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Downloading Models

Download models from CivitAI, HuggingFace, and direct URLs with automatic indexing and source tracking.

Overview

ComfyDock can download models from multiple sources:

  • CivitAI - Community model sharing platform
  • HuggingFace - AI model repository
  • Direct URLs - Any direct download link

All downloads are:

  • Automatically indexed - Added to model database immediately
  • Hash-verified - BLAKE3 computed during download
  • Source-tracked - URL saved for future reference
  • Atomic - Downloads to .tmp file, renamed on success (prevents corruption)

Basic download

Download a model from any URL:

cfd model download https://civitai.com/api/download/models/128078

What happens:

  1. Source detection - Identifies CivitAI, HuggingFace, or custom URL
  2. Path suggestion - Suggests appropriate category subdirectory
  3. Interactive confirmation - Shows suggested path, allows changes
  4. Streaming download - Downloads with progress display
  5. Hash computation - BLAKE3 computed inline during download
  6. Automatic indexing - Model added to database
  7. Source registration - URL saved for re-downloads

Example session:

📥 Downloading from: https://civitai.com/api/download/models/128078
   Model will be saved to: checkpoints/realistic_vision_v5.safetensors

   [Y] Continue  [m] Change path  [c] Cancel
Choice [Y]/m/c: y

📥 Downloading to: checkpoints/realistic_vision_v5.safetensors
████████████████████████████████████ 4.27 GB / 4.27 GB [100%] 12.3 MB/s

✓ Download complete: realistic_vision_v5.safetensors
  Size: 4.27 GB
  Hash: f6e5d4c3b2a1e9876543210abcdef123456789
  Path: checkpoints/realistic_vision_v5.safetensors
  Source: CivitAI

Download sources

CivitAI

CivitAI is the largest ComfyUI model community. Download models by:

API download URL:

cfd model download https://civitai.com/api/download/models/128078

Direct model page URL:

# ComfyDock extracts the API URL automatically
cfd model download https://civitai.com/models/4201/realistic-vision-v51

CivitAI API keys

Some models require authentication. Set your API key once:

cfd config --civitai-key YOUR_API_KEY_HERE

Get your key from: https://civitai.com/user/account

HuggingFace

HuggingFace hosts official and community models:

# Full URL to specific file
cfd model download https://huggingface.co/stabilityai/stable-diffusion-xl-base-1.0/resolve/main/sd_xl_base_1.0.safetensors

# Shortened hf.co URL
cfd model download https://hf.co/stabilityai/sdxl-vae/resolve/main/sdxl_vae.safetensors

ComfyDock detects HuggingFace URLs and handles authentication if needed.

Direct URLs

Any direct download link works:

# Direct .safetensors file
cfd model download https://example.com/models/my_model.safetensors

# GitHub releases
cfd model download https://github.com/user/repo/releases/download/v1.0/model.safetensors

Path confirmation

Interactive mode (default)

By default, ComfyDock shows the suggested path and asks for confirmation:

📥 Downloading from: https://civitai.com/api/download/models/128078
   Model will be saved to: checkpoints/realistic_vision_v5.safetensors

   [Y] Continue  [m] Change path  [c] Cancel
Choice [Y]/m/c:

Options:

  • Y or Enter - Continue with suggested path
  • m - Change the path
  • c - Cancel download

Changing the path:

Choice [Y]/m/c: m

Enter path (relative to models dir): loras/my_custom_lora.safetensors

📥 Downloading from: https://civitai.com/api/download/models/128078
   Model will be saved to: loras/my_custom_lora.safetensors

   [Y] Continue  [m] Change path  [c] Cancel
Choice [Y]/m/c: y

Specifying exact path

Skip interaction by providing the full path:

cfd model download https://example.com/model.safetensors --path checkpoints/my_model.safetensors

Path is relative to your models directory.

Specifying category

Auto-generate path in a specific category:

cfd model download https://example.com/some_lora.safetensors --category loras

ComfyDock extracts the filename and places it in loras/some_lora.safetensors.

