Jupyter Notebook

[fdionisi]

Check for existing issues

• Completed

Is your feature request related to a problem?

I'm not sure "Feature Request" is the right thing to do, but I think this is a bit more than just a syntax highlight + LSP.

Every now and then, I go back to VS Code to work with Jupyter notebooks, and it would be nice to stay on Zed (+ collaboration 😙👌).
This task is probably a monumental one, as it also involves a different buffer view and possibly something that could be done by the community (?), but I still want to put it on the radar.

Describe the solution you'd like

It would be great to open Jupyter notebooks directly in Zed and be able to interact with it (adding new blocks, running code, etc.), similarly to what VS Code does.

If applicable, add mockups / screenshots to help present your vision of the feature

[anarchy89]

Is jupyter support with the ability to run the cells going to be implemented ?

[gabrielalexandrelopes]

I would suggest Hydrogen's approach to interface with Jupyter local or remote kernals: https://github.com/nteract/hydrogen

[Tom-Boscher]

I would suggest Hydrogen's approach to interface with Jupyter local or remote kernals: https://github.com/nteract/hydrogen

Hydrogen is definitely a killer feature, it was really awesome to use Hydrogen in Atom!
I would love to see it in Zed.

[mcioffi]

Jupyter notebook support would open up a huge community in Zed, I would certainly be part of the bandwagon if Zed introduced it

[mcioffi]

@mikayla-maki @JosephTLyons, reading the "room temperature gauge" of the data science community, the interest is pretty strong in Zed, generally speaking, re: (zed-industries/extensions#157) , (zed-industries/extensions#136), & (zed-industries/extensions#145) ... doing a first take on jupyter integration with already supported Python in Zed might pave the way for the community for a future feature

[noahgsolomon]

The only reason I haven't moved to Zed is because Jupyter notebooks aren't supported. I'd love to see this :0

[mertdeveci5]

Is there an ETA for compatibility here?

[Tom-Boscher]

I'm looking for people to start working on a integration of nteract Jupyter but I'm a really Rust beginner.

[sa-]

VS Code created some incompatibilities when trying to implement their own version of the notebook frontend resulting in some plotting libraries & widgets not working - among other inconveniences.

I'm not sure if this is possible, but maybe the jupyter installed in the venv could be used to render the notebook?

[gluonfield]

Jupyter notebook support would bring large number of new users to try out Zed. There's probably no other feature with potential to bring so many users.

[baughmann]

100%. I personally am willing to make the trade-off vis-a-vis the quality AI features and the new Composer in Cursor, but I cannot live without notebooks that run against my virtual environment.

[nikhilvishwanath]

I would love to use zed for all of my work but because jupyter notebook is not present not moved to zed fully. it is difficult to go back and forth from vs code to zed.

[ouj]

I just installed Zed this morning and love the style and speed,

but after finding that Notebook is not supported...

I have to go back to VSCode.

[RehmatSChawla]

Ipython notebooks are also an essential part of how many academics (in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc) interact with programming, data analysis and presentation. It would definitely be necessary to incorporate ipython notebooks to make the switch to Zed viable for any of them.

[athakur569]

installed Zed. super impressed. found out ipynb not supported. disappointed. back to VS. that was quick. LOL

[JosephTLyons]

Hang in tight! We're working with a contractor to build some of this out!

[nwtnsqrd]

Bumping this topic. The lack of Jupyter support has me going back to the standard jupyter lab and it's really a bummer.

[ryukinix]

Yes, that's sad. I was considering zed to read local notebooks that I need to download from anywhere. Emacs is still my main editor, but I was considering using zed as an alternative editor and with local visualization of jupyter notebooks was nice. Kinda sad to seeing this being strip off. Probably this issue will get closed in soon... the dev team are not interested on that. I think I'll just silence this thread and move forward. Good luck.

[katie-z-geer]

👋 Zed human here, this is still on our roadmap! It's a big piece of product work for us, so it likely won't land until 2026, but we've heard loud and clear from our users that this is a dealbreaker.

[katie-z-geer]

Hey folks,

Zed human here, I just wanted to share that Notebooks are absolutely on our roadmap. We consider it a must-have, and we're working on resourcing the project so we can ship notebooks and invest in improvements consistently post-launch. As we begin to scope the project, I'll be coming back here to this community for input and advice; thank you all for caring and putting in the time.

