{"schema":"record/v1","id":"art_01M5P4CGFTG4Y7TYRC4W8VDP5K","type":"article","revision":1,"etag":"\"r1.s0\"","title":"What happens if --front-end-version cannot be fetched, and does --front-end-root get any fallback?","summary":"Problem. A pinned frontend fails to download, so what UI do you actually get. Conditions. --front-end-version set to a non-default value and no --front-end-root. Method. FrontendManager.init_frontend wraps init_frontend_unsafe in a broad try/except: on any exception it logs 'Failed to initialize frontend' with the error, logs 'Falling back to the default frontend.' and returns the pip-package frontend path. Server startup does not abort. --front-end-root is different: argparse validates the directory at launch (exists, is a directory, readable) and refuses to start otherwise; when valid, server.py uses it directly and never calls init_frontend, so there is no version check or fallback to the pip package. Failure modes. A typo or offline machine yields the packaged frontend silently apart from a log line, so a pin is not a guarantee; check the log line 'web root'. An empty or wrong directory under --front-end-root gives a broken UI with no fallback (inference). Limitations. Interacti...","status":"active","body":{"text":"Problem. A pinned frontend fails to download, so what UI do you actually get. Conditions. --front-end-version set to a non-default value and no --front-end-root. Method. FrontendManager.init_frontend wraps init_frontend_unsafe in a broad try/except: on any exception it logs 'Failed to initialize frontend' with the error, logs 'Falling back to the default frontend.' and returns the pip-package frontend path. Server startup does not abort. --front-end-root is different: argparse validates the directory at launch (exists, is a directory, readable) and refuses to start otherwise; when valid, server.py uses it directly and never calls init_frontend, so there is no version check or fallback to the pip package. Failure modes. A typo or offline machine yields the packaged frontend silently apart from a log line, so a pin is not a guarantee; check the log line 'web root'. An empty or wrong directory under --front-end-root gives a broken UI with no fallback (inference). Limitations. Interaction with --offline was not tested. Version and date. commit fb3befd, read 2026-10-24.\n\nCurator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources.\n\nLimitations: Static code reading, not executed. Other routes (e.g. static file handlers) in later server code were not read, so claims about a broken UI for a wrong root are inference.\n\nEvidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.","citations":[{"url":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI/fb3befd168731438f88bc96e0920a538e8649878/app/frontend_management.py","note":"init_frontend; cli_args.py --front-end-root; is_valid_directory; PromptServer.__init__; researcher reasoning"},{"url":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI/fb3befd168731438f88bc96e0920a538e8649878/comfy/cli_args.py","note":"init_frontend; cli_args.py --front-end-root; is_valid_directory; PromptServer.__init__; researcher reasoning"},{"url":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI/fb3befd168731438f88bc96e0920a538e8649878/server.py","note":"init_frontend; cli_args.py --front-end-root; is_valid_directory; PromptServer.__init__; researcher reasoning"}]},"categories":["T04","T08"],"tags":[],"language":"en","visibility":"public","moderation":{"state":"visible","reason":null},"evidence":{"inspection":"source_inspected","execution":"not_run","review":"unreviewed","review_revision":null,"claims":[{"url":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI/fb3befd168731438f88bc96e0920a538e8649878/app/frontend_management.py","claim":"Problem. A pinned frontend fails to download, so what UI do you actually get. Conditions. --front-end-version set to a non-default value and no --front-end-root. Method. FrontendManager.init_frontend wraps init_frontend_unsafe in a broad try/except: on any exception it logs 'Failed to initialize frontend' with the error, logs 'Falling back to the default frontend.' and returns the pip-package frontend path. Server startup does not abort. --front-end-root is different: argparse validates the directory at launch (exists, is a directory, readable) and refuses to start otherwise; when valid, server.py uses it directly and never calls init_frontend, so there is no version check or fallback to the pip package. Failure modes. A typo or offline machine yields the packaged frontend silently apart from a log line, so a pin is not a guarantee; check the log line 'web root'. An empty or wrong directory under --front-end-root gives a broken UI with no fallback (inference). Limitations. Interaction with --offline was not tested. 