[Bug]: Model auto-download creates nested Users folder inside models directory (macOS)

[mshkhusn]

App Version

v0.8.21

Expected Behavior

When using template workflows that trigger automatic model downloads, models should be saved to the correct paths:

~/Documents/ComfyUI/models/unet/flux-2-klein-4b.safetensors
~/Documents/ComfyUI/models/vae/flux2-vae.safetensors
~/Documents/ComfyUI/models/text_encoders/qwen_3_4b.safetensors

Actual Behavior

Models are downloaded to a deeply nested path that duplicates the full absolute path inside the models directory:

~/Documents/ComfyUI/models/Users/[username]/Documents/ComfyUI/models/unet/flux-2-klein-4b.safetensors
~/Documents/ComfyUI/models/Users/[username]/Documents/ComfyUI/models/vae/flux2-vae.safetensors
~/Documents/ComfyUI/models/Users/[username]/Documents/ComfyUI/models/text_encoders/qwen_3_4b.safetensors

A "Users/" folder is created inside the models/ directory with the full user path nested within it. This happens consistently with every template model download.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Fresh install of ComfyUI Desktop v0.8.21 on macOS (Apple Silicon M5 Air)
2. Choose /Users/[username]/Documents/ComfyUI as the install directory
3. Open a template workflow (e.g., "Flux.2 Klein 4B: Text to Image" or "Z-Image-Turbo")
4. Click "Run" to trigger automatic model download
5. Check the models/ directory — a Users/ folder is created with the full nested path

extra_models_config.yaml content:

ComfyUI extra_model_paths.yaml for darwin

comfyui_desktop:
is_default: "true"
custom_nodes: custom_nodes/
download_model_base: models
base_path: /Users/[username]/Documents/ComfyUI
desktop_extensions:
custom_nodes: /Applications/ComfyUI.app/Contents/Resources/ComfyUI/custom_nodes

It appears that download_model_base (relative path "models") is being combined with base_path in a way that creates the full absolute path as a subdirectory, rather than resolving it correctly.

Debug Logs

Browser Logs

No response

Settings JSON

No response

Other

Workaround: manually move files after each download:
cd ~/Documents/ComfyUI/models
mv Users/[username]/Documents/ComfyUI/models/unet/* unet/
mv Users/[username]/Documents/ComfyUI/models/vae/* vae/
rm -rf Users

Tested with multiple templates (Flux.2 Klein 4B, Z-Image-Turbo) — same behavior every time.

┆Issue is synchronized with this Notion page by Unito

[dosubot]

Hi @mshkhusn! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the desktop team.

This is a known bug with active fixes in progress.

The root cause is in DownloadManager.ts — the getLocalSavePath() method unconditionally joins paths without checking if they're already absolute:

private getLocalSavePath(filename: string, savePath: string): string {
  return path.join(this.modelsDirectory, savePath, filename);
}

This was introduced by a regression from the missing-model dialog rewrite in ComfyUI_frontend, which now sends absolute paths instead of relative ones. The DownloadManager still assumes relative paths, causing the nested structure you're seeing.

Two PRs from this week address this:

• PR #1657: Honor Absolute Missing Model Download Paths — detects absolute paths and uses them directly
• PR #1655: Normalize Model Download Paths — normalizes path resolution with validation

Your workaround of manually moving files is correct for now. This should be fixed once one of these PRs is merged.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[mshkhusn]

@dosu Thank you for the quick response. Good to know this is already being tracked and fixed. Looking forward to PR #1657 or #1655 being merged. Will continue using the manual move workaround until then.

[dosubot]

You're welcome! Your detailed bug report with the exact paths and config file was very helpful for confirming this matches the known issue. Feel free to follow those PRs for updates on when the fix lands. 👍

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[benceruleanlu]

@mshkhusn #1657 has been released to users, are you still seeing this problem?

[mshkhusn]

Thanks — I tested it on the latest Desktop build and it looks fixed on my side. I’m no longer seeing the nested models/Users/... path issue.