@@ -1339,6 +1339,7 @@ class NodeInfoV1:
     api_node: bool=None
     price_badge: dict | None = None
     search_aliases: list[str]=None
+    essentials_category: str=None
 
 
 @dataclass
@@ -1460,6 +1461,8 @@ class Schema:
     """Flags a node as expandable, allowing NodeOutput to include 'expand' property."""
     accept_all_inputs: bool=False
     """When True, all inputs from the prompt will be passed to the node as kwargs, even if not defined in the schema."""
+    essentials_category: str | None = None
+    """Optional category for the Essentials tab. Path-based like category field (e.g., 'Basic', 'Image Tools/Editing')."""
 
     def validate(self):
         '''Validate the schema:
@@ -1566,6 +1569,7 @@ def get_v1_info(self, cls) -> NodeInfoV1:
             python_module=getattr(cls, "RELATIVE_PYTHON_MODULE", "nodes"),
             price_badge=self.price_badge.as_dict(self.inputs) if self.price_badge is not None else None,
             search_aliases=self.search_aliases if self.search_aliases else None,
+            essentials_category=self.essentials_category,
         )
         return info
 
 
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ def define_schema(cls):
             node_id="TencentTextToModelNode",
             display_name="Hunyuan3D: Text to Model",
             category="api node/3d/Tencent",
+            essentials_category="3D",
             inputs=[
                 IO.Combo.Input(
                     "model",
@@ -168,6 +169,7 @@ def define_schema(cls):
             node_id="TencentImageToModelNode",
             display_name="Hunyuan3D: Image(s) to Model",
             category="api node/3d/Tencent",
+            essentials_category="3D",
             inputs=[
                 IO.Combo.Input(
                     "model",
 
@@ -2262,6 +2262,7 @@ def define_schema(cls) -> IO.Schema:
             node_id="KlingLipSyncAudioToVideoNode",
             display_name="Kling Lip Sync Video with Audio",
             category="api node/video/Kling",
+            essentials_category="Video Generation",
             description="Kling Lip Sync Audio to Video Node. Syncs mouth movements in a video file to the audio content of an audio file. When using, ensure that the audio contains clearly distinguishable vocals and that the video contains a distinct face. The audio file should not be larger than 5MB. The video file should not be larger than 100MB, should have height/width between 720px and 1920px, and should be between 2s and 10s in length.",
             inputs=[
                 IO.Video.Input("video"),
 
@@ -575,6 +575,7 @@ def define_schema(cls):
             node_id="OpenAIChatNode",
             display_name="OpenAI ChatGPT",
             category="api node/text/OpenAI",
+            essentials_category="Text Generation",
             description="Generate text responses from an OpenAI model.",
             inputs=[
                 IO.String.Input(
 
@@ -963,6 +963,7 @@ def define_schema(cls):
             node_id="RecraftRemoveBackgroundNode",
             display_name="Recraft Remove Background",
             category="api node/image/Recraft",
+            essentials_category="Image Tools",
             description="Remove background from image, and return processed image and mask.",
             inputs=[
                 IO.Image.Input("image"),
 
@@ -624,6 +624,7 @@ def define_schema(cls):
             node_id="StabilityTextToAudio",
             display_name="Stability AI Text To Audio",
             category="api node/audio/Stability AI",
+            essentials_category="Audio",
             description=cleandoc(cls.__doc__ or ""),
             inputs=[
                 IO.Combo.Input(
 
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ def define_schema(cls):
             search_aliases=["export flac"],
             display_name="Save Audio (FLAC)",
             category="audio",
+            essentials_category="Audio",
             inputs=[
                 IO.Audio.Input("audio"),
                 IO.String.Input("filename_prefix", default="audio/ComfyUI"),
@@ -300,6 +301,7 @@ def define_schema(cls):
             search_aliases=["import audio", "open audio", "audio file"],
             display_name="Load Audio",
             category="audio",
+            essentials_category="Audio",
             inputs=[
                 IO.Combo.Input("audio", upload=IO.UploadType.audio, options=sorted(files)),
             ],
 
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ def define_schema(cls):
             node_id="Canny",
             search_aliases=["edge detection", "outline", "contour detection", "line art"],
             category="image/preprocessors",
+            essentials_category="Image Tools",
             inputs=[
                 io.Image.Input("image"),
                 io.Float.Input("low_threshold", default=0.4, min=0.01, max=0.99, step=0.01),
 
@@ -621,6 +621,7 @@ def define_schema(cls):
             display_name="Save 3D Model",
             search_aliases=["export 3d model", "save mesh"],
             category="3d",
+            essentials_category="Basics",
             is_output_node=True,
             inputs=[
                 IO.MultiType.Input(
 
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ def define_schema(cls):
             display_name="Image Crop (Deprecated)",
             category="image/transform",
             is_deprecated=True,
+            essentials_category="Image Tools",
             inputs=[
                 IO.Image.Input("image"),
                 IO.Int.Input("width", default=512, min=1, max=nodes.MAX_RESOLUTION, step=1),
@@ -589,6 +590,7 @@ def define_schema(cls):
             node_id="ImageRotate",
             search_aliases=["turn", "flip orientation"],
             category="image/transform",
+            essentials_category="Image Tools",
             inputs=[
                 IO.Image.Input("image"),
                 IO.Combo.Input("rotation", options=["none", "90 degrees", "180 degrees", "270 degrees"]),