Download and manage Stable Diffusion models, from the command line or a web UI.

• Browse Civitai, OpenModelDB and GitHub Releases, and download with resume, SHA256 checks, preview images and metadata sidecars.
• Hubs: download files or whole repositories from Hugging Face (or a mirror such as hf-mirror) and ModelScope.
• Link: paste any download address and choose the folder it goes to, with an optional file name and SHA256 to check against.
• Library: point SD Model Hub at your ComfyUI or Stable Diffusion WebUI model folders. It identifies each model's type and base model from the safetensors header (never unpickling anything), shows previews, and imports, moves, renames and deletes models together with their preview images and sidecar files. Drag files into the browser to upload them.

The design, the conventions and the known gaps are in AGENTS.md.

Install

Install from PyPI:

python -m pip install sd-model-hub
sd-model-hub --help

Python 3.10 or newer. The web UI is bundled into the package; users do not need Node.

Pydantic v1 and v2 are supported. To keep Pydantic v1 in an existing environment, use Python 3.10–3.13 and a compatible FastAPI:

python -m pip install sd-model-hub "pydantic<2" "fastapi<0.126"

Python 3.14 and newer require Pydantic v2. Development checks and committed web API types are generated with Pydantic v2; the release workflow also tests Pydantic v1 separately.

Command line

sd-model-hub
├── webui                      start the server and open the web UI
├── version | env
├── config  show | get | set | path
├── source  list
├── auth    status | use <manual|oauth> | connect | disconnect
├── search <query>             --source --kind --base-model --sort --limit
├── info <source> <model-id>
├── download
│   ├── model <source> <model-id>    --version --file --root --dir --to
│   ├── url <url>                    --to --sha256 --name
│   ├── hf <repo-id>                 --revision --include --exclude --to
│   └── modelscope <repo-id>         --revision --include --exclude --to
└── library
    ├── root list | add | remove
    ├── list [path]            --root --recursive --kind
    ├── info <path>            --hash
    ├── identify <path>
    ├── scan                   --root
    ├── import <paths...>      --root --to --move --rename
    ├── move <src...> <dst>
    ├── rename <path> <new-name>
    └── delete <paths...>      --permanent --yes

Every listing command accepts --json, which prints the same records the API returns. --debug works at every level. Errors exit with a code per kind: 2 not found, 3 conflict, 4 invalid path or input, 5 needs a token, 6 upstream failure.

Examples:

sd-model-hub library root add ~/ComfyUI/models --layout comfyui
sd-model-hub library list ~/ComfyUI/models/loras --recursive --kind lora
sd-model-hub search "detail tweaker" --kind lora --base-model "SDXL 1.0"
sd-model-hub download model civitai 122359           # into the layout's LoRA folder
sd-model-hub download hf stabilityai/sdxl-turbo --include "*.safetensors" --to ./sdxl-turbo
sd-model-hub config set sources.civitai.token <token>
sd-model-hub webui --port 7865

Ctrl+C during an HTTP download pauses it and keeps the .part file; running the same command again resumes. Hub downloads cannot pause (neither library resumes), so Ctrl+C cancels them.

Embedding in another application

from sd_model_hub import ModelHubServer, ModelRoot

hub = ModelHubServer(
    data_dir="./hub-data",                   # database and caches
    settings_path="./my-app/model-hub.toml", # the settings file, wherever you want it
    model_roots=[ModelRoot("/srv/models", layout="comfyui", name="Models")],
    lock_model_roots=True,                 # the user cannot add, change or remove folders
    port=0,                                # any free port; a number asks for that one
    api_prefix="/tools/model-hub",         # keeps our routes clear of yours
)

url = hub.start()      # returns as soon as it is listening, e.g. http://127.0.0.1:54123/tools/model-hub
...
hub.stop()

hub.start() is non-blocking and returns the URL; hub.run() serves in the foreground; with ModelHubServer(...) as hub: does both ends. hub.services exposes the library, downloads and settings for direct use, and hub.url, hub.port and hub.running describe the server.

