The Notebook file format¶
The official Jupyter Notebook format is defined with this JSON schema, which is used by Jupyter tools to validate notebooks.
This page contains a human-readable description of the notebook format.
Note
All metadata fields are optional. While the types and values of some metadata fields are defined, no metadata fields are required to be defined. Any metadata field may also be ignored.
Top-level structure¶
At the highest level, a Jupyter notebook is a dictionary with a few keys:
- metadata (dict)
- nbformat (int)
- nbformat_minor (int)
- cells (list)
{
"metadata" : {
"kernel_info": {
# if kernel_info is defined, its name field is required.
"name" : "the name of the kernel"
},
"language_info": {
# if language_info is defined, its name field is required.
"name" : "the programming language of the kernel",
"version": "the version of the language",
"codemirror_mode": "The name of the codemirror mode to use [optional]"
}
},
"nbformat": 4,
"nbformat_minor": 0,
"cells" : [
# list of cell dictionaries, see below
],
}
Some fields, such as code input and text output, are characteristically multi-line strings.
When these fields are written to disk, they may be written as a list of strings,
which should be joined with ''
when reading back into memory.
In programmatic APIs for working with notebooks (Python, Javascript),
these are always re-joined into the original multi-line string.
If you intend to work with notebook files directly,
you must allow multi-line string fields to be either a string or list of strings.
Cell Types¶
There are a few basic cell types for encapsulating code and text. All cells have the following basic structure:
{
"cell_type" : "type",
"metadata" : {},
"source" : "single string or [list, of, strings]",
}
Note
On disk, multi-line strings MAY be split into lists of strings. When read with the nbformat Python API, these multi-line strings will always be a single string.
Markdown cells¶
Markdown cells are used for body-text, and contain markdown, as defined in GitHub-flavored markdown, and implemented in marked.
{
"cell_type" : "markdown",
"metadata" : {},
"source" : "[multi-line *markdown*]",
}
Changed in version nbformat: 4.0
Heading cells have been removed, in favor of simple headings in markdown.
Code cells¶
Code cells are the primary content of Jupyter notebooks.
They contain source code in the language of the document’s associated kernel,
and a list of outputs associated with executing that code.
They also have an execution_count, which must be an integer or null
.
{
"cell_type" : "code",
"execution_count": 1, # integer or null
"metadata" : {
"collapsed" : True, # whether the output of the cell is collapsed
"scrolled": False, # any of true, false or "auto"
},
"source" : "[some multi-line code]",
"outputs": [{
# list of output dicts (described below)
"output_type": "stream",
...
}],
}
Changed in version nbformat: 4.0
input
was renamed to source
, for consistency among cell types.
Changed in version nbformat: 4.0
prompt_number
renamed to execution_count
Code cell outputs¶
A code cell can have a variety of outputs (stream data or rich mime-type output). These correspond to messages produced as a result of executing the cell.
All outputs have an output_type
field,
which is a string defining what type of output it is.
stream output¶
{
"output_type" : "stream",
"name" : "stdout", # or stderr
"text" : "[multiline stream text]",
}
Changed in version nbformat: 4.0
The stream
key was changed to name
to match
the stream message.
display_data¶
Rich display outputs, as created by display_data
messages,
contain data keyed by mime-type. This is often called a mime-bundle,
and shows up in various locations in the notebook format and message spec.
The metadata of these messages may be keyed by mime-type as well.
{
"output_type" : "display_data",
"data" : {
"text/plain" : "[multiline text data]",
"image/png": "[base64-encoded-multiline-png-data]",
"application/json": {
# JSON data is included as-is
"json": "data",
},
},
"metadata" : {
"image/png": {
"width": 640,
"height": 480,
},
},
}
Changed in version nbformat: 4.0
application/json
output is no longer double-serialized into a string.
Changed in version nbformat: 4.0
mime-types are used for keys, instead of a combination of short names (text
)
and mime-types, and are stored in a data
key, rather than the top-level.
i.e. output.data['image/png']
instead of output.png
.
execute_result¶
Results of executing a cell (as created by displayhook
in Python)
are stored in execute_result
outputs.
execute_result outputs are identical to display_data
,
adding only a execution_count
field, which must be an integer.