Available categories:

  • checkpoints - Base models
  • loras - LoRA adapters
  • vae - VAE models
  • controlnet - ControlNet models
  • upscale_models - Upscalers
  • embeddings - Textual inversions
  • clip_vision - CLIP vision encoders
  • style_models - Style models
  • Plus 13 more specialized categories

Non-interactive downloads

Skip all prompts with --yes:

cfd model download https://example.com/model.safetensors --yes

Uses the auto-suggested path without confirmation. Useful for:

  • Scripting batch downloads
  • CI/CD pipelines
  • Automated environment setup

Path suggestion logic

ComfyDock suggests paths based on:

  1. Filename analysis - Looks for category keywords in filename
  2. Source metadata - Uses CivitAI/HuggingFace model type
  3. File extension - Maps .safetensors, .ckpt, .pt, etc.
  4. Default category - Falls back to checkpoints/ for unknown types

Examples:

URL: civitai.com/.../anime_lora_v2.safetensors
→ Suggested: loras/anime_lora_v2.safetensors

URL: huggingface.co/.../sdxl_vae.safetensors
→ Suggested: vae/sdxl_vae.safetensors

URL: example.com/my_model.safetensors
→ Suggested: checkpoints/my_model.safetensors (default)

Download progress

During download, ComfyDock shows:

████████████████████████████████████ 4.27 GB / 4.27 GB [100%] 12.3 MB/s
  • Progress bar - Visual completion indicator
  • Downloaded / Total - Current and total size
  • Percentage - Completion percentage
  • Speed - Current download speed

For large models (>5 GB), this helps track progress.

After download completes

Download statistics

ComfyDock shows detailed stats after successful download:

✓ Download complete: realistic_vision_v5.safetensors
  Size: 4.27 GB
  Hash: f6e5d4c3b2a1e9876543210abcdef123456789
  Path: checkpoints/realistic_vision_v5.safetensors
  Source: CivitAI

Fields:

  • Filename - Model filename on disk
  • Size - File size in human-readable format
  • Hash - BLAKE3 hash (short form)
  • Path - Relative path in models directory
  • Source - Detected source type

Automatic indexing

The model is immediately available in:

# Find it in the index
cfd model index find realistic_vision

# See detailed info
cfd model index show realistic_vision_v5.safetensors

# Use it in workflows right away
# (ComfyUI will see it in checkpoints/ folder)

Source tracking

The download URL is saved as a source:

cfd model index show realistic_vision_v5.safetensors

  Sources (1):
    • CivitAI
      URL: https://civitai.com/api/download/models/128078
      Added: 2025-01-15 14:32:18

This enables:

  • Re-downloading if file is deleted
  • Sharing environments with download URLs
  • Updating models from source

CivitAI authentication

When authentication is needed

Some CivitAI models require an API key:

  • NSFW/mature content models
  • Creator-gated models
  • Early access models

Without a key, you'll see:

✗ Download failed: 401 Unauthorized

⚠️  CivitAI Authentication Required

This model requires a CivitAI API key.

1. Get your API key:
   → Visit: https://civitai.com/user/account
   → Copy your API key

2. Configure ComfyDock:
   → Run: cfd config --civitai-key YOUR_KEY_HERE

3. Retry download:
   → Run: cfd model download <url>

Setting your API key

Configure authentication once per workspace:

cfd config --civitai-key YOUR_API_KEY_HERE

Example:

cfd config --civitai-key a1b2c3d4e5f67890abcdef1234567890

✓ CivitAI API key saved

Your key is stored securely in .metadata/workspace.json and used for all future CivitAI downloads.

Viewing configured key

Check if key is set:

cfd config --show

ComfyDock Configuration:

  Workspace Path:  /home/user/.comfydock
  CivitAI API Key: ••••••••7890
  Registry Cache:  Enabled

The key is masked showing only the last 4 characters.

Clearing your key

Remove stored API key:

cfd config --civitai-key ""

✓ CivitAI API key cleared

Common patterns

Downloading multiple models

Download several models in sequence:

# LoRAs
cfd model download https://civitai.com/.../lora1.safetensors --yes
cfd model download https://civitai.com/.../lora2.safetensors --yes
cfd model download https://civitai.com/.../lora3.safetensors --yes

# Checkpoints
cfd model download https://huggingface.co/.../sdxl.safetensors --yes
cfd model download https://huggingface.co/.../sd15.safetensors --yes

Use --yes to skip confirmation for each download.