Dedicated directories can live on different disks. For example, a host can supply ModelRoot("/models/lora", id="host-lora", kind="lora") and pin the following settings:

settings={
    "downloads": {
        "kind_destinations": {
            "lora": {"root_id": "host-lora", "rel_dir": ""},
        },
    },
}

kind is only a fallback folder hint: a layout's specific folder mapping takes precedence, and file detection is still reported independently, including mismatches. It also helps choose a default download root when no explicit default is configured. Host root IDs are preserved when seeded into settings; omitted IDs are derived deterministically from the resolved path.

Download destination precedence is: an explicit destination/root, then the model kind's kind_destinations entry, then default_root, then a root with the matching kind hint, then the first root. An explicit relative directory, including "", wins over suggestions. Within the selected root, a matching kind destination wins over the legacy kind_folders mapping and the layout default. A missing configured root or an escaping relative path raises an error instead of silently downloading elsewhere. Set an individual kind destination to null via the settings API to clear it. Root locking fixes the root list; it does not disable absolute download destinations or server-side imports.

The UI and download manager both use LibraryService.suggest_destination(kind, root_id); it is also available as GET /api/v1/library/destination?kind=lora&root_id=... (both parameters are optional). Suggestions do not create directories.

For a host that already has an ASGI server, use the same Python environment and mount the app directly; no extra listener or subprocess is needed:

from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
from fastapi import FastAPI
from sd_model_hub.api.app import create_app
from sd_model_hub.core.context import build_services

services = build_services(data_dir=..., settings_overrides=..., roots_locked=True)
hub_app = create_app(services, bound_host="127.0.0.1")

@asynccontextmanager
async def lifespan(app):
    try:
        async with hub_app.router.lifespan_context(hub_app):
            yield
    finally:
        services.close()

app = FastAPI(lifespan=lifespan)
app.mount("/model-hub", hub_app)

The host must enter and exit the child lifespan on the serving event loop; mounting alone does not start the download queue or event bridge. If the host is already running when it loads an extension, enter that context explicitly on its existing loop and retain it until unload/shutdown. Apply the host's authentication to both HTTP and WebSocket requests through the mounted application; a host's route dependencies do not automatically protect a child app. Keep origin checks and configure the intended host names (extra_hosts in create_app).

Mount paths, root_path and api_prefix contribute to OAuth cookie and redirect paths. With a reverse proxy, public_base_url="https://example.com/webui/model-hub" sets the trusted external UI URL. Its callback must also appear in auth.civitai.redirect_uris when that allowlist is configured, and must be registered with the provider. Forwarded headers alone cannot choose a callback URL. A manual source token continues to work without OAuth setup.

The command line can also take the prefix: sd-model-hub webui --api-prefix /tools/model-hub.

Settings

Settings live in settings.toml in the data directory (sd-model-hub config path). Any setting can be overridden with an environment variable: SD_MODEL_HUB_<GROUP>__<FIELD>, for example SD_MODEL_HUB_SERVER__PORT=8000 or SD_MODEL_HUB_NETWORK__PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:7890. SD_MODEL_HUB_DATA_DIR moves the data directory. Tokens are never returned by the API.

The server listens on 127.0.0.1 by default. To listen on another address, set server.access_token first; every request then needs it.

Civitai authentication

Two ways, side by side. Neither replaces the other, and nothing switches between them by itself.

