diff --git a/movie_editor/backend/nodes.py b/movie_editor/backend/nodes.py
index 7d72a714..dc9dd5a1 100644
--- a/movie_editor/backend/nodes.py
+++ b/movie_editor/backend/nodes.py
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ LINK_TYPES = {
     "GUIDER", "NOISE", "UPSCALE_MODEL", "PHOTOMAKER", "WEBCAM",
 }
 WIDGET_PRIMITIVES = {"INT", "FLOAT", "STRING", "BOOLEAN"}
+# "COMBO" is the V1/new-style dropdown widget type; it is NOT a graph connection even
+# though it is a string.  Old-style combos (spec[0] is a list) are already excluded by
+# the isinstance(t, str) guard, but new-style ones need an explicit check.
+_WIDGET_TYPES = WIDGET_PRIMITIVES | {"COMBO"}
 
 # ComfyUI V3 dynamic match types that are semantically IMAGE-compatible.
 _MATCHTYPE_ALIASES: dict[str, str] = {}  # populated on first lookup — patterns are prefix-matched
@@ -79,7 +83,7 @@ def _all_input_types(node_def: dict) -> list[str]:
     for group in ("required", "optional"):
         for spec in (inp.get(group) or {}).values():
             t = spec[0] if isinstance(spec, list) and spec else None
-            if isinstance(t, str):
+            if isinstance(t, str) and t not in _WIDGET_TYPES:
                 types.append(_normalize_type(t))
     return types
 
@@ -109,7 +113,7 @@ def connection_inputs(node_def: dict) -> list[dict]:
             if not isinstance(spec, list) or not spec:
                 continue
             t = spec[0]
-            if not isinstance(t, str) or t in WIDGET_PRIMITIVES:
+            if not isinstance(t, str) or t in _WIDGET_TYPES:
                 continue
             opts = spec[1] if len(spec) > 1 and isinstance(spec[1], dict) else {}
             # V3 nodes can mark a required-group input as optional via the flag.
diff --git a/movie_editor/frontend/models.js b/movie_editor/frontend/models.js
index a27da420..5a071605 100644
--- a/movie_editor/frontend/models.js
+++ b/movie_editor/frontend/models.js
@@ -269,7 +269,27 @@
         const cur = slot.input_sources[ci.name] || "";
         srcs.forEach((s) => { const o = el("option", null, s.label); o.value = s.value; if (s.value === cur) o.selected = true; sel.append(o); });
         if (cur && !srcs.some((s) => s.value === cur)) { const o = el("option", null, cur + " (missing)"); o.value = cur; o.selected = true; sel.append(o); }
-        sel.onchange = async () => { slot.input_sources[ci.name] = sel.value; await persist(); };
+        sel.onchange = async () => {
+          slot.input_sources[ci.name] = sel.value;
+          // Auto-wire: if the user just assigned a non-auto source and this slot has
+          // exactly one output of the same type that is not yet wired, and there is
+          // exactly one pipeline destination for that type, wire it automatically.
+          if (sel.value && sel.value !== "") {
+            const matchOuts = (cand.outputs || []).filter((o) => o.type === ci.type);
+            if (matchOuts.length === 1) {
+              const outName = matchOuts[0].name;
+              const existing = wireTargets(slot.wires?.[outName]).filter(Boolean);
+              if (!existing.length) {
+                const dests = destinations(slot, ci.type).filter((d) => d.value);
+                if (dests.length === 1) {
+                  slot.wires = slot.wires || {};
+                  slot.wires[outName] = [dests[0].value];
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+          await persist();
+        };
         row.append(sel);
         sbox.append(row);
       });