[katie-z-geer]

Hey, we are interested in this, and actively talking about it. Likely in 2026 after we ship our 1.0. We hear about this a lot, and want to expand our extensions, but need to do so thoughtfully so it doesn't become a nightmare.

[MostlyKIGuess]

Hii, Is there any way to help contribute here? If there are any specific discord channels/element, can take up some task to speed up the process :D, waiting for this since a very long time

[spacetime-labs]

Can't wait, I check here periodically to see when it will be released. Thank you guys.

[katie-z-geer]

Thanks for this note @MostlyKIGuess , we'll consider that! We're currently piloting a more community-involved approach to our Git improvements, and learning a lot. I'd love to bring the same thing to notebooks. We'll let you know, I am monitoring this discussion and take many notes (pun not intended 🙈 ).

[NathanielH-snek]

Thanks for this note @MostlyKIGuess , we'll consider that! We're currently piloting a more community-involved approach to our Git improvements, and learning a lot. I'd love to bring the same thing to notebooks. We'll let you know, I am monitoring this discussion and take many notes (pun not intended 🙈 ).

Also any idea when there might be docs for GPUI? I was messing around with notebooks a while ago but was put off by lack of ui docs since I don't have a lot of non-work time. Also +1 for either Marimo support or extensions that would make it reasonable for a contributor to add.

[Max-Filatov-dev]

Guys, we're really, really looking forward to it. That's the only thing that keeps me VS Code.

[cs2018ncsa]

hopefully "notebooks" aren't limited to Jupyter. I really like working in Marimo but would like it even better if there was a Zed-native Marimo.

[dailydaniel]

I'll add from my own experience that I haven't used any notebooks better than the Livebook for Elixir. The main differences, as far as I remember (besides the excellent design), are reproducibility and the ability to compile code blocks as modules and use them (while also being able to use the usual interpreted approach).

[JonGretar]

• Run cells interactively in supported languages.
• Designate cells with some notation, e.g. like the #%% cell notation in python.

Just to make sure. Current implementation in Zed allows that very thing for all languages with a jupyter kernel installed. If there is a comment that starts with a %% it will become a runnable cell. As well as all markdown code cells are now marked as runnable if there is an installed kernel that matches the language the code cell is marked as.

Support for Marimo and LiveBook however cannot be achieved without complete rewrite of both Marimo and Livebook. They are simply systems that are not built for interoperability and there is nothing that Zed or any other editor can really do about that.

[lhutyra]

Support for Marimo and LiveBook however cannot be achieved without complete rewrite of both Marimo and Livebook. They are simply systems that are not built for interoperability and there is nothing that Zed or any other editor can really do about that.

I don't think interoperability with Marimo or Livebook is something anyone expect, I would tell that behaviour like Marimo or Livebook is expected.

[cvanelteren]

tbh i much prefer the jupytext way of doing thins than pure notebooks -- version control is much cleaner.

[JonGretar]

I believe Marimo has changed something so they might allow for an embedded editor views nowadays.

So definitely the notebook interface should be a bit open so it's easy to add support for things like Marimo and others.

[lehoai]

I absolutely despise VS Code. It's so laggy and slow—it makes the fan on my MacBook Pro 2019 run absolutely crazy. The first time I used Zed, it felt like landing on a new planet: so smooth and instantly responsive! No fan noise whatsoever. The only thing keeping me tied to VS Code is Jupyter file support!

[lehoai]

If there is "Custom Views in Extension API" in Zed Editor as vscode, and webview is acceptable, i can make one.

[mocenigo]

If there is "Custom Views in Extension API" in Zed Editor as vscode, and webview is acceptable, i can make one.

This would be dangerous. One could them implement VSCode inside Zed and we would have a disaster :-)

[lhutyra]

Maybe as a starting point, this feature should be restored or fixed?
#19756
It worked a couple of months ago, but only as a preview for .ipynb notebooks. Yesterday during the roadmap discussion, there was a question about what the minimal MVP should be.
For me, the minimal MVP would be:

Ability to open .ipynb files
Execute cells
See the results

@katie-z-geer

[MostlyKIGuess]

It was my suggestion too, after roadmap discussing, that maybe lets first make minimal version working (viewing & running cells), and as a next step gradually can develop some fancy feature

Where was the roadmap discussion could you point me to it?
I have made the PR for the minimal version which you are mentioning here.