Downloading to specific subdirectories

Organize models with custom paths:

# Character LoRAs
cfd model download https://civitai.com/.../character.safetensors --path loras/characters/character.safetensors

# Style LoRAs
cfd model download https://civitai.com/.../anime_style.safetensors --path loras/styles/anime_style.safetensors

# Project-specific models
cfd model download https://example.com/project_model.safetensors --path checkpoints/client_projects/model.safetensors

Subdirectories are created automatically.

Re-downloading a model

If you deleted a model with tracked source:

# Find the model (even if deleted)
cfd model add-source

# Shows models without sources, skip to re-download
# Or download directly if you have the URL
cfd model download https://civitai.com/api/download/models/128078 --yes

Downloading from workflow requirements

When a workflow needs a model:

# Resolve workflow to see missing models
cfd workflow resolve my_workflow

# Copy download URL from output
cfd model download <url> --yes

Troubleshooting

"401 Unauthorized" from CivitAI

Problem: Model requires authentication

Solution:

# Set your API key
cfd config --civitai-key YOUR_KEY_HERE

# Retry download
cfd model download <url>

Get API key from: https://civitai.com/user/account

"403 Forbidden" errors

Problem: Model is private, deleted, or access-restricted

Possible causes:

  • Model removed by creator
  • DMCA takedown
  • Creator restricted access
  • Invalid download URL

Solution:

Find an alternative model or contact model creator.

"404 Not Found"

Problem: URL is incorrect or model doesn't exist

Solutions:

# Verify URL is correct
# Check browser - can you access it?

# For CivitAI, ensure using API URL:
# https://civitai.com/api/download/models/123456
# NOT: https://civitai.com/models/4201/model-name

Download hangs or is very slow

Problem: Slow connection or server throttling

Solutions:

  • Wait - large models (5+ GB) take time
  • Check internet speed
  • Try again later if server is overloaded
  • Use Ctrl+C to cancel and retry

"Disk space" errors

Problem: Not enough space for download

✗ Download failed: No space left on device

Solutions:

# Check available space
df -h ~

# Free up space
rm -rf ~/.comfydock/workspace/models/old_models/

# Or change models directory to larger disk
cfd model index dir /mnt/large_drive/models

File already exists

Problem: Model with same filename already exists

✗ File already exists: checkpoints/model.safetensors

Solutions:

# Download to different name
cfd model download <url> --path checkpoints/model_v2.safetensors

# Or delete old file first
rm ~/.comfydock/workspace/models/checkpoints/model.safetensors
cfd model download <url>

"Invalid URL" errors

Problem: URL format not recognized

Solutions:

# Ensure URL is direct download link
# Not a webpage showing the download button

# For CivitAI, use API URLs:
cfd model download https://civitai.com/api/download/models/128078

# For HuggingFace, use resolve URLs:
cfd model download https://huggingface.co/USER/REPO/resolve/main/file.safetensors

Hash mismatch warnings

Problem: Downloaded file hash doesn't match expected (rare)

This indicates:

  • Corrupted download
  • Modified file on server
  • Network issue

Solution:

# Delete corrupted file
rm ~/.comfydock/workspace/models/path/to/model.safetensors

# Re-download
cfd model download <url>

Cannot write to models directory

Problem: Permission denied

✗ Download failed: Permission denied

Solutions:

# Check directory permissions
ls -la ~/.comfydock/workspace/models/

# Fix permissions
chmod -R u+w ~/.comfydock/workspace/models/

# Or use different directory
cfd model index dir ~/my_models
cfd model download <url>

Advanced usage

Downloading to temporary location first

Download elsewhere, then move to models directory:

# Download to Downloads folder
cd ~/Downloads
wget https://example.com/model.safetensors

# Move to models directory
mv model.safetensors ~/.comfydock/workspace/models/checkpoints/

# Sync index
cfd model index sync

Verifying downloads with external tools

Verify hash independently:

# Download model
cfd model download <url> --yes

# Get ComfyDock's computed hash
cfd model index show model.safetensors

# Compare with external tool
b3sum ~/.comfydock/workspace/models/checkpoints/model.safetensors

Batch downloads from file

Create a list of URLs and download all:

# urls.txt
https://civitai.com/api/download/models/128078
https://civitai.com/api/download/models/128079
https://civitai.com/api/download/models/128080

# Download all
while read url; do
  cfd model download "$url" --yes
done < urls.txt

Next steps