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How do you convert an IPython notebook file (json with .ipynb extension) into a regular .py module?

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18 Answers 18

184

From the notebook menu you can save the file directly as a python script. Go to the 'File' option of the menu, then select 'Download as' and there you would see a 'Python (.py)' option.

enter image description here

Another option would be to use nbconvert from the command line:

jupyter nbconvert --to script 'my-notebook.ipynb'

Have a look here.

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  • An additional way to call nbconvert it is to do it automatically on save with the jupyter_notebook_confg.py file -- See stackoverflow.com/a/25765194/1653571
    – Dave X
    Commented Feb 10, 2017 at 18:04
  • I don't seem to have ipython or jupyter installed, so I'm unaware of how to get to the notebook menu.
    – Dave Sims
    Commented May 3, 2017 at 0:04
  • 1
    @DaveGoldsmith Run pip install jupyter. Once it's installed, go to your project directory and run jupyter notebook. It should open a web browser automatically, otherwise open one and go to http://localhost:8888/notebooks/ to start creating or working with notebooks. Commented May 31, 2018 at 3:35
  • Is there a way in which I can get the output text also in a.py file
    – Scope
    Commented Aug 19, 2021 at 4:40
  • 1
    Doesn't work with ipython [8.7.0]. Returns warnings: Unrecognized alias: 'to', it will have no effect. and File 'nbconvert' doesn't exist Commented Jan 4, 2023 at 17:19
42

According to https://ipython.org/ipython-doc/3/notebook/nbconvert.html you are looking for the nbconvert command with the --to script option.

ipython nbconvert notebook.ipynb --to script

EDIT:

as per the comments, this is now updated to

jupyter nbconvert mynotebook.ipynb --to python
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  • 2
    Getting this notice now, FYI: [TerminalIPythonApp] WARNING | Subcommand 'ipython nbconvert' is deprecated and will be removed in future versions. [TerminalIPythonApp] WARNING | You likely want to use 'jupyter nbconvert' in the future
    – Matt
    Commented Oct 3, 2017 at 21:29
  • 1
    @Matt ipython has been renamed to jupyter. The message is telling you that the old executable name is deprecated. The convert command itself isn't.
    – Adam
    Commented Oct 20, 2017 at 12:48
  • 3
    @Adam, I understand that. I wanted to document the correct executable.
    – Matt
    Commented Oct 20, 2017 at 18:59
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In short: This command-line option converts mynotebook.ipynb to python code:

jupyter nbconvert mynotebook.ipynb --to python

note: this is different from above answer. ipython has been renamed to jupyter. the old executable name (ipython) is deprecated.


More details: jupyter command-line has an nbconvert argument which helps convert notebook files (*.ipynb) to various other formats.

You could even convert it to any one of these formats using the same command but different --to option:

  • asciidoc
  • custom
  • html
  • latex. (Awesome if you want to paste code in conference/journal papers).
  • markdown
  • notebook
  • pdf
  • python
  • rst
  • script
  • slides. (Whooh! Convert to slides for easy presentation 😊)

the same command jupyter nbconvert --to latex mynotebook.ipynb

For more see jupyter nbconvert --help. There are extensive options to this. You could even to execute the code first before converting, different log-level options etc.

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  • This is not really different than @Kush's answer, just the command name has changed since his answer. Commented Oct 15, 2022 at 12:17
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you can use this to do that :

pip install ipynb-py-convert

then run this on your terminal to convert .py file to .ipynb :

ipynb-py-convert Ex/abc.py Ex/abc.ipynb

to convert .ipynb files to .py :

ipynb-py-convert Ex/abc.ipynb Ex/abc.py
6

You can run a .py file in the same directory:

import json

files = ["my_first_file_name.ipynb", "my_second_file_name.ipynb"]

for file in files:
    code = json.load(open(file))
    py_file = open(f"{file}.py", "w+")

    for cell in code['cells']:
        if cell['cell_type'] == 'code':
            for line in cell['source']:
                py_file.write(line)
            py_file.write("\n")
        elif cell['cell_type'] == 'markdown':
            py_file.write("\n")
            for line in cell['source']:
                if line and line[0] == "#":
                    py_file.write(line)
            py_file.write("\n")

    py_file.close()

I rewrite this code from Syrtis Major's answer.