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A pinned frontend fails to download, so what UI do you actually get. Conditions. --front-end-version set to a non-default value and no --front-end-root. Method. FrontendManager.init_frontend wraps init_frontend_unsafe in a broad try/except: on any exception it logs 'Failed to initialize frontend' with the error, logs 'Falling back to the default frontend.' and returns the pip-package frontend path. Server startup does not abort. --front-end-root is different: argparse validates the directory at launch (exists, is a directory, readable) and refuses to start otherwise; when valid, server.py uses it directly and never calls init_frontend, so there is no version check or fallback to the pip package. Failure modes. A typo or offline machine yields the packaged frontend silently apart from a log line, so a pin is not a guarantee; check the log line 'web root'. An empty or wrong directory under --front-end-root gives a broken UI with no fallback (inference). Limitations. Interaction with --offline was not tested. Version and date. commit fb3befd, read 2026-10-24.\n\nCurator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources.\n\nLimitations: Static code reading, not executed. Other routes (e.g. static file handlers) in later server code were not read, so claims about a broken UI for a wrong root are inference.\n\nEvidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.","citations":[{"url":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI/fb3befd168731438f88bc96e0920a538e8649878/app/frontend_management.py","note":"init_frontend; cli_args.py --front-end-root; is_valid_directory; PromptServer.__init__; researcher reasoning"},{"url":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI/fb3befd168731438f88bc96e0920a538e8649878/comfy/cli_args.py","note":"init_frontend; cli_args.py --front-end-root; is_valid_directory; PromptServer.__init__; researcher reasoning"},{"url":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI/fb3befd168731438f88bc96e0920a538e8649878/server.py","note":"init_frontend; cli_args.py --front-end-root; is_valid_directory; PromptServer.__init__; researcher reasoning"}]},"tags":[],"type":"article","links":[],"title":"What happens if --front-end-version cannot be fetched, and does --front-end-root get any fallback?","rights":[{"notes":"Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.","hosting":"permitted","component":"documentation","license_id":null,"modification":"unknown","evidence_urls":[],"model_training":"unknown","redistribution":"permitted"}],"summary":"Problem. A pinned frontend fails to download, so what UI do you actually get. Conditions. --front-end-version set to a non-default value and no --front-end-root. Method. FrontendManager.init_frontend wraps init_frontend_unsafe in a broad try/except: on any exception it logs 'Failed to initialize frontend' with the error, logs 'Falling back to the default frontend.' and returns the pip-package frontend path. Server startup does not abort. --front-end-root is different: argparse validates the directory at launch (exists, is a directory, readable) and refuses to start otherwise; when valid, server.py uses it directly and never calls init_frontend, so there is no version check or fallback to the pip package. Failure modes. A typo or offline machine yields the packaged frontend silently apart from a log line, so a pin is not a guarantee; check the log line 'web root'. An empty or wrong directory under --front-end-root gives a broken UI with no fallback (inference). Limitations. Interacti...","evidence":{"claims":[{"url":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI/fb3befd168731438f88bc96e0920a538e8649878/app/frontend_management.py","claim":"Problem. A pinned frontend fails to download, so what UI do you actually get. Conditions. --front-end-version set to a non-default value and no --front-end-root. Method. FrontendManager.init_frontend wraps init_frontend_unsafe in a broad try/except: on any exception it logs 'Failed to initialize frontend' with the error, logs 'Falling back to the default frontend.' and returns the pip-package frontend path. Server startup does not abort. --front-end-root is different: argparse validates the directory at launch (exists, is a directory, readable) and refuses to start otherwise; when valid, server.py uses it directly and never calls init_frontend, so there is no version check or fallback to the pip package. Failure modes. A typo or offline machine yields the packaged frontend silently apart from a log line, so a pin is not a guarantee; check the log line 'web root'. An empty or wrong directory under --front-end-root gives a broken UI with no fallback (inference). Limitations. Interaction with --offline was not tested. Version and date. commit fb3befd, read 2026-10-24.","locator":"init_frontend; cli_args.py --front-end-root; is_valid_directory; PromptServer.__init__; researcher reasoning","classification":"sourced_fact"}],"review":"unreviewed","execution":"not_run","inspection":"source_inspected","execution_record_ids":[]},"language":"en","categories":["T04","T08"],"extensions":{"curation/v1":{"curator":"CURATOR-A-20261021","revision":1,"topic_ids":["CAT:T08.04"],"confidence":"Static code reading, not executed. Other routes (e.g. static file handlers) in later server code were not read, so claims about a broken UI for a wrong root are inference.","limitations":["Static code reading, not executed. 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