Vae Select (Uni)

Vae Select (Uni) is a dropdown over your VAE files that outputs the chosen filename as a string, with a none option for the Unified Loader. The "Uni" suffix is the point: the plain Vae Select demands a real file, while this one can explicitly say "no VAE here" - which is exactly what a combined loader needs when it's pulling the VAE from a checkpoint instead.

You might think the VAE is a boring accessory, and then you'd be the person with grey, washed-out images. The VAE is what decodes the latent into the actual picture - use the wrong one and you don't get a bad picture, you get a grey one. The classic troubleshooting rule: if your output looks desaturated or milky, suspect the VAE before anything else. That's the stakes for a seemingly trivial dropdown.

How it works

Standard PG selector skeleton. It scans folder_paths for the VAE list (vae, then vaes, then autoencoder keys), builds the dropdown at import, and process() returns your pick on the vae_name output. Nothing loads. The Unified Loader takes the name and loads the VAE (including TAESD shortcuts like taesd, taesdxl, taesd3, taef1 if you pick those), and its CPU toggle can keep the VAE off the GPU too.

The "select-then-load" pattern also gives you a clean bypass: set this selector to none and the loader falls back to whatever VAE came with the checkpoint. One dropdown toggles between "use the baked VAE" and "use a dedicated one" - which is genuinely the most common VAE switch people make.

The input and output

• vae_name - dropdown over your VAE files, default none.
• Output: vae_name - the filename string.

Install

Ships with PG Nodes:

ComfyUI Manager → search "PG Nodes" → Install → restart

Manual: git clone https://github.com/GizmoR13/PG-Nodes into custom_nodes (folder named PG-nodes), restart. Under PG/Select/UniLoader. No dependencies.

Common issues

• Grey output despite picking a VAE. If the VAE doesn't match the checkpoint family (SD 1.5 VAE on an SDXL model), you'll still get washed-out colors. Match the family, not just "a VAE."
• File not in the dropdown. Restart ComfyUI - lists materialize at import.
• String won't plug into a VAE input. Correct - it's a filename for name-based inputs, not the VAE object.

Like every selector in this pack, it's a thin convenience that shines when you're consolidating choices around the Unified Loader. If you keep your VAE baked into the checkpoint, set it to none and move on. If you've ever chased a grey-image bug, you'll appreciate having the VAE choice one visible dropdown away.