⭐ Star Split Sampler Option

Samplers aren't one-size-fits-all, and the community has known it for years: some samplers nail the broad structure quickly, others are better at finishing fine detail. The problem has always been that ComfyUI makes you pick one and live with it. Star Split Sampler Option is the workaround - it lets you run the first N steps of a generation with one sampler, then switch to a second sampler for the remaining steps, all in a single run. No rewiring, no two-stage graphs.

How it works

It doesn't sample anything itself. It's an options node: you configure it and plug its output into the options input of StarSampler (Unified) or Star SD Upscale Refiner Advanced, and the sampler honors the split.

The config is simple:

• sampler_1 + steps_1 - the sampler for the opening phase, and how many steps it runs. Default euler, 6 steps.
• sampler_2 + steps_2 - the sampler for the closing phase. Default ddim, 6 steps.
• enable - the kill switch. When off, the host sampler ignores this option entirely and runs normally.

Total steps = steps_1 + steps_2. The stock example in the README is euler for 6 steps, then ddim for 6, for 12 total - at step 7 the run hands off from one sampler to the other.

Why you'd bother

The classic motivation is mixing a fast, stable sampler for the coarse shape with a sharper one for the finish. Distilled and low-step workflows in particular have pushed people to experiment with short sampler handoffs - the same "one sampler for structure, another for detail" instinct that produced two-stage hi-res pipelines. It's also a genuinely great A/B tool: split a run and you can compare sampler A vs B on the same run instead of generating twice with different seeds.

Inputs and outputs

Inputs: enable, sampler_1, steps_1, sampler_2, steps_2. Output: a single options socket carrying the STARNODES_OPTIONS bundle into a StarNodes sampler. Nothing passes through to the image - this node configures, it doesn't render.

Installing

Ships with StarNodes:

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/Starnodes2024/ComfyUI_StarNodes
cd ComfyUI_StarNodes
pip install -r requirements.txt

Restart, search star under ⭐StarNodes/Sampler. Manager users: search "Starnodes".

Where people get burned

It only works with the StarNodes samplers that accept the options input - wiring it into a stock KSampler does nothing, because that node has no options socket to read. And the split is about steps, not denoise; if your total step count is low, a handoff mid-run can produce a visible quality jump, so start with balanced counts (6/6) and keep both samplers in the same "family" until you've seen what the handoff does to your specific model. The enable toggle is your friend while you're calibrating.