Derp Tutorial

Install the xcp_derp-UI-Release pack, restart ComfyUI, and there it is: a "Derp Tutorial" node sitting on your canvas before you've generated a single thing. It's the pack's welcome mat. It doesn't render, sample, or carry data - it's a launcher that hands you a guided starting point, then gets out of the way.

What it does

Derp Tutorial is a front-end-only ControlDeck node. On a fresh install it auto-spawns in the current graph - importantly, without replacing the workflow you already have open, which is a nicer touch than most first-run screens manage. On its face it lists bundled tutorial workflows as buttons, one per file. You click one and it opens that workflow in a new browser tab. Because the click is yours, the browser treats it as a user gesture and won't block the popup - a small but real engineering decision that the pack's own docs call out.

That's the whole job. It's the node equivalent of a "README, but interactive" card.

How it works

The Python class is another pure-virtual shell: INPUT_TYPES is empty, RETURN_TYPES is empty, and the function is literally do_nothing. Zero graph I/O. All the logic lives in the JS front-end, which:

• Reads the bundled tutorial workflows from user/derpNodes/workflows/tutorials/ (on disk under your ComfyUI user directory) and renders one button per file. A file named basics.json becomes a "Basics" button that loads through the pack's /xcp/load/workflows route.
• Tracks whether to auto-show via a version-stamped setting, persisted in ComfyUI's settings (Derp.Tutorial.SeenMajorVersion / Derp.Tutorial.SuppressMajorVersion). The "Do not auto show this tutorial again" toggle writes that flag, and a future major tutorial version can still reappear if there's something new worth explaining - the version stamp is what makes that possible without nagging you every launch.
• Supports a deep-link query param (xcpDerpTutorialWorkflow in the URL) so a workflow link can open the tutorial directly.

The bundled tutorial files ship inside the pack and get copied into your user directory by the pack's asset sync when it first imports - that's why first launch matters: it's when the tutorials land.

The inputs and outputs

There aren't any. Required inputs: none. Optional inputs: none. Outputs: none. It's an output-free launcher, so you can't wire it into anything and you don't need to. Drop it anywhere, use it, hide it.

Installing and getting it back

Install is the pack install:

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/lordwedggie/xcp_derp-UI-Release

Then restart. Or use ComfyUI Manager and search "xcp_derp-UI-Release". No requirements.txt, no model downloads - it's JS plus a thin Python shell, so nothing heavy to babysit.

Dismissed the tutorial and wish you hadn't? Drag a fresh Derp Tutorial in from the node menu (it lives under derpNodes/ControlDeck). If you want the auto-spawn behavior back on a future version, leave the suppress flag alone - it resets on major tutorial versions anyway.

Gotchas worth knowing

• Empty button list? The workflows sync to ComfyUI/user/derpNodes/workflows/tutorials/ at first import. If that folder is missing or empty, the tutorial has nothing to launch - a stale or partial install is the usual culprit.
• Huge empty node body was a real bug in earlier versions of this pack (the layout engine inflated the intro text's wrap height during measurement). If you're on an old release and the node looks like a skyscraper, update the pack - it's fixed.
• It's a utility, not a feature. After the first session it's basically a bookmark to the pack's own demos. That's fine; just know what you're getting.

The honest take: this is one of the more thoughtful first-run experiences in the ComfyUI ecosystem, and it's a good reason to click through the bundled workflows once before you start rebuilding your own. After that, you can delete it guilt-free.