feat: merge models discovery into the model noun + deprecation-alias helper (BE-2999)

comfy_cli/cmdline.py

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 from comfy_cli.config_manager import ConfigManager
 from comfy_cli.constants import GPU_OPTION, CUDAVersion, ROCmVersion
 from comfy_cli.cuda_detect import DEFAULT_CUDA_TAG, detect_cuda_driver_version, resolve_cuda_wheel
+from comfy_cli.deprecation import add_deprecated_alias
 from comfy_cli.discovery import build_discovery
 from comfy_cli.env_checker import EnvChecker
 from comfy_cli.help_json import build_help_json
@@ -1612,12 +1613,20 @@ def standalone(
 
 
 generate_command.register_with(app)
-app.add_typer(models_command.app, name="model", help="Manage models.")
+# The `model` noun owns BOTH the local-filesystem ops (download/remove/list) and
+# the backend/cloud discovery leaves (list-folders/list-folder/search/show). The
+# discovery leaves are implemented on `models_search_command.app`; surface them
+# under `model` by borrowing their command registrations (same CommandInfo
+# objects — no logic duplication).
+models_command.app.registered_commands.extend(models_search_command.app.registered_commands)
 app.add_typer(
-    models_search_command.app,
-    name="models",
-    help="Discover models — folders, files, and the cloud asset catalog.",
+    models_command.app,
+    name="model",
+    help="Manage models — local files on disk plus backend/cloud discovery.",
 )
+# `models` (plural) is now a hidden, deprecated alias for the discovery leaves.
+# Every old `comfy models …` invocation still works but prints a warning.
+add_deprecated_alias(app, models_search_command.app, old_name="models", new_name="model")
 app.add_typer(custom_nodes.app, name="node", help="Manage custom nodes.")
 app.add_typer(nodes_command.app, name="nodes", help="Introspect ComfyUI node classes (inputs, outputs, categories).")
 app.add_typer(templates_command.app, name="templates", help="Browse the Comfy workflow-template gallery.")

comfy_cli/command/models/models.py

@@ -446,7 +446,11 @@ def list_models(path: pathlib.Path) -> list[pathlib.Path]:
     return sorted(f for f in path.rglob("*") if f.is_file())
 
 
-@app.command("list")
+@app.command(
+    "list",
+    help="List local models on disk (files already downloaded into the current workspace). "
+    "For backend/cloud discovery use `comfy model list-folders` / `list-folder`.",
+)
 @tracking.track_command("model")
 def list_command(
     ctx: typer.Context,

comfy_cli/command/models/search.py

@@ -150,7 +150,9 @@ def _emit_http_error(e: urllib.error.HTTPError, *, renderer, target, message: st
 
 @app.command(
     "list-folders",
-    help="List model folders available to the resolved backend (cloud: /api/experiment/models, local: /models).",
+    help="List model folders on the backend/cloud — the resolved server "
+    "(cloud: /api/experiment/models, local server: /models). For files already "
+    "on disk in your workspace, use `comfy model list`.",
 )
 @tracking.track_command("models")
 def list_folders_cmd(
@@ -216,7 +218,9 @@ def list_folders_cmd(
 
 @app.command(
     "list-folder",
-    help="List model files in a specific folder. Returns name + pathIndex per entry — no enrichment.",
+    help="List model files in a specific folder on the backend/cloud (the resolved "
+    "server). Returns name + pathIndex per entry — no enrichment. For files already "
+    "on disk in your workspace, use `comfy model list`.",
 )
 @tracking.track_command("models")
 def list_folder_cmd(

