VNCCS Model Selector

Most model-loader nodes give you a dropdown. VNCCS Model Selector gives you a storefront. Instead of scrolling a sorted file list trying to remember which version of which checkpoint you wanted, you get a card UI that shows the model's name, version, description, and install status - with a searchable modal for finding it and a one-click install button when it's missing.

This is the frontend half of the VNCCS model-management pair (VNCCS Model Manager is the backend that does the downloading). If the Manager is the warehouse, this is the shelf you actually browse.

How it works

Both nodes read a model_updater.json manifest from a HuggingFace repo. The Selector's job is to turn that manifest into a usable path. When you pick a model, it resolves the version - explicit input first, then whatever version the local registry says is installed, then the newest - and returns the file's relative path inside your ComfyUI model folders. The clever bit is the model_path output: it's typed as * (any type), so the node doesn't force you into a specific loader. You get a path string, and any standard loader that accepts a path can consume it.

That "universal connection" is the point. You can wire the Selector's output into a checkpoint loader, a LoRA loader, or a UNET loader, and the Selector's card UI just tells you which model that port is currently pointing at - with status badges for Installed, Update Available, Missing, and Downloading states.

The inputs that matter

The public inputs are minimal by design:

• repo_id - which manifest repo you're browsing (default MIUProject/VNCCS). The Manager's repo_id output feeds straight into this.

There's also a pair of hidden inputs, model_name and version, that the frontend writes when you click a card. You won't normally touch them - that's the UI's business.

One output: model_path, the resolved relative path string, ready for a standard loader.

Installing it

Same pack as the rest:

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

or search VNCCS Utils in ComfyUI Manager, install, restart. Then add both Manager and Selector, wire repo_id across, and pick your model.

Common issues & honest notes

• The node only knows what's in your manifest. Out-of-the-box that's the default MIUProject/VNCCS repo. If your model isn't in it, this node is pointless until you point it at a repo (yours or someone's) that lists your model. The pack has a full guide for building your own model_updater.json.
• It returns a path, not a model object. Feed model_path into loaders that take paths. If a loader expects an actual loaded model, this isn't a drop-in replacement - which is fine, because the design intent is to work with standard loaders, not replace them.
• It needs the Manager for downloads. If a model shows Missing, the one-click install is powered by the backend downloader. Run both nodes in the workflow.

For anyone maintaining a personal model library or following a pack whose models live in a manifest repo, this is genuinely nicer than file-dropdown roulette. For a lone checkpoint user, it's a solution looking for a problem.