[lhutyra]

Where was the roadmap discussion could you point me to it?
I have made the PR for the minimal version which you are mentioning here.

https://luma.com/2ht0x6e4

But I dont know if you can access past event

[thangckt]

@MostlyKIGuess, go ahead :)
At least there is a significant progress after a long idle

[MostlyKIGuess]

@thangckt I did make the PR, would be nice if you get to test it as well, #43553.

[anarchy89]

Oooh, I'll take a look at this.

Take a look at this as well https://posit.co/products/ide/positron/

[aaelony]

@katie-z-geer: Here is a simple notebook viewer written in Rust that might be useful for ideas: https://github.com/moisutsu/nbcat

[giiyms]

It would be nice to have the option not to use .ipynb files like you can in vscode/pycharm, and insteady just have .py file with #%% sections.

In those sections we could have markdown or code. We would be able to run a single section at a time.
Inject the result beneath the section like a jupyter notebook instead of to the side (like vscode does right now).

One of the pain points of jupyter notebooks in vscode is that when you want to convert to from .ipynb to .py, you end up with two versions which can become out of sync.

It would also be nice to have a full featured variable explorer that would provide an interactive way to explore the state of variables in the current session. In PyCharm, the Python Console includes a "Variables" pane that provides a hierarchical and introspective view of all declared variables.

https://www.jetbrains.com/help/pycharm/debug-tool-window-variables.html

Currently you can only get that information if you enter debug mode in vscode and put break points. Their variable explorer is poor in comparison.

[mocenigo]

Isn't this what you're looking for? https://zed.dev/docs/repl

I don't think there is support for .ipynb files.

[giiyms]

Isn't this what you're looking for?

https://zed.dev/docs/repl

Repl doesn't have:

• the inline interactive graphs like plotly
• debug by section only
• an advanced variable viewer like pycharms (yet)
• maintaining order of code sections
• markdown/equations

Notebooks are great, except for the custom file type.

[johnrizzo1]

Marimo uses standard python files to achieve the same notebook interaction as you would with an ipynb file, which is really nice. It also uses a reactive approach similar to nteract. Perhaps this could be integrated more easily than a standard ipynb notebook. There is even a translation tool that can go back and forth between the native python format and the ipynb file.

https://marimo.io/

[mocenigo]

Marimo uses standard python files to achieve the same notebook interaction as you would with an ipynb file, which is really nice. It also uses a reactive approach similar to nteract. Perhaps this could be integrated more easily than a standard ipynb notebook. There is even a translation tool that can go back and forth between the native python format and the ipynb file.

https://marimo.io/

Nice, but I see it is written in python and typescript. I am not sure what level of support is needed from the typescript side. We do not have web views IIRC and IIUC the zed team would prefer to avoid them.

[AntonReborn]

also repl doesn't work in remote

[YuenSzeHong]

If DeepNote notebooks can be supported, it would be cool, as their "open source" didn't make it for me. I can't even get venv to work with that in VSCode; if it can work in Zed, I would probably ditch VSCode

[hanupratap]

Just sharing a data point: my friend’s research team was ready to buy subscriptions, but the lack of Jupyter Notebook support was a dealbreaker. Flagging in case it helps with prioritization.

[katie-z-geer]

It does, thank you @hanupratap !

[Kastakin]

I really want to use Zed in my day to day job, but the impossibility of seamlessly switch from notebook to script dev totally breaks the experience.

At the moment I feel like this is the only real deal-breaker (in addition to no webview document preview).

Unwillingly going back to VSCode while waiting for the support.

[xujc]

Looking forward to the Jupyter notebook support in Zed

[julien-blanchon]

I just spend 3h today migrating to zed to figure out that jupyter notebook wasn't even supported. It's a must have feature. The repl is also quite strange it require you to register the kernel on the machine, while vscode look directly at the enable python interpreters

[aaelony]

I think this would have been done a long time ago if it were a priority. I am moving on without Zed. Thanks all.