Comfy-Org/ComfyUI · error · ValueError

bboxes dict must be a bounding box (x, y, width, height) or

Error message

bboxes dict must be a bounding box (x, y, width, height) or an element (with a 'bbox')

What it means

When boxes_from_input receives a single dict (not a list), it tries two shapes: an 'element' (has a bbox) or a 'bbox box' (has x,y,width,height). A dict matching neither shape — e.g. {top,left,right,bottom} or {x1,y1,x2,y2} — raises this error.

Source

Thrown at comfy_extras/nodes_bounding_boxes.py:250

def boxes_from_input(data, width: int, height: int) -> list:
    if data is None:
        return []
    if isinstance(data, str):
        text = data.strip()
        if not text:
            return []
        try:
            data = json.loads(text)
        except (ValueError, TypeError) as exc:
            raise ValueError(f"bboxes string input is not valid JSON: {exc}") from exc
    if isinstance(data, dict):
        if _looks_like_element(data):
            return elements_to_boxes([data], width, height)
        if _looks_like_bbox(data):
            return normalize_incoming_boxes(data)
        raise ValueError(
            "bboxes dict must be a bounding box (x, y, width, height) or an element (with a 'bbox')"
        )
    if not isinstance(data, list):
        raise ValueError(
            "bboxes input must be bounding boxes, elements, or a JSON string, "
            f"got {type(data).__name__}"
        )
    if not data:
        return []
    first = data[0]
    if isinstance(first, list):
        return normalize_incoming_boxes(data)
    if isinstance(first, dict):
        if _looks_like_element(first):
            return elements_to_boxes(data, width, height)
        if _looks_like_bbox(first):
            return normalize_incoming_boxes(data)
        raise ValueError(

View on GitHub (pinned to 1c6d8d45b3)

Solutions

1. Rename keys to x, y, width, height (box) or use an element with bbox [ymin, xmin, ymax, xmax]
2. Wrap a single dict in a list and use the exact schema the node documents
3. Write a small mapper from your source convention before calling the node

Example fix

// before
{"x1": 0, "y1": 0, "x2": 100, "y2": 100}

// after
{"x": 0, "y": 0, "width": 100, "height": 100}

def is_bbox_dict(d: dict) -> bool:
    return all(k in d for k in ('x', 'y', 'width', 'height'))

def is_element_dict(d: dict) -> bool:
    return isinstance(d.get('bbox'), (list, tuple)) and len(d['bbox']) == 4

def is_supported_box_dict(v) -> bool:
    if not isinstance(v, dict):
        return False
    return all(k in v for k in ('x', 'y', 'width', 'height')) or (
        isinstance(v.get('bbox'), (list, tuple)) and len(v['bbox']) == 4)

When it happens

Trigger: Passing {'x1':..,'y1':..,'x2':..,'y2':..}, {'top':..,'left':..,'bottom':..,'right':..}, or {'x':..,'y':..,'w':..,'h':..} (w/h abbreviations) instead of exact keys x/y/width/height.

Common situations: Adapter code mapping another API's coordinate convention (COCO corners, CSS top/left, abbreviated keys) directly into the node without renaming keys.

Related errors

• bboxes items must be bounding boxes (x, y, width, height) or
• bboxes element is missing a valid 'bbox' [ymin, xmin, ymax,
• bboxes element 'bbox' must contain four numbers
• bboxes string input is not valid JSON: {exc}
• HASH_CHECK_FAILED

AI-assisted analysis of Comfy-Org/ComfyUI@1c6d8d45b3 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b857e657c1a3bd56. Report an issue: GitHub.