What is Git?

In a nutshell, it's like saving in a video game. It gives you tools to keep development going smoothly, so one mistake doesn't send you all the way back to the start.

  • Commit

    • Like a "save point" in an action game.
    • Save (commit) whenever you like, and if the program breaks later on, you can rewind to the point where it definitely worked and try again.

  • Branch

    • Like creating a "branching route" or a "parallel world" in a game.
    • You can safely try new features in a copied world (a branch) without touching the main files.
    • Unlike a game, you can later bring just the changes (diffs) that worked out in the branch back into the main world (merge).

What is GitHub?

It's a "huge warehouse (cloud storage)" for the data you save with Git.

Developers all over the world upload and publish their programs (like ComfyUI custom nodes) here. When people say "install a custom node", they usually mean "copy the files from this warehouse called GitHub to your PC".

GitHub also has a social-media side to it. It's where developers and users talk to each other: reporting bugs (Issues), requesting new features, and so on.

Minimum Commands to Remember

  • git clone

    • For the most part, you can think of it as "downloading an entire program from GitHub to your PC".
    • The important difference from just downloading a Zip file is that your local copy stays connected to the repository. That "connection" is what makes the next command, pull, possible.

  • git pull

    • After you git clone, the developers keep improving the software and adding features, so your copy gradually goes out of date.
    • Running git pull compares the latest version on GitHub with what's on your PC and downloads and updates only the parts that changed.
    • You can think of it as the "update" command, in practice.

What ComfyUI Manager Really Does

ComfyUI Manager, which you'll use a lot, is a tool that runs these git clone and git pull commands for you behind the scenes.

  • Install: git clone runs in the background.
    • (It also runs things like pip install to set up the libraries you need)
  • Update: git pull runs in the background.