How to extend Jupyter Notebook capabilities

Table of contents

1. JupyterLab Plugins
   1. What Are JupyterLab Plugins?
   2. Installing and Managing Plugins
2. List of JupyterLab plugins
   1. Interesting Plugins

JupyterLab Plugins

JupyterLab is a highly extensible and customizable interactive computing environment that allows users to work with a wide range of data science tools, languages, and extensions. One of the key features that makes JupyterLab so versatile is its support for plugins. Plugins in JupyterLab are extensions that add new functionality, features, and integrations to the core JupyterLab environment.

In this section, we will explore the concept of JupyterLab plugins and how to use them.

What Are JupyterLab Plugins?

JupyterLab plugins are modular additions to the JupyterLab interface that enhance its capabilities. These plugins can provide features such as new file viewers, interactive widgets, code editors, and integrations with external tools and languages. Some common types of plugins include:

• File Viewers: Plugins that allow you to view specific file types, such as images, PDFs, or Markdown files, directly within JupyterLab.

• Kernel Extensions: Plugins that extend JupyterLab’s support for different programming languages by adding new kernels.

• Custom Widgets: Plugins that introduce interactive widgets and visualizations to enhance data exploration and analysis.

• Custom Themes: Plugins that change the appearance and styling of JupyterLab to suit your preferences.

Installing and Managing Plugins

To install and manage plugins in JupyterLab, you can use the built-in extension manager. Here are the basic steps:

1. Open the Extension Manager: Launch JupyterLab and go to the “Settings” menu. Select “Extension Manager” from the dropdown.

2. Search for Extensions: In the Extension Manager, you can search for available extensions. You can explore extensions in the JupyterLab ecosystem on the JupyterLab Extension Registry.

3. Install an Extension: Click the “Install” button next to an extension to add it to your JupyterLab environment.

4. Enable and Configure Extensions: Once installed, you may need to enable and configure extensions as needed. Some extensions may require additional setup.

List of JupyterLab plugins

Use this link to find the list of plugins. We propose in the next section some plugins that might be an interest to you.

Interesting Plugins

• JupyterLab Git (jupyterlab-git)
  • Manages Git repositories directly from JupyterLab.
  • Documentation: jupyterlab-git documentation
• JupyterLab Code Formatter (jupyterlab_code_formatter)
  • Automatically formats code in JupyterLab cells.
  • Documentation: jupyterlab_code_formatter documentation
• Variable Inspector (jupyterlab_variableinspector)
  • Displays variables defined in the JupyterLab environment.
  • Documentation: jupyterlab-variableInspector documentation
• JupyterLab Comment (jupyterlab-comment)
  • Allows commenting on code cells in JupyterLab.
  • Documentation: jupyterlab-comment documentation
• JupyterLab Drawio (jupyterlab-drawio)
  • Integrates the Drawio diagramming tool into JupyterLab.
  • Documentation: jupyterlab-drawio documentation
• Table of Contents (jupyterlab-toc)
  • Automatically generates a table of contents for JupyterLab notebooks.
  • Documentation: jupyterlab-toc documentation
• Variable Viewer (jupyterlab_variable_viewer)
  • Displays notebook variables in a side panel.
  • Documentation: jupyterlab-variable-viewer documentation
• JupyterLab Debugger (jupyterlab-debugger)
  • Provides a built-in debugger in JupyterLab.
  • Documentation: jupyterlab-debugger documentation
• CSV Viewer (jupyterlab-csv)
  • Allows visualizing and exploring CSV files within JupyterLab with filtering, sorting, searching, etc. capabilities.
  • Documentation: jupyterlab-csv documentation