JovyKit

Disposable JupyterLab environments that feel like Python virtualenvs.

JovyKit gives each project a readable Dockerized JupyterLab environment. Run jovy init, start Jupyter, throw the container away, keep the notebooks.

Install

JovyKit requires Docker Engine and the Docker Compose plugin. On macOS and Windows, install Docker Desktop first. On supported Linux distros, JovyKit can print or run the Docker install plan.

pip install jovykit
# or
uv tool install jovykit

jovy install-docker --dry-run
jovy doctor
jovy --version

Run jovy install-docker --yes only after reading the dry run output.

Quick Start

pip install jovykit

jovy init
jovy up -d
jovy open

Use a pinned Python image or GPU mode when you need it:

jovy init --python 3.13
jovy init --gpu all --python 3.13

Why?

Machine learning environments are annoying.

• Conda environments drift.
• Docker Compose is repetitive.
• Jupyter setup takes boilerplate.
• GPU configuration is fragile.
• Reproducing environments across machines is painful.

JovyKit makes Dockerized Jupyter environments feel lightweight and disposable.

What You Get

• One command creates compose.yaml, Dockerfile, requirements.txt, work/, and .jupyter/.
• Notebooks and Jupyter settings persist; container state stays disposable.
• jovy add and jovy remove edit requirements.txt.
• up, down, start, stop, config, logs, build, and watch behave like Docker Compose.
• GPU support is explicit with jovy init --gpu all.
• jovy compose ... is the Docker Compose escape hatch.

There is no JovyKit config file. Edit compose.yaml, Dockerfile, or requirements.txt directly.

Requirements

• Python 3.9 or newer on the host.
• Docker Engine and the Docker Compose plugin, or Docker Desktop on macOS/Windows.
• Linux auto-install support for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, RHEL, and CentOS.
• Optional GPU runtime support for gpus: all.

jovy doctor checks Docker, Compose, daemon access, GPU support, and project files.

Common Commands

jovy install-docker --dry-run
jovy doctor
jovy add pandas scikit-learn
jovy build
jovy watch
jovy logs -f
jovy token show
jovy token rotate
jovy status
jovy shell
jovy down
jovy compose ps

Documentation

• Tutorial
• How-To
• Reference
• Explanation

Troubleshooting runtime startup issues:

• Troubleshooting guide

How JovyKit Works

compose.yaml is runtime. Dockerfile is the project overlay. requirements.txt is project Python packages. Python comes from the selected image tag, for example :base-python-3.12.

• jovy initializes an empty directory, or prints help in an existing project.
• jovy init creates compose.yaml, Dockerfile, requirements.txt, .devcontainer/devcontainer.json, work/, and .jupyter/.
• jovy status, shell, run, open, and doctor add small Jupyter-focused conveniences.

Images

Image levels map to published JovyKit images:

ghcr.io/mihneateodorstoica/jovykit:minimal-python-3.13
ghcr.io/mihneateodorstoica/jovykit:base-python-3.12
ghcr.io/mihneateodorstoica/jovykit:extended-python-3.13
ghcr.io/mihneateodorstoica/jovykit:full-python-3.13

minimal and base publish Python 3.9 through 3.14 tags. extended and full publish Python 3.11 through 3.13 tags. latest points at minimal-python-3.14. Scheduled images also get level-specific tags such as base-nightly-python-3.11, base-weekly-python-3.11, and base-monthly-python-3.11.

minimal, base, and extended are curated cuts from the full stack. full is intentionally huge and keeps heavyweight ML, AI, cloud, distributed, and app runtimes in one batteries-included layer.

jovy init --image-level minimal --python 3.11
jovy init --image-level base --python 3.12
jovy init --image-level extended --python 3.13
jovy init --image-level full --python 3.13

The generated Compose file passes only JOVY_BASE_IMAGE. It does not pass a Python version build argument.

Build published image targets from the single multi-stage Dockerfile:

./build.sh minimal
./build.sh --python-version 3.13 base
./build.sh --python 3.11 --python 3.12 --python 3.13 all
./build.sh --python 3.14 --latest minimal
./build.sh --python 3.11 --channel nightly base

With no args, ./build.sh builds all supported image and Python tag pairs.

Dependencies

Use requirements.txt.

jovy add pandas scikit-learn
jovy remove pandas

Compose Watch rebuilds when dependency files change:

jovy watch

Persistent Files

Generated projects mount only the durable user paths:

./work      -> /home/jovyan/work
./.jupyter  -> /home/jovyan/.jupyter

Project notebooks and Jupyter settings survive rebuilds and container removal. Other container state is disposable.

Security Model

JovyKit is intended for local development first.

• Default exposed surface:
  • compose.yaml maps a single Jupyter port by default: 127.0.0.1:<host-port>:8888 (default 8888).
  • This keeps Jupyter on loopback by default; it is not reachable from other hosts unless you change ports to a non-loopback bind.
• JUPYTER_TOKEN is written into compose.yaml and required by Jupyter. Rotate it with jovy token rotate, or set one with jovy token rotate --token NEW_TOKEN, then jovy down && jovy up -d. (Restarting is required so the container picks up the new token.)
• Files that commonly hold sensitive state:
  • compose.yaml (JUPYTER_TOKEN and generated runtime config)
  • ./.jupyter (credentials, server config, extension state)
  • any project token values in Dockerfile, requirements.txt, or .devcontainer/devcontainer.json
• Docker access is host-level privilege: adding your user to the docker group grants root-equivalent host access through /var/run/docker.sock. Treat that boundary as part of your local security model.

If you expose Jupyter publicly, do this only intentionally:

• bind only on trusted hosts/networks,
• put compose.yaml under review first,
• rotate tokens before sharing access,
• add host-level controls (firewall, VPN, reverse proxy auth).

See the full security guide: Security model.

GPU

GPU support is explicit:

jovy init --gpu none
jovy init --gpu all

By default, jovy init uses all when a local GPU is detected. none omits the Compose GPU field. all writes Compose gpus: all.

Repository Checks

ruff check .
black --check .
mypy jovykit tests main.py
pytest --cov=jovykit --cov-report=term-missing

Docker checks are opt-in:

pytest -m docker --run-docker

Repository Layout

jovykit/              Python CLI package
image/                Published image layers
site/                 GitHub Pages site
wiki/                 GitHub Wiki source
.github/workflows/    CI, release, docs, and image automation

License

JovyKit is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.