comfy_cli/deprecation.py

@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+"""Shared helper for wiring hidden, deprecated command aliases.
+
+A deprecation alias keeps an old command/group spelling working while steering
+users to the new one. Three things happen to an alias:
+
+  (a) it is hidden from ``--help`` (so the surface advertises only the new name);
+  (b) its group help is prefixed with a ``[DEPRECATED — use <new>]`` banner; and
+  (c) invoking any leaf under it prints a single ``[yellow]`` warning line to
+      stderr.
+
+The warning is never silenced — discoverability of the rename is the whole
+point, and stderr keeps it out of the one-envelope-on-stdout contract.
+
+Introduced for the ``models`` → ``model`` merge (BE-2999); the sibling noun
+consolidations reuse :func:`add_deprecated_alias`.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import functools
+
+import typer
+
+# Use the output shim so the warning lands on stderr (not stdout) in JSON mode,
+# preserving the one-envelope-on-stdout contract.
+from comfy_cli.output import rprint
+
+
+def deprecated_help(new_name: str, original_help: str | None = None) -> str:
+    """Prefix ``original_help`` with the deprecation banner.
+
+    ``new_name`` is the command path *without* the ``comfy`` prog prefix
+    (e.g. ``"model"``); the banner renders it as ``comfy <new_name>``.
+    """
+    banner = f"[DEPRECATED — use `comfy {new_name}`]"
+    original = (original_help or "").strip()
+    return f"{banner} {original}".strip()
+
+
+def warn_deprecated(old_name: str, new_name: str) -> None:
+    """Emit the one-line yellow deprecation warning to stderr."""
+    rprint(f"[yellow]'comfy {old_name} …' is deprecated; use 'comfy {new_name} …'[/yellow]")
+
+
+def add_deprecated_alias(
+    parent: typer.Typer,
+    source_app: typer.Typer,
+    *,
+    old_name: str,
+    new_name: str,
+) -> typer.Typer:
+    """Mount a hidden, deprecated alias of ``source_app`` on ``parent``.
+
+    The alias reuses ``source_app``'s command implementations verbatim (no logic
+    duplication) and adds a group callback that prints one yellow warning to
+    stderr before any leaf runs. ``source_app`` itself is left untouched — the
+    alias is a fresh Typer that borrows the registered commands — so the canonical
+    mount of the same commands stays warning-free.
+
+    Both leaf commands *and* nested sub-groups (``add_typer``) are carried over,
+    and if ``source_app`` declares its own group callback the alias composes it
+    with the deprecation warning rather than dropping it — so the helper stays
+    correct as the sibling noun consolidations reuse it against richer command
+    trees.
+
+    Returns the alias app (useful for tests).
+    """
+    alias = typer.Typer(
+        no_args_is_help=True,
+        help=deprecated_help(new_name, source_app.info.help),
+    )
+    # Borrow the exact command + sub-group registrations — same CommandInfo /
+    # TyperInfo objects, so the alias and the canonical surface stay in lockstep
+    # with zero duplication.
+    alias.registered_commands.extend(source_app.registered_commands)
+    alias.registered_groups.extend(source_app.registered_groups)
+
+    # The alias always needs a group callback to emit the deprecation warning.
+    # If the source app declared one of its own (with its own options / setup),
+    # compose the two — warn first, then delegate — preserving the source's
+    # callback signature so its CLI options still resolve on the alias.
+    source_cb_info = source_app.registered_callback
+    source_cb = getattr(source_cb_info, "callback", None) if source_cb_info else None
+
+    if source_cb is None:
+
+        @alias.callback()
+        def _emit_deprecation_warning() -> None:
+            warn_deprecated(old_name, new_name)
+    else:
+
+        @alias.callback()
+        @functools.wraps(source_cb)
+        def _emit_deprecation_warning(*args, **kwargs):
+            warn_deprecated(old_name, new_name)
+            return source_cb(*args, **kwargs)
+
+    parent.add_typer(alias, name=old_name, hidden=True)
+    return alias

comfy_cli/discovery.py

@@ -78,6 +78,14 @@
     "comfy skill show": "skill",
     "comfy skill status": "skill",
     # model discovery (all asset types: checkpoints, loras, controlnets, vae, ...)
+    # Canonical spelling under the `model` noun.
+    "comfy model search": "models",
+    "comfy model show": "models",
+    "comfy model list-folders": "models",
+    "comfy model list-folder": "models",
+    # `comfy models` is the hidden, deprecated plural alias; the discovery
+    # envelopes still carry the `models …` form in `command`, so both spellings
+    # register (mirrors the `skill`/`skills` alias above).
     "comfy models search": "models",
     "comfy models show": "models",
     "comfy models list-folders": "models",

comfy_cli/skills/comfy/SKILL.md

@@ -347,23 +347,23 @@ If no local server is running and you're not signed into cloud, pass
 
 ## Models — find what's installed, with metadata
 
-On **cloud**, `comfy models search` hits the live asset catalog
+On **cloud**, `comfy model search` hits the live asset catalog
 (`/api/assets`) and returns enriched rows: `name`, `type`, `tags`,
 `base_model`, `source_url`, `preview_url`, `size`. On **local**, the same
 command falls back to `/models/<folder>` listings (filenames only).
 
 ```bash
-comfy --json models list-folders                 # every model folder (loras, checkpoints, vae, …)
-comfy --json models list-folder loras            # files in a folder, with pathIndex
-comfy --json models search --text "wan2.2" --type lora --limit 10
-comfy --json models search --text "flux"         # text search across the catalog
-comfy --json models show <rows[0].name>          # full Asset + projected row (cloud-only)
+comfy --json model list-folders                 # every model folder (loras, checkpoints, vae, …)
+comfy --json model list-folder loras            # files in a folder, with pathIndex
+comfy --json model search --text "wan2.2" --type lora --limit 10
+comfy --json model search --text "flux"         # text search across the catalog
+comfy --json model show <rows[0].name>          # full Asset + projected row (cloud-only)
 ```
 
-`models search --type <X>` accepts the conventional folder names
+`model search --type <X>` accepts the conventional folder names
 (`lora`/`loras`, `checkpoint`/`checkpoints`, `vae`, `controlnet`,
 `upscale`, `clip`, `clip_vision`, `unet`/`diffusion_models`, …). Use
-`models list-folders` first if you're unsure what types the backend
+`model list-folders` first if you're unsure what types the backend
 exposes.
 
