ComfyUI-Dataset-Gates/docs/plans/2026-06-29-textgate-protected-design.md

Text Gate — "Protected" mode (standalone text node)

Goal: A protected switch that turns the Text Gate into a standalone text node: no pause, it outputs the text you typed every run, ignoring upstream. Toggle off → back to the normal pause/edit/Pass gate using the upstream text.

Decisions (from brainstorming):

• Protected = plain-text-node behavior (no pause), not a "still-pause-but-lock".
• The upstream wire is kept but its value ignored while protected (toggle off resumes upstream seamlessly — no reconnecting).

Backend (gates/textgate.py)

The authored text and the flag must reach run(), so:

• text input: required → optional (forceInput kept), so the node runs standalone. Existing connections still work.
• New serializing widgets:
  • protected (BOOLEAN, default False) — the switch.
  • stored_text (STRING) — the authored text, hidden in the UI behind the DOM editor; the textarea syncs into it.
• run(self, unique_id=None, text=None, signal=None, protected=False, stored_text=""):
  • protected → return (stored_text, signal) immediately — no GateBus, no pause, upstream ignored. (Returns early before importing comfy, so it stays import-safe/unit-testable.)
  • else → current pause flow, guarding an unconnected input with text or "".
• IS_CHANGED: protected → return stored_text (cache-friendly like a real text node; downstream only re-runs when the text changes). Else → float("nan") (so the existing NaN test still passes).

Frontend (web/text_gate.js)

• Hide the auto-created stored_text widget (computeSize → [0,-4], the pool node's trick); the DOM textarea stays the single editor and writes its value into stored_text on every edit (persists + reaches the backend).
• Read the protected boolean toggle (label "🔒 Protected (text node)"). On ON: snapshot the current textarea into stored_text, hide Pass / Run-from-here, show status "🔒 protected — outputs this text, upstream ignored", keep the textarea editable. On OFF: revert to the normal pause UI.
• Ignore the datasete-textgate-show socket while protected. On load, populate the textarea from stored_text.

Persistence & compat

protected + stored_text are real widgets → save/reload restores mode + text. Old saved TextGates get protected=false, stored_text="" defaults (the DOM editor is serialize:false, so old nodes carry no conflicting widgets_values).

Testing

• Unit: run(protected=True, stored_text="hi") → ("hi", signal) without touching GateBus; IS_CHANGED(protected=True, stored_text="hi") → "hi"; IS_CHANGED(protected=False) → NaN; text is in INPUT_TYPES()["optional"].
• Frontend: node --check; manual — toggle protect, edit freely, Run doesn't overwrite, save/reload keeps text, toggle off resumes upstream.

Rejected

A frontend-only "lock" that still pauses — doesn't give true text-node behavior (you'd still click Pass each run), which is the point of the switch.