Quick Answer
ComfyUI Manager is the package manager for ComfyUI custom nodes. This guide covers install across portable, Docker, and git workflows, plus the troubleshooting steps for the 3 most common 'manager not showing up' bugs.
Quick Answer
To install ComfyUI Manager: cd into ComfyUI/custom_nodes/, run git clone https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI-Manager, restart ComfyUI. The Manager button appears in the right sidebar. From there you can install custom nodes, models, and workflows without leaving the UI.
What ComfyUI Manager does
ComfyUI Manager is the package manager for ComfyUI's custom-node ecosystem. In 2026, every production workflow uses 5–15 custom nodes (LoRA loaders, face restorers, upscalers, video frame interpolation, etc.). Managing those by hand via git is brittle. The Manager solves it with three capabilities:
- Custom node browser — search, install, update from a UI inside ComfyUI.
- Workflow library — browse community workflows; missing nodes auto-install on import.
- Model manager — download checkpoints, LoRAs, VAEs to the right folders without manual file management.
Install on portable ComfyUI (Windows)
- Navigate to
ComfyUI_windows_portable/ComfyUI/custom_nodes/ - Open a terminal in that directory (Shift+Right-click → Open PowerShell here)
- Run:
git clone https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI-Manager - Run
run_nvidia_gpu.bat(or your usual launcher) from the portable root - The Manager button appears in the right sidebar of the workflow editor
Install on Docker / Linux
cd /path/to/ComfyUI/custom_nodes/git clone https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI-Managercd ComfyUI-Manager && pip install -r requirements.txt- Restart the ComfyUI service:
docker restart comfyuior systemd equivalent
Troubleshooting: "Manager not showing up"
The 3 most common causes:
- Wrong folder location — Manager must be inside
ComfyUI/custom_nodes/. Common error: cloning intoComfyUI/(one level too high). Move and restart. - Folder renamed — git clone defaults to
ComfyUI-Manager. Don't rename it. ComfyUI looks for that exact name on startup. - ComfyUI not restarted — custom nodes are loaded once at startup. Stop and restart the ComfyUI server, not just refresh the browser.
Verify by checking ComfyUI startup logs for Loaded ComfyUI-Manager. If missing, the folder is wrong.
5 essential custom nodes to install via Manager
- ComfyUI-Impact-Pack — face/hand detailers + segmentation. Critical for AI influencer work.
- ComfyUI_essentials — image processing utilities every workflow needs.
- ComfyUI-AnimateDiff-Evolved — image-to-video for Reels content.
- ComfyUI-Custom-Scripts — quality-of-life UI improvements.
- ComfyUI-LoraInfo — preview LoRA training data + tags inline.
What to build with ComfyUI Manager installed
With the Manager working you can run any community workflow. The next step for AI creators is the AI Influencers Academy course — covers Flux + LoRA training + Kling for the full virtual creator pipeline.
Adjacent: ComfyUI installation guide, what is ComfyUI, LoRA training, and the full AI Influencers library.