Workspace panel for JupyterLab

This extension replaces the built-in Running Terminals and Kernels sidebar with a panel organised by workspace: one section per workspace, one section open at a time.

Fig 1 - The workspace panel beside a notebook of the workspace this window shows

Why a workspace panel

Developers and data scientists now run several projects at once: they start an agent on one project and work on another while it runs. Each project holds its own tabs, terminals and kernels in a JupyterLab workspace, and the built-in Running panel lists all of them in one flat list, so a terminal from one project sits beside a kernel from another with nothing to tell them apart.

The panel groups them by workspace: what each project holds, what is running in it, and how long ago it was used, with one click to switch to it.

Features

• Workspace section - the colour strip, the optional purpose, the age and the number of tabs, terminals and kernels the workspace holds
• Triangle - opens or closes a section
• Header - a click on the name of another workspace switches this window to it, and a click on this window's workspace closes it
• Menu - open, open in a new browser tab, close all tabs, set description, colour, hide, delete
• Hide - a hidden workspace leaves the panel, and the number of hidden workspaces sits under the last section
• Kernels, terminals and language servers - three sections below the workspaces for what belongs to no workspace, each with its count and a shut down all
• Filter - shows the workspaces whose name, purpose or rows match, and opens each of them
• New workspace - the + button creates a workspace and asks for its name and an optional description

Requirements

The extension needs JupyterLab 4.6 or later.

Install

Install the package from PyPI.

pip install jupyterlab-workspace-manager-extension

Agent skill

The jupyterlab-workspace command ships an agent skill at .agents/skills/jupyterlab-workspace-manager-extension/SKILL.md. Link it where your agents read skills.

After pip install, with the Python that runs the lab:

mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills && ln -s "$(python -c 'import sys; print(sys.prefix)')/share/jupyter/agents/skills/jupyterlab-workspace-manager-extension" ~/.agents/skills/jupyterlab-workspace-manager-extension

From a clone:

ln -s "$PWD/.agents/skills/jupyterlab-workspace-manager-extension" ~/.claude/skills/jupyterlab-workspace-manager-extension

Uninstall

Remove the package.

pip uninstall jupyterlab-workspace-manager-extension