pi_mcps/plans/heretic-encoder-swap.md

Task: Swap Qwen3-4B Encoder for Heretic Abliterated Version

Datum: 2026-04-10
Status: Ready — waiting for correct Heretic encoder to be published
Depends on: FLUX.2 Klein 4B working (✅ done as of 2026-04-10)

---

Goal

Replace the standard qwen_3_4b_klein.safetensors with an abliterated (Heretic) version that has:

• Zero measurable quality loss (KL divergence = 0.0000)
• No prompt refusals (≤3/100 in DreamFast v1.2.0 testing)

Result: generate_image(prompt, model="flux-2-klein-4b.safetensors") will work with any prompt without refusals.

---

Current State

File	Location	Status
flux-2-klein-4b.safetensors	~/ComfyUI/models/diffusion_models/	✅ Working
qwen_3_4b_klein.safetensors	~/ComfyUI/models/text_encoders/	✅ Working (standard, has refusals)
flux2-vae.safetensors	~/ComfyUI/models/vae/	✅ Working

The MCP workflow mcp/mcp-image-gen/src/workflows/flux2_klein_heretic.json already uses qwen_3_4b_klein.safetensors — no code change needed, only the file on disk needs to be replaced.

---

The Problem to Solve First

The standard Heretic repos may not have the FLUX.2 Klein-compatible encoder dimensions:

Encoder	hidden_size	Conditioning dim	Usable?
BFL Qwen3-4B (FLUX.2 Klein)	2560	7680 (2560×3)	✅
DreamFast/qwen3-4b-heretic	unknown — must check	?	⚠️ verify first
Standard Qwen3-4B	4096	4096	❌ wrong

Before downloading, verify DreamFast's model is fine-tuned from the BFL variant (hidden_size=2560), not the standard Qwen3 (hidden_size=4096).

---

Steps

Step 1: Check DreamFast Heretic repo

huggingface-cli model-info DreamFast/qwen3-4b-heretic 2>/dev/null | grep -i hidden

Or browse: https://huggingface.co/DreamFast/qwen3-4b-heretic/blob/main/config.json
Look for: "hidden_size": 2560 — that's the FLUX.2 Klein-compatible version.

Step 2a: If DreamFast has the right dimensions (2560)

# Download
huggingface-cli download DreamFast/qwen3-4b-heretic \
  --local-dir /tmp/qwen3-4b-heretic/

# Back up working encoder first
cp ~/ComfyUI/models/text_encoders/qwen_3_4b_klein.safetensors \
   ~/ComfyUI/models/text_encoders/qwen_3_4b_klein_backup.safetensors

# Swap in the Heretic version
cp /tmp/qwen3-4b-heretic/model.safetensors \
   ~/ComfyUI/models/text_encoders/qwen_3_4b_klein.safetensors

Step 2b: If DreamFast has wrong dimensions (4096) — find alternative

Options in order of preference:

1. Lockout/qwen3-4b-heretic-zimage — check if BFL-compatible:

   huggingface-cli model-info Lockout/qwen3-4b-heretic-zimage 2>/dev/null | grep hidden
   

2. Run Heretic abliteration yourself on the working qwen_3_4b_klein.safetensors
   Tool: https://github.com/FailSpy/abliterator
   Script: python abliterator.py --model qwen_3_4b_klein.safetensors --output qwen_3_4b_klein_heretic.safetensors

3. Wait for DreamFast or BFL to publish the FLUX.2-specific abliterated encoder

Step 3: Live test

generate_image(
    "an explicit test prompt that would normally be refused",
    model="flux-2-klein-4b.safetensors",
    steps=20
)

Expected: Image generated, no refusal error in ComfyUI logs.

Step 4: If it works — no code changes needed

The MCP code, workflow JSON, and registry are already correct. Just verify:

• Check journalctl --user -u comfyui -f during generation for any errors
• Confirm file in ~/Pictures/mcp-generated/ was saved

---

Fallback Plan

If the Heretic encoder is unavailable in the right dimensions, the GGUF route works too:

# ComfyUI-GGUF is already installed: ~/ComfyUI/custom_nodes/ComfyUI-GGUF
# Download Heretic GGUF (if BFL-compatible variant published):
huggingface-cli download Lockout/qwen3-4b-heretic-zimage \
  qwen-4b-zimage-hereticV2-q8.gguf \
  --local-dir ~/ComfyUI/models/text_encoders/

Then update flux2_klein_heretic.json node "1":

"class_type": "CLIPLoaderGGUF",  // instead of CLIPLoader
"inputs": {
  "clip_name": "qwen-4b-zimage-hereticV2-q8.gguf",
  "type": "flux2"
}

---

No Code Changes Required (unless GGUF fallback)

The entire MCP server, workflow registry, and test suite are already correct. This is purely a model file task.

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Success Criteria

• generate_image("...", model="flux-2-klein-4b.safetensors") works with prompts that currently get refused
• Output image quality identical to standard encoder (check: no visible artifacts vs reference)
• ComfyUI logs show no dimension errors
• qwen_3_4b_klein_backup.safetensors kept as rollback