A personal API token (the default, and all most people need):

sd-model-hub config set sources.civitai.token <token>       # or SD_MODEL_HUB_SOURCES__CIVITAI__TOKEN

A connected account (OAuth, Authorization Code with PKCE). It needs an OAuth application registered with Civitai, because the client id identifies this installation:

sd-model-hub config set auth.civitai.oauth_client_id <client id>
sd-model-hub webui        # then Settings → Civitai authentication → Connect
sd-model-hub auth status  # which credential is in use, and where it is kept

Register the callback with Civitai exactly as the server uses it, by default http://127.0.0.1:7865/api/v1/auth/civitai/callback. On another port or host, or when working on the UI with the Vite dev server, list the exact URLs:

sd-model-hub config set auth.civitai.redirect_uris '["http://127.0.0.1:7865/api/v1/auth/civitai/callback", "http://localhost:5173/api/v1/auth/civitai/callback"]'

Tokens stay on the server: in the operating system's credential store when there is one, else a file in the data directory readable only by you. They are never in settings.toml, never sent to the browser, and never written into download records. Access tokens are refreshed about a minute before they expire, once even if several downloads ask at the same time, and the rotated pair is stored as a whole. sd-model-hub auth disconnect revokes the authorization and forgets it locally, leaving any API token untouched.

An environment variable takes precedence over both, and the settings page says so while it does.

Symbolic links

A model folder whose contents are symbolic links to another disk — as a WebUI install often has for its LoRAs — works out of the box: links are followed by default, so a linked folder is listed, opens and keeps the path you navigate with, and can be downloaded into. Deleting, moving and renaming then act on the files where they really are.

Turn that off if you would rather nothing outside a model folder can be touched through the interface:

sd-model-hub config set library.follow_symlinks false

It is also in Settings, under Content & Library. Off, anything a link leads outside its root is hidden from listings rather than shown and then refused on the way in. Paths containing .., absolute paths and reserved names are refused in either mode, and a folder reached twice through a loop of links is walked once.

Files SD Model Hub writes next to a model

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
python scripts/dev.py              # list the developer tasks
python scripts/dev.py dev          # API server and web UI together, with hot reload
python scripts/dev.py check        # what CI runs: lint, ty, tests, generated types
python scripts/dev.py typecheck-py # Python types; targets Python 3.10 by default
python scripts/dev.py test         # pytest, vitest and vue-tsc
python scripts/dev.py format       # ruff fixes and formatting
python scripts/dev.py typegen      # regenerate src/api/schema.d.ts from the OpenAPI schema

dev is the one to use while working on the UI: it starts the API server and the Vite dev server together, tags each line of output with api or web, and stops both on Ctrl+C. Open the address it prints (http://localhost:5173 by default); Vite proxies /api and /ws to the API server, so one address serves both and the UI hot-reloads.

While the API server is restarting, the page's socket reconnects on its own and the proxy says so once:

[api proxy] http://127.0.0.1:7865 is not answering (ECONNREFUSED). Start it with: sd-model-hub webui --no-open

Data reappears by itself once the server is back; there is no need to reload the page.

python scripts/dev.py dev --api-port 8000 --web-port 3000 --data-dir ./dev-data
python scripts/dev.py web-dev      # only the UI, against an API server you started yourself
sd-model-hub webui --no-open       # only the API server

The tasks are a small Python script rather than a Makefile, so they work the same on Windows. Each one prints the command it runs, so the underlying tools stay easy to call directly.

The web UI uses bun. Layers: sd_model_hub/core holds all logic and imports no web or CLI framework (a test enforces it); sd_model_hub/api (FastAPI) and sd_model_hub/cli (Typer) are thin wrappers over it.

Detection rules are JSON files in sd_model_hub/core/detection/rules_data/. To add a test fixture from a real file: python scripts/extract_header_fixture.py <file> <name>.

Building

python scripts/build_wheel.py            # web UI with bun, then the wheel and sdist into dist/
python scripts/build_wheel.py --ci       # for CI: skips the type-check, keeps the built web UI
python scripts/build_wheel.py --outdir out --keep-web-dist
python scripts/dev.py wheel              # the same, through the task runner

A bare python -m build produces a wheel without the web UI, because setuptools packages only the files that exist when it runs; the server then logs a warning and serves the API only.