feat: add --enable-assets flag, disable assets by default, expose to frontend

Replace --disable-assets-autoscan with --enable-assets so the assets
system (API routes, database sync, background scanning) is off by
default and must be explicitly opted into. Expose the flag as an
"assets" entry in SERVER_FEATURE_FLAGS so the frontend can read it
from GET /features.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

app/assets/api/routes.py

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import asyncio
 import json
 import logging
 import os
@@ -636,22 +637,12 @@ async def seed_assets(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
     wait_param = request.query.get("wait", "").lower()
     should_wait = wait_param in ("true", "1", "yes")
 
-    # Temporarily enable seeder for explicit API calls (--disable-assets-autoscan
-    # only prevents the automatic startup scan, not manual triggers)
-    was_disabled = asset_seeder.is_disabled()
-    if was_disabled:
-        asset_seeder.enable()
-
     started = asset_seeder.start(roots=valid_roots)
     if not started:
-        if was_disabled:
-            asset_seeder.disable()
         return web.json_response({"status": "already_running"}, status=409)
 
     if should_wait:
-        asset_seeder.wait()
+        await asyncio.to_thread(asset_seeder.wait)
-        if was_disabled:
-            asset_seeder.disable()
         status = asset_seeder.get_status()
         return web.json_response(
             {
@@ -667,11 +658,6 @@ async def seed_assets(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
             status=200,
         )
 
-    # Re-disable after starting: the running thread doesn't check _disabled,
-    # so this only prevents new scans from auto-starting while this one runs.
-    if was_disabled:
-        asset_seeder.disable()
-
     return web.json_response({"status": "started"}, status=202)
 
 

comfy/cli_args.py

@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ database_default_path = os.path.abspath(
     os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", "user", "comfyui.db")
 )
 parser.add_argument("--database-url", type=str, default=f"sqlite:///{database_default_path}", help="Specify the database URL, e.g. for an in-memory database you can use 'sqlite:///:memory:'.")
-parser.add_argument("--disable-assets-autoscan", action="store_true", help="Disable asset scanning on startup for database synchronization.")
+parser.add_argument("--enable-assets", action="store_true", help="Enable the assets system (API routes, database synchronization, and background scanning).")
 
 if comfy.options.args_parsing:
     args = parser.parse_args()

comfy_api/feature_flags.py

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ SERVER_FEATURE_FLAGS: dict[str, Any] = {
     "max_upload_size": args.max_upload_size * 1024 * 1024, # Convert MB to bytes
     "extension": {"manager": {"supports_v4": True}},
     "node_replacements": True,
+    "assets": args.enable_assets,
 }
 
 

main.py

@@ -359,10 +359,9 @@ def setup_database():
         from app.database.db import init_db, dependencies_available
         if dependencies_available():
             init_db()
-            if args.disable_assets_autoscan:
+            if args.enable_assets:
-                asset_seeder.disable()
+                if asset_seeder.start(roots=("models", "input", "output"), prune_first=True, compute_hashes=True):
-            elif asset_seeder.start(roots=("models", "input", "output"), prune_first=True, compute_hashes=True):
+                    logging.info("Background asset scan initiated for models, input, output")
-                logging.info("Background asset scan initiated for models, input, output")
     except Exception as e:
         logging.error(f"Failed to initialize database. Please ensure you have installed the latest requirements. If the error persists, please report this as in future the database will be required: {e}")
 

server.py

@@ -239,7 +239,8 @@ class PromptServer():
             else args.front_end_root
         )
         logging.info(f"[Prompt Server] web root: {self.web_root}")
-        register_assets_system(self.app, self.user_manager)
+        if args.enable_assets:
+            register_assets_system(self.app, self.user_manager)
         routes = web.RouteTableDef()
         self.routes = routes
         self.last_node_id = None

tests-unit/assets_test/conftest.py

@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ def comfy_url_and_proc(comfy_tmp_base_dir: Path, request: pytest.FixtureRequest)
             "main.py",
             f"--base-directory={str(comfy_tmp_base_dir)}",
             f"--database-url={db_url}",
-            "--disable-assets-autoscan",
+            "--enable-assets",
             "--listen",
             "127.0.0.1",
             "--port",