Installing jupyter_contrib_nbextensions¶

To install the jupyter_contrib_nbextensions notebook extensions, three steps are required. First, the Python pip package needs to be installed. Then, the notebook extensions themselves need to be copied to the Jupyter data directory. Finally, the installed notebook extensions can be enabled, either by using built-in Jupyter commands, or more conveniently by using the jupyter_nbextensions_configurator server extension, which is installed as a dependency of this repo.

The Python package installation step is necessary to allow painless installation of the nbextensions together with additional items like nbconvert templates, pre-/postprocessors, and exporters.

1. Install the python package¶

PIP¶

All of the nbextensions in this repo are provided as parts of a python package, which is installable in the usual manner, using pip or the setup.py script. To install the current version from PyPi, simply type

pip install jupyter_contrib_nbextensions

Alternatively, you can install directly from the current master branch of the repository

pip install https://github.com/ipython-contrib/jupyter_contrib_nbextensions/tarball/master

All the usual pip options apply, e.g. using pip’s --upgrade flag to force an upgrade, or -e for an editable install.

Conda¶

There are conda packages for the notebook extensions and the jupyter_nbextensions_configurator available from conda-forge. You can install both using

conda install -c conda-forge jupyter_contrib_nbextensions

This also automatically installs the Javascript and CSS files (using jupyter contrib nbextension install --sys-prefix), so the second installation step below can therefore be skipped.

Installation from cloned Repo¶

You can also install from a cloned repo, which can be useful for development. You can clone the repo using

git clone https://github.com/ipython-contrib/jupyter_contrib_nbextensions.git

Then perform an editable pip install using

pip install -e jupyter_contrib_nbextensions

2. Install javascript and css files¶

This step copies the nbextensions’ javascript and css files into the jupyter server’s search directory, and edits some jupyter config files. A jupyter subcommand is provided for the purpose:

jupyter contrib nbextension install --user

The command does two things: installs nbextension files, and edits nbconvert config files. The first part is essentially a wrapper around the notebook-provided jupyter nbextension install, and copies relevant javascript and css files to the appropriate jupyter data directory. The second part edits the config files jupyter_nbconvert_config.jsonand jupyter_notebook_config.json as noted below in the options. The command can take most of the same options as the jupyter-provided versions, including

--user to install into the user’s home jupyter directories
--system to perform installation into system-wide jupyter directories
--sys-prefix to install into python’s sys.prefix, useful for instance in virtual environments, such as with conda
--symlink to symlink the nbextensions rather than copying each file (recommended, on non-Windows platforms).
--debug, for more-verbose output

In addition, two further option flags are provided to perform either only the config-editing operations, or only the file-copy operations:

--only-files to install nbextension files without editing any config files
--only-config to edit the config files without copying/symlinking any nbextension files. This edits the following files in the applicable jupyter config directory:
- jupyter_nbconvert_config.json to use some of the classes provided in the python module jupyter_contrib_nbextensions.nbconvert_support
- jupyter_notebook_config.json to enable the serverextension jupyter_nbextensions_configurator.

Finally, the --perform-running-check option flag is provided in order to prevent the installation from proceeding if a notebook server appears to be currently running (by default, the install will still be performed, even if a notebook server appears to be running).

An analogous uninstall command is also provided, to remove all of the nbextension files from the jupyter directories.

3. Enabling/Disabling extensions¶

To use an nbextension, you’ll also need to enable it, which tells the notebook interface to load it. To do this, you can use a Jupyter subcommand:

jupyter nbextension enable <nbextension require path>

for example,

jupyter nbextension enable codefolding/main

To disable the extension again, use

jupyter nbextension disable <nbextension require path>

Alternatively, and more conveniently, you can use the jupyter_nbextensions_configurator server extension, which is installed as a dependency of this repo, and can be used to enable and disable the individual nbextensions, as well as configure their options. You can then open the nbextensions tab on the tree (dashboard/file browser) notebook page to configure nbextensions. You will have access there to a dashboard where extensions can be enabled/disabled via checkboxes. Additionally a short documentation for each extension is displayed, and configuration options are presented.

4. More complex setups¶

Most nbextensions here should work fine with jupyterhub (because jupyterhub spawns regular notebook servers for each individual user), but won’t work with jupyterlab (because the jupyterlab javascript framework is different to notebook’s, and still rapidly changing under active development). For complex or customized installation scenarios, please look at the documentation for installing notebook extensions, server extensions, nbconvert pre/postprocessors and templates on the Jupyter homepage.