ControlNet¶

Development line: project:controlnet · thread controlnet-development
Last event: 2023-04-13 · 3 dated since 2023-02-12 · Researched: 2026-09-04 · confidence: medium

What it is¶

ControlNet is a spatial-conditioning adapter for diffusion models. We use it when a prompt must follow a reference image rather than only text.

• Edge and line maps, depth, segmentation, poses, and sketches steer generation.
• Frozen base model weights stay untouched while adapter branches add visual structure.

Development line¶

• 2023-02-12 — ControlNet source and runnable entry points became publicly available. On 2023-02-12, the linked GitHub repository, Hugging Face Space, and Colab notebook opened public access to code and runnable demos. The links give no specific release tag or feature set.
• 2023-03-20 — A ControlNet face-landmark model was introduced to the community. On 2023-03-20, a community resource published a ControlNet model for facial landmarks. It added facial structure conditioning to the ecosystem. We have no numbers for its distribution, performance, or adoption.
• 2023-04-13 — ControlNet v1.1 entered a nightly development line. On 2023-04-13, a GitHub repository marked the start of the v1.1 nightly line. It continued active project development. The repository listed no stable-release date and did not enumerate changes.

What changed¶

ControlNet grew from an SD 1.x research implementation into model-specific control workflows. 2023-02-12 - The original project documented transfer of ControlNet to community SD 1.x models. 2023-03-20 - A community Face-Landmark checkpoint added a control type without altering the core architecture. 2023-04-13 - ControlNet 1.1 kept the 1.0 architecture, standardized names, and expanded the SD 1.5 catalog to 14 models: 11 production-ready and 3 experimental. 2023-05-31 - The A1111 extension added a cascaded high-resolution inpainting workflow in 1.1.202 without changing ControlNet itself. 2026-09-04 - Current guides document ControlNet workflows for Flux, Hunyuan-DiT, Stable Diffusion 3, and SDXL through ComfyUI nodes and Diffusers pipelines.

How to use this¶

Work started on 2023-02-12 with source and runnable entry points. From 2023-04-13, identify the v1.1 nightly line directly instead of treating all resources as one release.

1. Pick a structural constraint and preprocess the matching reference image; different ControlNet types expect different reference images. — https://docs.comfy.org/tutorials/controlnet/controlnet
2. In ComfyUI, put the checkpoint under ComfyUI/models/controlnet, load the base checkpoint and ControlNet, then upload the reference image. — https://docs.comfy.org/tutorials/controlnet/controlnet
3. Connect ControlNet to positive and negative conditioning, set strength and optional start/end percentages, then queue generation. — https://docs.comfy.org/tutorials/controlnet/controlnet
4. In code, load a control model into the Diffusers pipeline, pass the prompt and control_image, and tune controlnet_conditioning_scale. — https://huggingface.co/docs/diffusers/using-diffusers/controlnet
5. In AUTOMATIC1111, install or update sd-webui-controlnet, add model files, refresh the list, and select the preprocessor in the UI. — https://github.com/Mikubill/sd-webui-controlnet

Best practices¶

• Match the preprocessor and reference map to the checkpoint; different ControlNet types require different reference images. — https://docs.comfy.org/tutorials/controlnet/controlnet
• Keep checkpoints and pipelines within one model family instead of treating SD 1.5, SDXL, Flux, and others as interchangeable. — https://huggingface.co/docs/diffusers/using-diffusers/controlnet
• Tune Control Strength or controlnet_conditioning_scale directly so the reference does not overpower or under-constrain output. — https://huggingface.co/docs/diffusers/using-diffusers/controlnet
• For Multi-ControlNet, resize inputs to expected dimensions, mask conditions to avoid overlap, and tune each conditioning scale separately. — https://huggingface.co/docs/diffusers/using-diffusers/controlnet
• In ComfyUI, use Apply ControlNet; Apply ControlNet (Old) is deprecated. — https://docs.comfy.org/tutorials/controlnet/controlnet
• For AUTOMATIC1111, use sd-webui-controlnet; do not install the ControlNet-v1-1-nightly research repository as an A1111 extension. — https://github.com/lllyasviel/ControlNet-v1-1-nightly

Superseded by this¶

• 2023-04-13 - Installing ControlNet-v1-1-nightly in AUTOMATIC1111 is an incorrect legacy path; its own instructions direct A1111 users to sd-webui-controlnet.
• 2023-05-31 - Treating A1111 v1.1.202 as current integration is obsolete; the extension documents later v1.1.454 work dated 2024-07-09.
• 2023-era - ComfyUI graphs using Apply ControlNet (Old) are deprecated; use Apply ControlNet.

Still unknown¶

• The Face-Landmark item rests on one community post and demo; we have not verified its model card, license, checkpoint compatibility, or current hosting.
• The dated events combine core architecture, a community checkpoint, and an AUTOMATIC1111 extension into an ecosystem rather than one maintained distribution.
• We cannot inspect the historical Hugging Face Space or Colab notebook, so original instructions and availability remain unconfirmed.

Sources¶

Agent brief¶

• Subject: project:controlnet, thread controlnet-development, 3 dated events 2023-02-12 → 2023-04-13.
• Practical note: From 2023-02-12, practitioners could obtain ControlNet through linked source and runnable entry points; from 2023-04-13, they should identify the v1.1 nightly line explicitly rather than treat all ControlNet resources as one static release.
• Confidence: medium. Dated supersedes above are the authority for what is obsolete.