ipylab

Control JupyterLab from Python notebooks.

The goal is to provide access to most of the JupyterLab environment from the Python kernel. For example:

• Adding widgets to the main area DockPanel, left, right or top area
• Build more advanced interfaces leveraging SplitPanel, Toolbar and other Lumino widgets
• Launch arbitrary commands (new terminal, change theme, open file and so on)
• Open a workspace with a specific layout
• Listen to JupyterLab signals (notebook opened, console closed) and trigger Python callbacks

Examples

Add Jupyter Widgets to the JupyterLab interface

Execute Commands

Custom Python Commands and Command Palette

Build small applications

Installation

Use pip to install from source.

Download source.

pip install ipylab-2.0.0b5.tar.gz # Update version as required.

Dependencies

The following dependencies are provided as wheels in the pkg directory which include patches to improved the functionality.

Name	Pull request	Status	Modification
traitlets	#918	Accepted - pending release	Improved type hints
ipykernel	#1384	Waiting review	Based on Anyio version of kernel, modified to execute cells inside a task making it possible to await coroutines inside cells (eg notebook and console cells).
ipywidgets, jupyterlab-widgets, widgetsnbextension	#3922 + #3921	Pending review	Provides for widgets comms without needing a notebook or console to be open. Plus fixes for proper garbage collection and widget tooltips

Use the source distribution to ensure the dependencies are bundled.

hatch build -t sdist

Running the examples locally

To try out the examples locally, the recommended way is to create a new environment with the dependencies:

# create a new conda environment
conda create -n ipylab-examples -c conda-forge jupyterlab ipylab ipytree bqplot ipywidgets numpy
conda activate ipylab-examples

# start JupyterLab
jupyter lab

Under the hood

ipylab can be seen as a proxy from Python to JupyterLab over Jupyter Widgets:

Development

# create a new conda environment
conda create -n ipylab -c conda-forge nodejs python=3.11 -y

# activate the environment
conda activate ipylab

# install the Python package
pip install -e .[dev,test]

# link the extension files
jupyter labextension develop . --overwrite

# compile the extension
jlpm clean
jlpm build

# At this point you can run and debug. vscode configs are provided for Firefox and Chrome.
# "Debug Ipylab with Firefox | Chrome"

# pre-commit (optional)
pip install pre-commit
pre-commit run

# or, to install the git hook
pre-commit install

# Use jlpm script to lint the JS
jlpm lint
#or
jlpm lint:check

# Pyright

pip install pyright[nodejs]
pyright

VS code debugging

A config file is included to debug ipylab with Firefox or Chrome.

Related projects

There are a couple of projects that also enable interacting with the JupyterLab environment from Python notebooks:

• wxyz: experimental widgets (including DockPanel)
• jupyterlab-sidecar: add widgets to the JupyterLab right area
• jupyterlab_commands: add arbitrary Python commands to the jupyterlab command palette