Jupyter Books: A Comprehensive Guide
Introduction
Jupyter Books is an open-source tool for creating interactive and publication-ready books using Jupyter Notebooks and Markdown. It enables users to combine text, code, equations, and visualizations into a structured, professional-looking document. Developed as part of the Executable Books Project, Jupyter Books is widely used in academia, data science, and technical documentation
Installation & Setup
- Install Jupyter book To install Jupyter Books, use the following command:
pip install -U jupyter-book
- Create a New Jupyter Book To create a new Jupyter book run:
jupyter-book create mybook/
- Build the book First navigate to your book:
cd mybook/
Then build the book into HTML format
jupyter-book build mybook/
The built book will be stored inside *_build/html/.* To preview it in a browser, open the index.html file
Key Features & Explanation
- Markdown & Jupyter Notebook Integration: Combine rich text and executable code.
- Interactivity: Support for Jupyter widgets and code execution.
- Multi-format Export: Convert content to HTML, PDF, and LaTeX.
- Cross-referencing: Easy linking between sections, equations, figures, and tables.
- Version Control Friendly: Works seamlessly with GitHub and GitHub Actions.
Code Examples
For example if we need to add a “Table of Contents” section to our book then we need to define a *_toc.yml* file and structure it as follows:
format: mybook
root: intro
chapters:
- file: chapter1
- file: chapter2
Similarily if we need to add a Bibiliographical section to our book then Jupyter Books also supports it by citing in a BibTeX file
@mybook{smith2020,
author = {C003},
title = {Jupyter Books},
year = {2025},
publisher = {Sample publisher}
}
Screenshots(For Reference)
Setup and initial launch
Writting and Building
Live preview
Use Cases of Jupyter Book
Jupyter Book is a versatile tool that can be used in various domains. Here are some common use cases:
1. Academic Research
- Write interactive research papers and books with live code execution.
- Share reproducible scientific results with colleagues.
- Document data analysis workflows in a structured format.
2. Data Science Documentation
- Create well structured reports with embedded code and visualizations.
- Showcase machine learning models with step-by-step explanations.
- Maintain a live, interactive record of data processing techniques.
3. Open Source Project Documentation
- Provide detailed documentation with examples for open source libraries.
- Write tutorials and guides with code execution support.
- Ensure easy navigation using Jupyter Book’s cross referencing features.
4. Educational Material & Tutorials
- Develop interactive course content with explanations and code cells.
- Build digital textbooks that students can execute and modify.
- Offer engaging learning experiences with quizzes and exercises.
5. Technical Reports & Knowledge Sharing
- Compile technical documents for teams in a structured manner.
- Share Jupyter Notebooks in a book-like format for easy readability.
- Publish internal documentation with GitHub integration for version control.
Conclusion
Jupyter Book is a powerful and flexible tool for creating interactive, well structured, and publication ready books, tutorials, and documentation. It easitly integrates with Jupyter Notebooks and Markdown, allowing users to present both text and executable code in an organized manner.
References
Link to the offical documentation : Jupyter Book Documentation