not independent full-graph output targets. Legacy API task nodes retain their old behavior and output positions under Advanced for compatibility. Existing graphs are not silently converted to a different output contract.

Task reuse and recovery

Creative submission records live outside the extension. A keyed request digest scopes reuse to the configured API key, prepared request and Take. A cross-process submission lock coordinates Comfy processes sharing the same config directory. Accepted task IDs are recorded before waiting for completion. Unknown submission outcomes stop and require inspecting CRUN Logs; no replacement is submitted automatically.

The creative-job history does not automatically evict old mappings: they also prevent an old Take from creating another paid task after restart. A full or unreadable history stops new generation rather than silently resetting it. Keep a backup of this history with your task IDs. Changing API keys or config folders, or deleting history, must not be treated as preserving automatic deduplication. These are local safeguards, not a provider-wide exactly-once guarantee.

Completed assets are stored in output/CRUNResults with a credential-scoped local index and content-hash checks. If a valid local copy is available, retrieval can reuse it without downloading the provider's temporary URL again. Creative completion may still make a read-only balance refresh. Missing/corrupt local files fall back to retrieval of the same task ID, never a replacement generation.

Get Image/Video/Audio Result nodes remain available for separate existing-task recovery. A timeout or download failure preserves the accepted ID. Stopping local waiting does not promise remote cancellation or a refund.

Outputs, credits and transparency

Creative outputs include the native media, URL, task ID, estimated credits, actual credits, remaining balance and diagnostic JSON. IMAGE nodes additionally return MASK using Comfy's transparency convention: 1 minus alpha. An opaque result has a zero mask; invert it if your downstream tool expects an opaque-subject matte. Mask output is not a claim of model-generated layer decomposition.

The receipt distinguishes:

• Estimated credits: CRUN's quote before submission.
• Actual credits: the completed task's provider-reported cost, if available.
• Credits left: a separate timestamped balance check after completion.

An unknown cost or balance is unavailable, not zero. Account-balance changes are never used to invent the actual cost of one task. Quotes and displayed balances are historical responses, not continuously live prices or balances.

The optional estimated-credit cap is under Show advanced controls. crun_max_credits=0 disables that optional cap; a positive saved cap remains in force, including through model changes. A reference upload can precede the quote, cap or balance rejection. The cap checks the estimate; it is not a provider-enforced limit on the final bill. There are no extra upload/paid checkboxes in the simple flow.

Install or update

Registry package ID: crun-ai-nodes-next, publisher felipeosilva. The Comfy Registry listing and GitHub releases provide installation/download status. In Comfy's extension manager, search for CRUN Nodes Next or the package ID.

Use the backend ComfyUI folder containing main.py and custom_nodes, not the Desktop program/resources directory. Obtain source here or a package from Releases.

1. Close Comfy Desktop.
2. Move the previous CRUN folder to a backup outside custom_nodes; Comfy can import backups left inside its scanning directory.
3. Extract to ComfyUI/custom_nodes/ComfyUI-CRUN-Nodes-Next, with __init__.py directly inside and no extra nested repository folder.
4. Install requirements.txt with Comfy's Python if needed. The package uses requests, aiohttp, Pillow and NumPy; a current Comfy runtime supplies PyTorch, PyAV and the native VIDEO API for media adapters.
5. Start Comfy, refresh the interface, and open Settings → CRUN Next → Connection. Use Paste / replace CRUN API key, Save key, then Check connection.
6. Open the CRUN Next launcher for Models, AI Effects and AI Tools, or search CRUN in the Nodes menu. Use the ordinary Studio/task nodes for native media.

Legacy individual task IDs remain under Advanced → API Tasks. Old family IDs remain under Advanced → Legacy Families. Typed individual model nodes are under Advanced → Individual Models; Studio families are the main creative entry. LLM execution, 3D-native results and Effects with unknown output types remain Advanced and are not presented as complete typed workflows.

The helper below is first-install-only: it requires an explicit backend path, refuses an existing destination, copies an allowlist and verifies hashes. It does not install dependencies or start Comfy.

python scripts/install.py --custom-nodes "C:\path\to\ComfyUI\custom_nodes"

Catalog snapshot and readiness

The retained snapshot was collected on 25 October 2026:

| Inventory | Bundled coverage | | --- | --- | | Model/operation definitions | 274 entries, including 273 exact wire IDs across 21 providers | | LLM discovery union | 64 IDs: 55 listed by the authenticated check, 9 documentation-only | | Fixed AI Effects | 1,063 unique templates from 1,088 source records | | AI Tools | 18 documented operations, included above | | Image/video family tasks | 62 families covering 162 operations | | Workflow inventory | 1,399 Model/Effect/Tool/Studio recipes, all defaulting to Prepare |

Counts mean discovered operations/templates, not distinct model engines, entitlement or successful execution. In 0.4, known-output recipes use native media paths; unsupported protocols or unknown outputs stay explicitly Advanced. No account access or generated quality is inferred from a catalog listing.

Sources are CRUN's documentation index, public model definitions, the LLM table and the live LLM inventory contract. Refresh is explicit. Public schema refresh uses no key; Effects and live LLM discovery use separate read-only authenticated requests. Restart Comfy after registering new catalog definitions. Never put a secret on a command line or in a workflow.

python scripts/sync_catalog.py
python scripts/sync_effects.py --comfy-root "C:\path\to\ComfyUI"
python scripts/build_templates.py
python scripts/build_family_templates.py

Credentials and privacy

Enter your own CRUN key only in CRUN Next settings. Keys are never stored in workflow JSON, browser localStorage or persistent Comfy setting values. Windows uses DPAPI for the current user, without plaintext fallback. Other platforms use an owner-readable file that is not encrypted. CRUN_API_KEY overrides saved storage. Removing a saved key does not unset it.

Configuration, connection receipts, catalog caches, task records and completed asset indexes are separate files outside the extension. CRUN_NEXT_CONFIG_DIR can select another config directory. Upload URLs are cached only in memory for 30 minutes by content and credential; they are temporary, not durable storage. Request digests and task records omit prompts, media URLs and keys, but generated files and diagnostic node outputs can still contain private material. Review saved workflows before sharing.

The bridge targets a trusted single-user loopback installation. DPAPI does not protect against compromised same-user processes/custom nodes. Optional remote previews load on user action and reveal the browser IP to their media host. No proprietary Effects implementation or provider preview bundle is included. See SECURITY.md.

Development and remaining gates

python -m unittest discover -s tests -v
node --test tests/*frontend*.mjs
python scripts/build_release.py

VALIDATION.md separates prior discovery, offline/synthetic checks, real local media, interactive Comfy acceptance and live provider execution. ROADMAP.md lists the remaining model/media and release gates. GitHub release and Comfy Registry publication status are verified separately from local implementation and generation evidence.

MIT license. KIE Next remains independent; neither package routes requests through the other. Remote models/templates remain subject to CRUN's terms and charges.