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  • 1
    The best answer available. Does not need jupyter nbconvert and just uses the standard json format to get the notebooks. Absolutely Brilliant! Commented Oct 13, 2021 at 8:38
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Tested on Ubuntu 20.04

Install required packages for PIP

$ pip install ipython
$ pip install nbconvert

To install required packages

$ sudo apt-get install texlive-xetex texlive-fonts-recommended texlive-plain-generic

METHOD 1

Use jupyter nbconvert command to convert to different format

Source file pro.ipynb

pro.ipynb

  • To convert to ascii

    $ jupyter nbconvert --to asciidoc pro.ipynb
    
  • To convert to pdf

    $ jupyter nbconvert --to pdf pro.ipynb
    
  • To convert to python

    $ jupyter nbconvert --to python pro.ipynb
    

METHOD 2

Convert ipynb project through python code use savefig method of pyplot:

pro.ipynb

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
%matplotlib inline
exp_vals=[1400,600,300,410,250]
exp_labels=['Home Rent','Food','Phone/Internet Bill','Car','Other Utilities']
plt.axis('equal')
plt.pie(exp_vals,labels=exp_labels,radius=2,autopct='%0.1f%%',shadow=True,explode=[0,0.5,0,0.3,0],startangle=20)
# plt.show()
plt.savefig('piechart.jpg',bbox_inches='tight',pad_inches=2,transparent=True,edgecolor='r')

piechart.png image that it generated:

piechart.png

   Hope this helps to convert your ~(`)/\/\/\_ [Python] code
4

well first of all you need to install this package below:

sudo apt install ipython
jupyter nbconvert --to script [YOUR_NOTEBOOK].ipynb

two options are available either --to python or --to=python

for me this works fine:

jupyter nbconvert --to python while.ipynb 

[NbConvertApp] Converting notebook while.ipynb to python
[NbConvertApp] Writing 758 bytes to while.py

pip3 install ipython

if it does not work for you try, by pip3.

pip3 install ipython
3

You definitely can achieve that with nbconvert using the following command:

jupyter nbconvert --to python while.ipynb 

However, having used it personally I would advise against it for several reasons:

  1. It's one thing to be able to convert to simple Python code and another to have all the right abstractions, classes access and methods set up. If the whole point of you converting your notebook code to Python is getting to a state where your code and notebooks are maintainable for the long run, then nbconvert alone will not suffice. The only way to do that is by manually going through the codebase.
  2. Notebooks inherently promote writing code which is not maintainable (https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1n2RlMdmv1p25Xy5thJUhkKGvjtV-dkAIsUXP-AL4ffI/edit#slide=id.g3d7fe085e7_0_21). Using nbconvert on top might just prove to be a bandaid. Specific examples of where it promotes not-so-maintainable code are imports might be sprayed throughout, hard coded paths are not in one simple place to view, class abstractions might not be present, etc.
  3. nbconvert still mixes execution code and library code.
  4. Comments are still not present (probably were not in the notebook).
  5. There is still a lack of unit tests etc.

So to summarize, there is not good way to out of the box convert python notebooks to maintainable, robust python modularized code, the only way is to manually do surgery.

3

Use VS Code

  1. Step 1 : Open your .ipynb file in vs code.
  2. Step 2 : Click on export Screenshot of where the option is.
  3. Step 3 : Click on Python Script Screenshot of export types. Now VS Code will open your file as a python script in a new tab with an untitled name.
  4. Now press Ctrl + s to save it to wherever you want.
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  • While I haven't verified if VS Code can handle the conversion, I believe that recommending the installation of a feature-rich IDE like VS Code for a straightforward conversion might be excessive. Unless the question explicitly mentions the use of VS Code, a more lightweight and focused tool could be a more suitable recommendation for the specific task at hand. Commented Nov 23, 2023 at 19:27
  • 1
    @tidakdiinginkan while that may be true, it is a helpful suggestions for those already running notebooks in VSCode. Thanks Sandupa, helped me out :)
    – RogerKint
    Commented Jan 29 at 14:05
  • @RogerKint a solution that caters to everyone wins over specific toolset solutions. Had the OP mentioned VSCode specifically, this solution would have made sense. good for you that this solves your specific case. Commented Jan 29 at 19:29
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You can use the following script to convert jupyter notebook to Python script, or view the code directly.

