🐯 YFG Random Image From Directory

"Load a random image from a folder" sounds like a five-minute node, and most implementations are - a dropdown, a glob, done. This one from the YFG Comical pack (gonzalu/ComfyUI_YFG_Comical) is the over-engineered version, and mostly in a good way: a server-side folder browser so you don't hand-type paths, four selection modes, optional true randomness via Random.org, session dedup so it doesn't show you the same image twice, and a pile of metadata outputs including a SHA-256 hash. If you're rotating reference images, auditing a dataset, or building an image-queue workflow, it's the rare "random image" node that doesn't make you compromise.

Selection modes

selection_mode is the heart of it:

• random - pick a random file. The randomness source is random_source: auto uses Random.org if a key is configured (true randomness), otherwise falls back to the local PRNG; local forces local; random_org forces the API (and requires the key).
• by_index - pick the file at a specific index. Out-of-bounds values are clamped, not wrapped, which is the sane behavior.
• by_filename - first file matching an exact or substring name.
• by_query - glob-style wildcards (*.png, cat*), then random among the matches.

include_subdirs (default on) recurses, and files are naturally sorted, so index is deterministic and stable across runs.

The extras that make it useful

• Directory browser: a Browse for Directory button opens a navigable server-side folder picker (the node registers /yfg/dir_browse API routes), and Recent Directories shows your MRU list. Used dirs auto-save to yfg_dir_history.json. This kills the "typo a path, get nothing" class of bugs completely.
• No repeats: ensure_unique (off by default - turn it on) remembers recent picks per-directory or globally (unique_scope), bounded by history_size (default 512) and time_window_sec (0 = forever). Session-lifetime only.
• Current vs previous: outputs carry both path_current/index_current and path_previous/index_previous, so you can build "show the last two picks" workflows or a compare grid without extra plumbing.
• Preview: show_preview renders a thumbnail on the node (and publishes preview metadata compatible with UI-driven nodes).

Outputs

Ten of them, and they're a gift for automation: image, path_current, index_current, filename_current, width, height, sha256 (handy for dedup/auditing), total_count, path_previous, index_previous. The inline value display shows the key ones on the output sockets after each run.

Installing and setup

Pack install: ComfyUI Manager → search "YFG Comical", or

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/gonzalu/ComfyUI_YFG_Comical

Restart ComfyUI. Optional true-randomness setup: put a key in random_org_api_key.json next to RandomOrgV2.py (or RANDOM_ORG_API_KEY env var) - same key the pack's Random Number nodes use. Note the browser routes print a warning to the console if they can't register; that's cosmetic, the node still works.

The honest take

This is the most feature-dense node in the pack, and the tradeoff shows: the input list is intimidating for what is conceptually a file picker. The three settings that matter on day one are image_directory, selection_mode, and ensure_unique; the rest are there when you need them. The by_query mode plus sha256 output makes it a genuinely nice little dataset tool. If you just want "one random image," the built-in approach works - but if you want it done right, this is the one.