How to Use

Inline: {red|blue|green} picks one option directly from your text.

Files: __subjects__ picks a random line from wildcards/subjects.txt.

Multi-Pick: __colors__+3 picks 3 unique colors from the file.

Pattern Search: __*locati*__ finds any file containing "locati" (like locations.txt or old_location.txt).

Folder Pool: __creatures/**__ pools every .txt file inside wildcards/creatures/ — including all subfolders — into one big pool and picks from it.

Whole Collection: __**__ pools your entire wildcard library and picks from everything.

Nested: You can mix them! Example: {__hero__|__villain__} in __*world*__.

Deep Nesting: Wildcards inside wildcard files get resolved too. If creatures.txt contains A dragon with __dragon_color__ scales, the inner marker resolves automatically. Goes up to 8 levels deep, with cycle protection — files that reference each other stop cleanly instead of looping.

Style Preset: The style dropdown prepends a style to your prompt (e.g. cyberpunk style, ...). Set it to random to roll one of 32 presets from your seed — deterministic, so the same seed always gives the same style.

Browse: The browse dropdown lists every wildcard in your collection, subfolders included. Pick one to append a line from it, or leave it on none.

Inventory: The second output wildcard_index prints your whole collection as plain text, grouped by folder. Connect it to a ShowText node.

Syntax Overview

SyntaxWhat it does{a|b|c}Inline random pick__name__One line from name.txt__name__+3Three unique lines from name.txt__*part*__Any file matching the pattern__folder/*__Pool all .txt directly in folder/__folder/**__Pool all .txt recursively in folder/__**__Pool the entire wildcard collection.

!

🎲 SmartWildcardLoader — v3.2 Update

✨ What's New

Fixed: Underscore Names (finally!)
`__my_wildcard_name__` now resolves correctly. Previous versions silently
ignored wildcard names containing underscores — this was the single most
common cause of unresolved markers. If you renamed files to avoid underscores,
you can rename them back.

New: Folder Pools
Point wildcards at entire folders and have them pool together:

| Syntax | Behavior |
|---|---|
| `__folder/name__` | Direct path lookup |
| `__folder/*__` | Pools ALL .txt files directly inside `folder/` |
| `__folder/**__` | Pools ALL .txt files recursively, incl. subfolders |
| `____**__` | Pools your ENTIRE wildcards collection |

Pooling merges every line of every matching file into one fair pool — no bias
toward smaller files.

New: Wildcards Inside Wildcards
Lines in your wildcard files can now contain their own wildcards and
`{option A|option B}` brackets. Resolution is fully recursive (up to 8 levels
deep) with automatic cycle protection — files that reference each other
stop cleanly instead of looping forever.

New: Style Engine
Built-in style dropdown with 32 presets (cinematic, cyberpunk, film noir,
ukiyo-e, studio ghibli, vaporwave, dark academia and more) plus a `random`
option that rolls a style from your seed — deterministic, so the same seed
always yields the same style.

New: Browse Dropdown
A dropdown listing every available wildcard in your collection — including
files in subfolders. Select one to append a pick from it to your prompt, or
keep it on `none` to ignore.

New: Wildcard Index Output
A second output (`wildcard_index`) gives you a plain-text overview of your
entire wildcard collection, grouped by folder. Pipe it into a ShowText node
for a live inventory.

Kept From Previous Versions
- Deterministic seeding (MD5 sub-seeds): same seed = identical output
- Auto-Pool: exhaust a file before repeats (history_depth 0)
- `+N` syntax for multiple simultaneous picks
- `{a|b}` bracket logic
- History tracking with pool reset
- Debug console output with timing stats

📥 Install
1. Copy `SmartWildcardLoader.py` into `ComfyUI/custom_nodes/SmartWildcardLoader/`
2. Restart ComfyUI
3. Your wildcards go in `ComfyUI/wildcards/` (created automatically,
scanned recursively)

⚠️ Notes
- The browse dropdown reads the filesystem when the node loads — reload the
browser page after adding new .txt files to see them listed
- `#` comment lines and blank lines in wildcard files are ignored
- Backwards compatible: existing workflows keep working; new inputs fill
with defaults, the new output can stay unconnected

Update Notes: v1.1

New Features & Improvements:

• Recursive Search: Wildcards are now found automatically in subfolders (e.g., __hero__ finds /wildcards/rpg/hero.txt).

• Integrated Styles: New dropdown menu to quickly apply aesthetic styles (e.g., Psychedelic, Surreal, Cyberpunk) as a prefix.

• Smart Empty-Check: The node will not process or add styles if the text input is empty, preventing accidental resource waste.

• Enhanced Debugging: Console now logs the selected item, total pool size, and remaining items in the current history cycle.

• Stability: Improved regex parsing and bracket {a|b} resolution to prevent crashes from malformed syntax.

Smart Wildcard Loader: Quick Start

Update Notes: Smart Wildcard Loader (v1.03)

Improved Parsing & Debugging

• Robust Wildcard Handling: The parser now intelligently ignores incomplete or unclosed markers (e.g., __unfinished_tag), preventing prompt corruption.

• Enhanced Debugging: Added console warnings for invalid markers and missing wildcard files when debug is enabled.

New Features (v1.02)

• Auto-Pool Mode: Set history_depth to 0 to automatically detect file length. It will exhaust every single line before any word repeats.

• Reset Button: Use the reset_history toggle to instantly wipe the memory and all frequency stats.

• Frequency Tracking: If history_depth > 0, the console highlights repeated picks in RED and tells you exactly how often they have appeared.

• Skip Counter: Tracks the node's "workload" by counting how many lines were skipped to respect your history settings.

Why use this?

• Total Variety: Ensures you see every single line of your wildcard files before a repeat occurs.

• Deep Logic: Files can contain other tags, allowing for infinitely complex prompt chains.

• Efficiency: All memory is stored in RAM. It’s fast and resets when you restart ComfyUI.