# How can I tell a ComfyUI workflow (UI/graph) JSON from an API-format prompt JSON, and what differs in ids, links, widget values and version fields?

- id: art_01M5MCMARSWAWMHAVFDY75T3G1
- type: article · status: active · revision: 2
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T08, T20 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T23:35:31.561Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MCMARSWAWMHAVFDY75T3G1

Corrected 2026-10-23 - see C3-B595-07; the original statements below are kept for history and are superseded where the correction says so. At the inspected commits the two formats are cleanly distinguishable by top-level shape. A workflow (editor) JSON is an object with a 'nodes' array, 'links', a numeric 'version' (0.4-style or 1) and layout data; an API prompt is a flat map from node id to {class_type, inputs, _meta} where a link is a two-element array [source node id, output index] and widgets are plain named inputs. The API form is derived at queue time from the workflow (muted/bypassed nodes omitted, UI-only widgets dropped) and has no version field; the official docs table for the save format has a row ('Node keys') that does not match the schema.

At the inspected commits the two formats are cleanly distinguishable by top-level shape. A workflow (editor) JSON is an object with a 'nodes' array, 'links', a numeric 'version' (0.4-style or 1) and layout data; an API prompt is a flat map from node id to {class_type, inputs, _meta} where a link is a two-element array [source node id, output index] and widgets are plain named inputs. The API form is derived at queue time from the workflow (muted/bypassed nodes omitted, UI-only widgets dropped) and has no version field; the official docs table for the save format has a row ('Node keys') that does not match the schema.

Curator correction 2026-10-23 (discovery audit record C3-B595-07; sources re-fetched 2026-10-23, excerpts re-located by curator GET): Problem. The earlier finding says an official docs table row ('Node keys') does not match the schema and that the API form omits muted/bypassed nodes. The cited docs/WIDGET_SERIALIZATION.md (commit 5306a54b) is a note on two 'serialize' properties with a permutation table; it has no 'Node keys' row and does not mention muted or bypassed nodes. What the cited file does support. widget.serialize controls what is written to widgets_values in the workflow JSON; widget.options.serialize controls what is sent in the API prompt; the two correspond to the WORKFLOW and PROMPT tags embedded in output files. The schema ranges cited show version as a number and node properties cnr_id/aux_id/ver/models. Impact. The top-level distinguishing shape (nodes array and numeric version vs flat id-to-{class_type, inputs}) remains supported by the schema; the two extra claims should be re-sourced (the docs.comfy.org page and graphToPrompt source were not cited and were not checked here). Limitations. Absence of a statement in the cited file is not proof the claims are false.

Curator qualifications: Schema: 'export const zNodeId = z.union([z.number().int(), z.string()])'; '/** Schema version 0.4 */' with 'nodes: z.array(zComfyNode)', 'links: z.array(zComfyLink)', 'version: z.number()'; '/** Schema version 1 */' with 'version: z.literal(1)', 'nodes: z.array(zComfyNode)', 'links: z.array(zComfyLinkObject).optional()'. Docs table row: '| **Node keys** | Node titles or labels | Numeric node IDs |'. Rights/verification notes are shown as limitations (L00 0019/ADR-0011): they restrict reuse of the cited material or record what was not verified; they are not cleared by this summary.

Limitations: [rights_conflict_record] eligible_conflict_preserved

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI_frontend",
      "note": "ComfyUI_frontend workflowSchema.ts @5306a54b lines 24, 421-483; Comfy-Org/docs workflow-api-format.mdx @506a4a94 lines 13-25 (byte-identical to producer pin 1b8a4fdc)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://docs.comfy.org/development/api-development/workflow-api-format",
      "note": "ComfyUI_frontend workflowSchema.ts @5306a54b lines 24, 421-483; Comfy-Org/docs workflow-api-format.mdx @506a4a94 lines 13-25 (byte-identical to producer pin 1b8a4fdc)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI",
      "note": "ComfyUI_frontend workflowSchema.ts @5306a54b lines 24, 421-483; Comfy-Org/docs workflow-api-format.mdx @506a4a94 lines 13-25 (byte-identical to producer pin 1b8a4fdc)"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] At the inspected commits the two formats are cleanly distinguishable by top-level shape. A workflow (editor) JSON is an object with a 'nodes' array, 'links', a numeric 'version' (0.4-style or 1) and layout data; an API prompt is a flat map from node id to {class_type, inputs, _meta} where a link is a two-element array [source node id, output index] and widgets are plain named inputs. The API form is derived at queue time from the workflow (muted/bypassed nodes omitted, UI-only widgets dropped) and has no version field; the official docs table for the save format has a row ('Node keys') that does not match the schema. · locator: ComfyUI_frontend workflowSchema.ts @5306a54b lines 24, 421-483; Comfy-Org/docs workflow-api-format.mdx @506a4a94 lines 13-25 (byte-identical to producer pin 1b8a4fdc) · source: https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI_frontend

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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