{
"output_type" : "execute_result",
"execution_count": 42,
"data" : {
"text/plain" : "[multiline text data]",
"image/png": "[base64-encoded-multiline-png-data]",
"application/json": {
# JSON data is included as-is
"json": "data",
},
},
"metadata" : {
"image/png": {
"width": 640,
"height": 480,
},
},
}
Changed in version nbformat: 4.0
pyout
renamed to execute_result
Changed in version nbformat: 4.0
prompt_number
renamed to execution_count
error¶
Failed execution may show a traceback
{
'output_type': 'error',
'ename' : str, # Exception name, as a string
'evalue' : str, # Exception value, as a string
# The traceback will contain a list of frames,
# represented each as a string.
'traceback' : list,
}
Changed in version nbformat: 4.0
pyerr
renamed to error
Raw NBConvert cells¶
A raw cell is defined as content that should be included unmodified in nbconvert output. For example, this cell could include raw LaTeX for nbconvert to pdf via latex, or restructured text for use in Sphinx documentation.
The notebook authoring environment does not render raw cells.
The only logic in a raw cell is the format metadata field. If defined, it specifies which nbconvert output format is the intended target for the raw cell. When outputting to any other format, the raw cell’s contents will be excluded. In the default case when this value is undefined, a raw cell’s contents will be included in any nbconvert output, regardless of format.
{
"cell_type" : "raw",
"metadata" : {
# the mime-type of the target nbconvert format.
# nbconvert to formats other than this will exclude this cell.
"format" : "mime/type"
},
"source" : "[some nbformat output text]"
}
Cell attachments¶
New in version 4.1.
Markdown and raw cells can have a number of attachments, typically inline
images that can be referenced in the markdown content of a cell. The attachments
dictionary of a cell contains a set of mime-bundles (see display_data)
keyed by filename that represents the files attached to the cell.
Note
The attachments
dictionary is an optional field and can be undefined or empty if the cell does not have any attachments.
{
"cell_type" : "markdown",
"metadata" : {},
"source" : ["Here is an *inline* image ![inline image](attachment:test.png)"],
"attachments" : {
"test.png": {
"image/png" : "base64-encoded-png-data"
}
}
}
Backward-compatible changes¶
The notebook format is an evolving format. When backward-compatible changes are made, the notebook format minor version is incremented. When backward-incompatible changes are made, the major version is incremented.
As of nbformat 4.x, backward-compatible changes include:
- new fields in any dictionary (notebook, cell, output, metadata, etc.)
- new cell types
- new output types
New cell or output types will not be rendered in versions that do not recognize them, but they will be preserved.
Metadata¶
Metadata is a place that you can put arbitrary JSONable information about your notebook, cell, or output. Because it is a shared namespace, any custom metadata should use a sufficiently unique namespace, such as metadata.kaylees_md.foo = “bar”.
Metadata fields officially defined for Jupyter notebooks are listed here:
Notebook metadata¶
The following metadata keys are defined at the notebook level:
Key | Value | Interpretation |
---|---|---|
kernelspec | dict | A kernel specification |
authors | list of dicts | A list of authors of the document |
A notebook’s authors is a list of dictionaries containing information about each author of the notebook. Currently, only the name is required. Additional fields may be added.
nb.metadata.authors = [
{
'name': 'Fernando Perez',
},
{
'name': 'Brian Granger',
},
]
Cell metadata¶
Official Jupyter metadata, as used by Jupyter frontends should be placed in the metadata.jupyter namespace, for example metadata.jupyter.foo = “bar”.
The following metadata keys are defined at the cell level:
Key | Value | Interpretation |
---|---|---|
collapsed | bool | Whether the cell’s output container should be collapsed |
scrolled | bool or ‘auto’ | Whether the cell’s output is scrolled, unscrolled, or autoscrolled |
deletable | bool | If False, prevent deletion of the cell |
editable | bool | If False, prevent editing of the cell (by definition, this also prevents deleting the cell) |
format | ‘mime/type’ | The mime-type of a Raw NBConvert Cell |
name | str | A name for the cell. Should be unique across the notebook. Uniqueness must be verified outside of the json schema. |
tags | list of str | A list of string tags on the cell. Commas are not allowed in a tag |
The following metadata keys are defined at the cell level within the jupyter namespace
Key | Value | Interpretation |
---|---|---|
source_hidden | bool | Whether the cell’s source should be shown |
outputs_hidden | bool | Whether the cell’s outputs should be shown |
Output metadata¶
The following metadata keys are defined for code cell outputs:
Key | Value | Interpretation |
---|---|---|
isolated | bool | Whether the output should be isolated into an IFrame |