feat: text gate protected mode — standalone text node (backend)

protected=True makes run() emit stored_text and ignore upstream with no pause;
IS_CHANGED caches on stored_text when protected (NaN otherwise). text input is
now optional so the node can run standalone.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

gates/textgate.py

@@ -22,26 +22,37 @@ class TextGate:
 
     @classmethod
     def INPUT_TYPES(cls):
+        # `text` is optional so the node can run standalone in protected mode.
+        # `protected` + `stored_text` are serializing widgets carrying the
+        # authored text-node state (stored_text is hidden by the frontend).
         return {
-            "required": {
-                "text": ("STRING", {"forceInput": True}),
-            },
             "optional": {
+                "text": ("STRING", {"forceInput": True}),
                 "signal": (ANY, {}),
+                "protected": ("BOOLEAN", {"default": False}),
+                "stored_text": ("STRING", {"default": "", "multiline": True}),
             },
             "hidden": {"unique_id": "UNIQUE_ID"},
         }
 
     @classmethod
-    def IS_CHANGED(cls, **kwargs):
-        return float("nan")
+    def IS_CHANGED(cls, protected=False, stored_text="", **kwargs):
+        # Protected = plain text node: cache on the authored text so downstream
+        # only re-runs when it changes. Otherwise never cache (always pause).
+        return stored_text if protected else float("nan")
+
+    def run(self, unique_id=None, text=None, signal=None,
+            protected=False, stored_text=""):
+        if protected:
+            # Standalone text node: emit the authored text, ignore upstream, no
+            # pause. Returns before importing comfy, so it stays import-safe.
+            return (stored_text, signal)
 
-    def run(self, text, unique_id, signal=None):
         from . import gate_server
         import comfy.model_management as mm
 
         gate_bus.GateBus.arm(unique_id)
-        gate_server.send_text(unique_id, text)
+        gate_server.send_text(unique_id, text or "")
         try:
             edited = gate_bus.GateBus.wait_payload(
                 unique_id, should_cancel=mm.processing_interrupted)