EIN -- Emacs IPython Notebook

Emacs IPython Notebook (EIN), despite its name, is a jupyter client for all languages. It does not work under non-WSL Windows environments.

As of 2023, EIN has been sunset for a number of years having been unable to keep up with jupyter's web-first ecosystem. Even during its heyday EIN never fully reconciled emac's monolithic buffer architecture to the notebook's by-cell discretization, leaving gaping functional holes like crippled undo.

Certainly in 2012 when jupyter was much smaller, an emacs client made perfect sense. With many years of hindsight, it's now clear the json-driven, git-averse notebook format is anathema to emacs's plain text ethos.

Install

As described in Getting started, ensure melpa's whereabouts in init.el or .emacs:

(add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/"))

Then

M-x package-install RET ein RET

Alternatively, directly clone this repo and make install.

For jupyterlab 3.0+, reconfigure the subcommand from "notebook" to "server".

M-x customize-option RET ein:jupyter-server-use-subcommand RET

Usage

Start EIN using ONE of the following:

• Open an .ipynb file, press C-c C-o, or,
• M-x ein:run launches a jupyter process from emacs, or,
• M-x ein:login to a running jupyter server, or,

M-x ein:stop prompts to halt local and remote jupyter services.

Alternatively, ob-ein.

FAQ

How do I...

... report a bug?

Note EIN is tested only for released GNU Emacs versions 26.3 and later. Pre-release versions will not work.

First try emacs -Q -f package-initialize -f ein:dev-start-debug and reproduce the bug. The -Q skips any user configuration that might interfere with EIN.

Then file an issue using M-x ein:dev-bug-report-template.

... display images inline?

We find inserting images into emacs disruptive, and so default to spawning an external viewer. To override this,

M-x customize-group RET ein
Ein:Output Area Inlined Images

... configure the external image viewer?

M-x customize-group RET mailcap
Mailcap User Mime Data

On a typical Linux system, one might configure a viewer for MIME Type image/png as a shell command convert %s -background white -alpha remove -alpha off - | display -immutable.

... get IDE-like behavior?

You can't. EIN's architecture is fundamentally incompatible with LSP.

ob-ein

Configuration:

M-x customize-group RET org-babel
Org Babel Load Languages:
  Insert (ein . t)
  For example, '((emacs-lisp . t) (ein . t))

Snippet:

#+BEGIN_SRC ein-python :session localhost
  import numpy, math, matplotlib.pyplot as plt
  %matplotlib inline
  x = numpy.linspace(0, 2*math.pi)
  plt.plot(x, numpy.sin(x))
#+END_SRC

The :session is the notebook url, e.g., http://localhost:8888/my.ipynb, or simply localhost, in which case org evaluates anonymously. A port may also be specified, e.g., localhost:8889.

Language can be ein-python, ein-r, or ein-julia. The relevant jupyter kernel must be installed before use. Additional languages can be configured via:

M-x customize-group RET ein
Ob Ein Languages

Keymap (C-h m)

Key             Binding
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C-<down>     ein:worksheet-goto-next-input-km
C-<up>               ein:worksheet-goto-prev-input-km
M-S-<return> ein:worksheet-execute-cell-and-insert-below-km
M-<down>     ein:worksheet-not-move-cell-down-km
M-<up>               ein:worksheet-not-move-cell-up-km

C-x C-s              ein:notebook-save-notebook-command-km
C-x C-w              ein:notebook-rename-command-km

M-RET                ein:worksheet-execute-cell-and-goto-next-km
M-,          ein:pytools-jump-back-command
M-.          ein:pytools-jump-to-source-command

C-c C-a              ein:worksheet-insert-cell-above-km
C-c C-b              ein:worksheet-insert-cell-below-km
C-c C-c              ein:worksheet-execute-cell-km
C-u C-c C-c                  ein:worksheet-execute-all-cells
C-c C-e              ein:worksheet-toggle-output-km
C-c C-f              ein:file-open-km
C-c C-k              ein:worksheet-kill-cell-km
C-c C-l              ein:worksheet-clear-output-km
C-c RET              ein:worksheet-merge-cell-km
C-c C-n              ein:worksheet-goto-next-input-km
C-c C-o              ein:notebook-open-km
C-c C-p              ein:worksheet-goto-prev-input-km
C-c C-q              ein:notebook-kill-kernel-then-close-command-km
C-c C-r              ein:notebook-reconnect-session-command-km
C-c C-s              ein:worksheet-split-cell-at-point-km
C-c C-t              ein:worksheet-toggle-cell-type-km
C-c C-u              ein:worksheet-change-cell-type-km
C-c C-v              ein:worksheet-set-output-visibility-all-km
C-c C-w              ein:worksheet-copy-cell-km
C-c C-y              ein:worksheet-yank-cell-km
C-c C-z              ein:notebook-kernel-interrupt-command-km
C-c C-S-l    ein:worksheet-clear-all-output-km
C-c C-#              ein:notebook-close-km
C-c C-$              ein:tb-show-km
C-c C-/              ein:notebook-scratchsheet-open-km
C-c C-;              ein:shared-output-show-code-cell-at-point-km
C-c <down>   ein:worksheet-move-cell-down-km
C-c <up>     ein:worksheet-move-cell-up-km

C-c C-x C-r  ein:notebook-restart-session-command-km

C-c M-w              ein:worksheet-copy-cell-km


This is a minor mode.  If called interactively, toggle the
‘Ein:Notebook mode’ mode.  If the prefix argument is positive,
enable the mode, and if it is zero or negative, disable the mode.

If called from Lisp, toggle the mode if ARG is ‘toggle’.  Enable
the mode if ARG is nil, omitted, or is a positive number.
Disable the mode if ARG is a negative number.

To check whether the minor mode is enabled in the current buffer,
evaluate ‘ein:notebook-mode’.

The mode’s hook is called both when the mode is enabled and when
it is disabled.