 **Discover → wire loop — every asset type, never hardcoded names:**
@@ -376,12 +376,12 @@ pattern is the same regardless of type:
 
 ```bash
 # 1. Discover available assets for any type
-comfy --json models search --type lora --where cloud --text "detail" --limit 5
-comfy --json models search --type controlnet --where cloud --limit 5
-comfy --json models search --type checkpoint --where cloud --limit 5
-comfy --json models search --type vae --where cloud --limit 5
-comfy --json models search --type upscale --where cloud --limit 5
-comfy --json models search --type embeddings --where cloud --limit 5
+comfy --json model search --type lora --where cloud --text "detail" --limit 5
+comfy --json model search --type controlnet --where cloud --limit 5
+comfy --json model search --type checkpoint --where cloud --limit 5
+comfy --json model search --type vae --where cloud --limit 5
+comfy --json model search --type upscale --where cloud --limit 5
+comfy --json model search --type embeddings --where cloud --limit 5
 
 # 2. Take rows[0].name verbatim — paste it into your fragment's required param
 
@@ -396,8 +396,8 @@ recommendation.** On this backend, today, the survey returned the rows
 sketched below; yours will differ — pick from YOUR rows:
 
 ```bash
-comfy --json models search --type checkpoint --where cloud --limit 5  # → picked <ckpt> from rows
-comfy --json models search --type lora --where cloud --limit 5        # → picked <lora> from rows
+comfy --json model search --type checkpoint --where cloud --limit 5  # → picked <ckpt> from rows
+comfy --json model search --type lora --where cloud --limit 5        # → picked <lora> from rows
 # Learn the lora wiring from a real graph, not memory — fetch a matching template:
 comfy --json templates ls --type image --model "<family of <ckpt>, from its row>"
 comfy templates fetch <name-from-those-rows> --out ref.json   # read how it wires
@@ -481,11 +481,11 @@ comfy --json nodes ls --produces AUDIO --limit 1 # AUDIO producer count
 comfy --json nodes ls --api-only --limit 1       # partner API node count
 comfy --json nodes categories --prefix "partner"# API provider categories
 comfy --json nodes types                         # all connection types
-comfy --json models list-folders                 # all model folders
+comfy --json model list-folders                 # all model folders
 comfy --json templates ls --limit 1              # template count
 ```
 
-The `total` field in `nodes ls`, `nodes search`, and `models search`
+The `total` field in `nodes ls`, `nodes search`, and `model search`
 gives the full count even when `--limit` caps the returned rows.
 
 ## Workflows — what can I tweak?
@@ -685,8 +685,8 @@ comfy --json nodes show <ClassName>
 # If error.code == "node_not_found", check details.close_matches
 
 # Confirm a model filename is actually available on the resolved backend (cloud-only)
-# On local: use `comfy models list-folder <type>` instead
-comfy --json models show <filename>
+# On local: use `comfy model list-folder <type>` instead
+comfy --json model show <filename>
 # If error.code == "model_not_found", check details.close_matches and pick one
 ```
 
@@ -849,11 +849,11 @@ Hard-won lessons per domain. Not a tutorial — a reference card.
 
 ## Image
 
-- Survey first: `comfy nodes ls --produces IMAGE --api-only` (partner APIs), `comfy templates ls --type image`, `comfy models search --type checkpoint` — then choose
+- Survey first: `comfy nodes ls --produces IMAGE --api-only` (partner APIs), `comfy templates ls --type image`, `comfy model search --type checkpoint` — then choose
 - Batch sweeps: `comfy workflow vary` for multi-prompt/seed generation
 - Text rendering: use Ideogram (IdeogramV3), NOT Flux — Flux garbles text
 - Partner API escape hatch (one-shots only, via the proxy — not a workflow Job): `comfy generate flux-ultra --prompt "..."`
-- Never hardcode checkpoint/LoRA names — discover via `models search`
+- Never hardcode checkpoint/LoRA names — discover via `model search`
 
 ## Video