jupyter-cli 0.1.3

Programmatic Jupyter cell execution with persistent kernels

jupyter-cli

Programmatic Jupyter notebook cell execution with persistent kernels.

The Problem

Existing Jupyter tools don't support selective cell execution with persistent state:

• papermill/nbconvert/nbexec: Run entire notebooks
• jupyter console: Requires manual interaction
• nbclient: Kernel dies when Python process exits

jupyter-cli fills this gap: execute specific cells while keeping kernel state alive between CLI invocations.

Use Case

A data science notebook with ~60 cells:

• Cells 1-49: Expensive setup (DB queries, model training) - takes ~20 minutes
• Cells 50+: Experimental iterations

With jupyter-cli:

jupyter-cli start notebook.ipynb
jupyter-cli exec notebook.ipynb 0 1 2 ... 49  # Run setup once
jupyter-cli exec notebook.ipynb 50            # Iterate on cell 50
jupyter-cli exec notebook.ipynb 50            # Again, without re-running setup
jupyter-cli stop notebook.ipynb

Installation

pip install jupyter-cli

# Or from source
git clone https://github.com/andrewting19/jupyter-cli.git
cd jupyter-cli
pip install -e .

Requirements:

• Python 3.8+
• jupyter_client
• nbformat
• click

Quick Start

# Start a persistent kernel
jupyter-cli start notebook.ipynb

# Execute cells (0-indexed)
jupyter-cli exec notebook.ipynb 0 1 2

# Stop the kernel
jupyter-cli stop notebook.ipynb

Commands

Kernel Management

Command	Description
start <notebook>	Start persistent kernel
stop <notebook>	Stop kernel
stop --all	Stop all kernels
status [notebook]	Check kernel status

Cell Execution

Command	Description
exec <notebook> <cells...>	Execute specific cells
exec <notebook> 0 1 2 --timeout 300	With custom timeout
exec <notebook> 0 --quiet	Suppress output

Notebook Exploration

Command	Description
list <notebook>	List all cells with preview
list <notebook> --code	Only code cells
list <notebook> --range 0-10	Cell range
read <notebook> 0 1 2	Read full cell source
read <notebook> --code	Read all code cells
search <notebook> "pattern"	Search cells
search <notebook> "regex" -r	Regex search
outputs <notebook> 5	Read stored outputs
info <notebook>	Notebook info

Examples

Exploring a Notebook

# Quick overview
$ jupyter-cli list notebook.ipynb
[0] code: import pandas as pd
[1] code: df = pd.read_csv('data.csv')
[2] code: df.head()
[3] markdown: ## Data Cleaning
[4] code: df = df.dropna()
...

# Find all cells using DataFrame
$ jupyter-cli search notebook.ipynb "DataFrame"
Found 3 match(es):
[5] code: df = pd.DataFrame(data)
[12] code: result = DataFrame.from_dict(...)
[45] code: final_df = pd.DataFrame(results)

# Read specific cells
$ jupyter-cli read notebook.ipynb 5 12
=== Cell 5 (code) ===
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
print(df.shape)

=== Cell 12 (code) ===
result = DataFrame.from_dict(processed_data)

Selective Execution

# Start kernel
$ jupyter-cli start analysis.ipynb
Kernel started. ID: abc123

# Run expensive setup
$ jupyter-cli exec analysis.ipynb 0 1 2 3 4 5
[Cell 0] Executing: import pandas as pd...
[Cell 1] Executing: df = load_data()...
Loading 1M rows from database...
...

# Iterate on experiment cell
$ jupyter-cli exec analysis.ipynb 50
[Cell 50] Executing: model.fit(X, y)...
Accuracy: 0.85

# Edit cell 50 in your editor, then re-run
$ jupyter-cli exec analysis.ipynb 50
[Cell 50] Executing: model.fit(X, y, epochs=100)...
Accuracy: 0.92

# Clean up
$ jupyter-cli stop analysis.ipynb
Kernel stopped.

Reading Previous Outputs

$ jupyter-cli outputs notebook.ipynb --range 10-15
=== Cell 10 output ===
[stdout] Training model...
[stdout] Epoch 1/10: loss=0.5

=== Cell 12 output ===
[result] 0.923456

=== Cell 14 output ===
[error] ValueError: invalid shape

Gap Analysis: CLI vs Manual Jupyter

Feature	jupyter-cli	Manual Jupyter UI
Cell execution	Yes	Yes
Persistent kernel	Yes	Yes
Execute specific cells	Yes	Yes
State persistence	Yes	Yes
stdout/stderr output	Yes	Yes
Rich output (HTML)	Truncated	Full rendering
Image output	[Image: PNG]	Displayed
Interactive widgets	No	Yes
Cell editing	No (use external editor)	Yes
Magic commands	Yes (via kernel)	Yes
Auto-complete	No	Yes
Inline plots	No (shows placeholder)	Yes
Syntax highlighting	No	Yes
Variable inspector	No	Extension available
Debugging	No	Yes
Multiple kernels	Yes (one per notebook)	Yes

Key takeaway: jupyter-cli is for programmatic automation, not interactive development. Use it when you need:

• Scripted notebook execution
• LLM agent integration
• CI/CD pipelines
• Selective cell re-execution without re-running setup

Architecture

┌─────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐     ┌────────────┐
│  CLI Client │────▶│  Daemon Process  │────▶│   Kernel   │
└─────────────┘     └──────────────────┘     └────────────┘
      │                     │                       │
      │  connection.json    │  keeps alive          │  Python
      │◀────────────────────│                       │  process
      │                     │                       │
      └─────────────────────┴───────────────────────┘

1. Daemon Process: Starts kernel, keeps it alive, writes connection file
2. CLI Client: Reads notebook, connects to kernel via connection file, executes cells

For LLM Agents

See CLAUDE.md for a comprehensive guide on using jupyter-cli with LLM agents, including:

• Token-efficient exploration strategies
• Common workflows
• Best practices

Claude Code Skill

If you're using Claude Code, you can install the jupyter-cli skill to teach Claude how to use this tool:

# Install the skill (interactive prompt for global vs local)
jupyter-cli install-skill

# Or specify directly:
jupyter-cli install-skill --global   # Available in all projects
jupyter-cli install-skill --local    # Current directory only

After installation, restart Claude Code. The skill will:

• Automatically activate when working with Jupyter notebooks
• Be available via /jupyter-cli command
• Teach Claude the proper commands and best practices

Development

# Install with dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest tests/ -v

# Run specific test class
pytest tests/test_jupyter_cli.py::TestCLIExec -v

License

MIT