Two JSON chunks, two uses
| Chunk | Contains | Use it to |
|---|---|---|
workflow | The editable UI graph: nodes, positions, groups, links and widget values. | Load the full layout back into ComfyUI (drag the JSON onto the canvas or use Load). |
prompt | The executed API graph: only the nodes that ran, with their final inputs. | Re-run through the ComfyUI API, or recover settings when the UI graph is missing. |
The extractor downloads the workflow graph when it exists and falls back to the prompt graph otherwise.
Before you load a downloaded workflow
- Missing models. The model list shows file names, not downloads. Get checkpoints and LoRAs from their original publishers and read their licences — several popular models restrict commercial use.
- Custom nodes. Unknown node types need extensions. Install only extensions you trust; custom nodes run code on your machine.
- Seeds. Identical output also needs the same model versions, sampler, scheduler and hardware-dependent settings.
Protecting your own workflow
Every PNG you share straight from ComfyUI contains your complete graph. To deliver images without it, make a clean copy with the prompt and workflow remover.
Questions
Why does ComfyUI say the image has no workflow?
The PNG was re-encoded — most social networks, chat apps and image hosts strip text chunks. JPEG and WebP saves from ComfyUI usually have no graph unless a metadata node wrote one.
Can I see which LoRAs and checkpoints were used?
Yes. Every model file name referenced by a loader node is listed after you drop the image.
Is downloading the workflow safe?
The JSON itself is data. Risk comes from installing the custom nodes it references, so review those before installing.
Does the image leave my computer?
No. Parsing happens in this tab only.
Primary sources
Formats, standards and upload limits checked on November 5, 2026.