Custom Node Manager

import { Steps } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

The Custom Node Manager installs, updates, and removes community node packs directly from the InvokeAI UI — no manual file copying, no restart required.

Opening the Custom Node Manager

Click the Nodes tab (circuit icon) in the left sidebar, between Models and Queue.

The page is split into two panels:

• Left: the list of installed node packs, with each pack's node count, type badges, and on-disk path.
• Right: the install UI, with tabs for Git Repository URL and Scan Folder, plus an install log at the bottom.

Installing a node pack

<Steps> 1. On the right panel, choose the **Git Repository URL** tab. 2. Paste the Git URL of the pack, e.g. `https://github.com/user/my-node-pack.git`. 3. Click **Install**. </Steps>

What happens during install:

• The repo is cloned into your nodes directory.
• The nodes are loaded into the running InvokeAI process immediately — no restart needed.
• Any workflow .json files found in the repo are imported into your workflow library and tagged with node-pack:<pack-name> so you can filter for them.
• The install log at the bottom of the panel shows the result for each step.

:::caution[Security] Custom nodes execute arbitrary Python on your machine. Only install node packs from authors you trust. A malicious pack could harm your system or exfiltrate data. :::

Python dependencies

The Custom Node Manager does not automatically run pip install for a pack's requirements.txt or pyproject.toml. Auto-installing into the running InvokeAI environment risks pulling in incompatible package versions and breaking the application.

If a pack ships extra dependencies, you'll see a warning toast after installation. Install them yourself — typically pip install -r requirements.txt from inside an activated InvokeAI environment, but check the pack's README first. After installing, click Reload so the new dependencies take effect.

Managing installed packs

Each entry in the left panel has actions for managing the pack:

• Reload — re-scans the nodes directory. Use this after manually adding a pack via git clone, or after installing extra Python dependencies.
• Uninstall — removes the pack from disk, unregisters its nodes from the running process, and removes any workflows that were imported from the pack. No restart needed.

Scan Folder tab

The Scan Folder tab shows the path of your nodes directory. Anything placed there manually (for example, by git clone-ing a pack directly) is detected automatically at startup. Use Reload to pick up packs added at runtime.

Troubleshooting

Install fails

• Confirm the Git URL is correct and reachable.
• The repo must contain an __init__.py at its root.
• Read the install log — it surfaces the underlying error.

Nodes don't appear after install

• Click Reload.
• Check that the pack's __init__.py imports the node classes.
• Check the server console for import errors.

Workflows show errors after uninstalling

User-created workflows that reference nodes from an uninstalled pack will show errors for the missing node types. Either reinstall the pack or remove the affected nodes from the workflow.

Authoring a node pack

If you want to publish your own pack so it can be installed by URL, see the Creating a Node Pack developer guide for the required repository layout, __init__.py requirements, and conventions for shipping workflows alongside your nodes.