📃 Create batch

Some workflows need to hand a bunch of values to one node at once - a list of prompts to iterate over, a pile of numbers to sum, several strings to pass into a script. ComfyUI's default instinct is to keep everything on separate wires. "📃 Create batch" is the node that gathers them: connect up to twenty inputs (input0 through input19) and it returns them as a single Python list in order.

The output is named Batch, which is mildly confusing, so let's be precise about what you get: a Python list, built by list(...values()), with unconnected slots skipped. The list is what comes out the *-typed Batch socket.

The batch vs list thing

FlowNodes' own README draws a distinction that trips everyone up: a list (each item is executed separately when it feeds into another node) versus a batch (everything is handed over at once, and the receiving node has to support it). In practice:

• This node (and the ✏️ Create-empty-object family) produce actual Python lists.
• The 📃 List to Batch and 📃 Batch to List nodes convert between the "items run separately" and "all at once" flavors.
• The 🐍 Execute Python and 📖 Generic operation nodes consume real lists happily.

So: gather with Create batch, then either process the list whole with a script/operation node, or unmerge it into separate items with the batch/list converters. That last pattern is the README's headline use: "reading/writing individual batch items using operation nodes, or giving it as an input for a script node."

Why no_cache is there

Create batch has a required no_cache input, same dummy widget as the other FlowNodes function nodes - it produces a random value every run so this node and everything downstream re-executes. The README calls this out specifically: "Uses no-cache, so it won't lead to unexpected results with caching." The failure it prevents is the classic cache trap: you change one of the inputs, but the list node doesn't rerun because ComfyUI thinks nothing it cares about changed. With no_cache, the list is rebuilt every run. Don't touch that socket, just leave it alone.

The write-operation pattern

This is the intended pairing and the thing most people miss: create the list, then modify it with 📖 Generic operation (write) nodes - f.append(s), f[s] = t - using flow wires to guarantee the writes happen in order. A list built once and mutated by subsequent writes is how you accumulate results across a loop. The README is explicit: use flow, and merge flow after the last operation.

Install

FlowNodes pack, standard install:

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/gitmylo/FlowNodes
# restart ComfyUI

or ComfyUI Manager → search FlowNodes → install. No Python dependencies, no model downloads.

Troubleshooting

• The list is in the wrong order - the order is by input index (input0 first). Rewire to the right sockets; there's no sorting.
• A value went missing - unconnected inputs are skipped by design. If you expected 5 items and got 3, two sockets are empty.
• Output feels "stale" - that's the caching problem no_cache is meant to solve; confirm the node version you have actually renders the no_cache socket (older installs may not show it).
• Feeding the list into a normal node errors - most stock nodes don't accept a raw list. Go through 📃 List to Batch / Unmerge, or into a script node that expects a list.