diff --git a/comfy/cli_args.py b/comfy/cli_args.py
index 4bef096..30f8920 100644
--- a/comfy/cli_args.py
+++ b/comfy/cli_args.py
@@ -42,7 +42,15 @@ parser.add_argument("--tls-certfile", type=str, help="Path to TLS (SSL) certific
 parser.add_argument("--enable-cors-header", type=str, default=None, metavar="ORIGIN", nargs="?", const="*", help="Enable CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) with optional origin or allow all with default '*'.")
 parser.add_argument("--max-upload-size", type=float, default=100, help="Set the maximum upload size in MB.")
 
-parser.add_argument("--base-directory", type=str, default=None, help="Set the ComfyUI base directory for models, custom_nodes, input, output, temp, and user directories.")
+xdg_data_home = os.environ.get("XDG_DATA_HOME")
+if xdg_data_home is None:
+    home = os.environ.get("HOME")
+    if home is None:
+        xdg_data_home = "/var/lib"
+    else:
+        xdg_data_home = os.path.join(home, ".local", "share")
+comfyui_data_home = os.path.join(xdg_data_home, "comfyui")
+parser.add_argument("--base-directory", type=str, default=comfyui_data_home, help="Set the ComfyUI base directory for models, custom_nodes, input, output, temp, and user directories.")
 parser.add_argument("--extra-model-paths-config", type=str, default=None, metavar="PATH", nargs='+', action='append', help="Load one or more extra_model_paths.yaml files.")
 parser.add_argument("--output-directory", type=str, default=None, help="Set the ComfyUI output directory. Overrides --base-directory.")
 parser.add_argument("--temp-directory", type=str, default=None, help="Set the ComfyUI temp directory (default is in the ComfyUI directory). Overrides --base-directory.")
@@ -235,9 +243,7 @@ parser.add_argument(
     help="Set the base URL for the ComfyUI API.  (default: https://api.comfy.org)",
 )
 
-database_default_path = os.path.abspath(
-    os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", "user", "comfyui.db")
-)
+database_default_path = os.path.join(comfyui_data_home, "user", "comfyui.db")
 parser.add_argument("--database-url", type=str, default=f"sqlite:///{database_default_path}", help="Specify the database URL, e.g. for an in-memory database you can use 'sqlite:///:memory:'.")
 parser.add_argument("--enable-assets", action="store_true", help="Enable the assets system (API routes, database synchronization, and background scanning).")
 parser.add_argument("--enable-asset-hashing", action="store_true", help="Compute blake3 content hashes when scanning assets. Hashing enables future asset-portability features (deduplication, cross-machine model resolution) but adds startup cost and per-output cost on large models directories. Off by default; enable to opt in.")
diff --git a/folder_paths.py b/folder_paths.py
index 7304e1b..32a66c9 100644
--- a/folder_paths.py
+++ b/folder_paths.py
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ folder_names_and_paths["upscale_models"] = ([os.path.join(models_dir, "upscale_m
 
 folder_names_and_paths["latent_upscale_models"] = ([os.path.join(models_dir, "latent_upscale_models")], supported_pt_extensions)
 
-folder_names_and_paths["custom_nodes"] = ([os.path.join(base_path, "custom_nodes")], set())
+custom_nodes_directory = os.path.join(base_path, "custom_nodes")
+folder_names_and_paths["custom_nodes"] = ([custom_nodes_directory], set())
 
 folder_names_and_paths["hypernetworks"] = ([os.path.join(models_dir, "hypernetworks")], supported_pt_extensions)
 
@@ -107,11 +108,12 @@ def map_legacy(folder_name: str) -> str:
               "clip": "text_encoders"}
     return legacy.get(folder_name, folder_name)
 
-if not os.path.exists(input_directory):
-    try:
-        os.makedirs(input_directory)
-    except:
-        logging.error("Failed to create input directory")
+for default_directory in (input_directory, custom_nodes_directory):
+    if not os.path.exists(default_directory):
+        try:
+            os.makedirs(default_directory)
+        except:
+            logging.error(f"Failed to create {default_directory}")
 
 def set_output_directory(output_dir: str) -> None:
     global output_directory