ComfyUI-ReferenceCopy

ComfyUI-ReferenceCopy

Houdini-style reference copy for ComfyUI. Clone any node and keep every parameter live-linked to the original. Change the source, the copies follow. Override one parameter on a copy and just that one breaks free, exactly like editing a referenced parm in Houdini or an instance in Fusion.

It is a pure frontend extension. It adds no nodes to your graph, just a hotkey and a right-click action.

Why

ComfyUI has no reference copy. The native Clone is a plain independent duplicate, linked subgraph instances are unfinished, and the existing broadcast tools (Primitive, Use Everywhere, Context nodes) move single values rather than a whole node's parameters. Reference Copy fills that gap.

Usage

1. Select a node.
2. Press Ctrl+Alt+C, or right-click the node and choose "Reference Copy: reference clone (live-link)".
3. A linked copy appears, tinted and titled with a ↪ arrow. Every widget now tracks the original.
4. Change a widget on the original. The copy updates live.
5. Type a new value directly into a widget on the copy to localize it. That one parameter stops following the source (the title shows how many parameters are localized). The rest stay linked.
6. Right-click a copy for "relink all parameters" (re-sync everything) or "break link" (turn it back into a normal node, keeping its current values).

The link is one-way (source to copy) and is stored in the workflow, so it survives save, reload, and undo/redo.

Install

Clone into your custom_nodes folder and restart ComfyUI:

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/jeremieLouvaert/ComfyUI-ReferenceCopy

It is frontend-only, so there are no Python dependencies.

Hotkey

The default is Ctrl+Alt+C (the Houdini combo). It is matched on the physical key, so the keyboard layout does not matter and AltGr does not interfere. To use a different combo, edit the keydown check near the bottom of web/reference_copy.js.

Known limitations

• Verified on the classic LiteGraph renderer. The newer Vue node renderer (Nodes 2.0) is untested and may need a future update.
• Nodes built around fully custom DOM widgets from other packs may not mirror those particular widgets. Standard widgets (numbers, text, dropdowns, seeds) work.
• Copying a linked clone into a different workflow breaks the link, because the source is not present. The copy keeps its last values and becomes a normal node. This matches how Houdini and Fusion behave.
• One-way only. Editing the source updates the copies, not the reverse.

License

MIT.