To do this, write the following contents into a file cat_ipynb, then chmod +x cat_ipynb.

#!/usr/bin/env python
import sys
import json

for file in sys.argv[1:]:
    print('# file: %s' % file)
    print('# vi: filetype=python')
    print('')
    code = json.load(open(file))

    for cell in code['cells']:
        if cell['cell_type'] == 'code':
            print('# -------- code --------')
            for line in cell['source']:
                print(line, end='')
            print('\n')
        elif cell['cell_type'] == 'markdown':
            print('# -------- markdown --------')
            for line in cell['source']:
                print("#", line, end='')
            print('\n')

Then you can use

cat_ipynb your_notebook.ipynb > output.py

Or show it with vi directly

cat_ipynb your_notebook.ipynb | view -

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If this is a one-off, follow e.g. @kikocorreoso depending if you want to use command line or gui.

However, if you want some solution that will maintain a synchronized version of the .py and the .ipynb you really should consider using jupytext as also pointed out by @Wayne

Run conda install jupytext or pip install jupytext

Then do: jupytext --set-formats ipynb,py <file>.ipynb

To keep it synchronized to the .py file:

jupytext --set-formats ipynb,py <file>.ipynb --sync

This will make sure jupyter keeps the two files in sync when saving from now on...

Last note: If you are a gui person, after running the installation command for jupytext, everything else can be done from the gui as well File-->Jupytext-->pair Notebook with light Script: enter image description here

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  • the comma in ipynb,py haunts me Commented May 6, 2023 at 5:25
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  1. Go to https://jupyter.org/
  2. click on nbviewer
  3. Enter the location of your file and render it.
  4. Click on view as code (shown as < />)
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  • Please elaborate steps 3 and 4.
    – JJJ
    Commented Apr 7, 2019 at 2:20
  • @JJJ It is detailed at the link. For 3, I, for instance, had the jupyter notebook on a Git repository and just entered the link to the file on git. For 4, after opening your notebook, on top right, you find few icons. The icon with </> on it is "view as code" icon. Hope this clarifies.
    – Blade
    Commented Apr 7, 2019 at 2:27
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Jupytext allows for such a conversion on the command line, and importantly you can go back again from the script to a notebook (even an executed notebook). See here.

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One way to do that would be to upload your script on Colab and download it in .py format from File -> Download .py

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Convert the Ipynb dir files to .py

import os

for fname in os.listdir():
    if fname.endswith('ipynb'):
        os.system(f'jupyter nbconvert {fname} --to python')
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  • I didnot get file
    – Shashank
    Commented Jan 18, 2022 at 17:28
  • make sure you have jupyter notebook installed
    – Deepak Raj
    Commented Jan 22, 2022 at 4:43
  • $ pip install ipython $ pip install nbconvert
    – Deepak Raj
    Commented Jan 22, 2022 at 9:39
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    This is just the same as the other solution but you're running the bash command from inside python.
    – emilBeBri
    Commented Jul 28, 2023 at 8:48
  • 1
    right, I guess it's good to have different ways of doing it, sorry for being a bit of a dick.
    – emilBeBri
    Commented Jul 31, 2023 at 19:21
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jupyter nbconvert [filename].ipynb --no-prompt --to python

The above code will generate [filename].py in the same directory

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My version of Jupyter Notebook, 3.3.2, has this option on the File Menu: enter image description here

0

Copy all the (''.ipynb) files in the Desired folder then execute:

import os    

desired_path = 'C:\\Users\\Docs\\Ipynb Covertor'

os.chdir(desired_path)

list_of_directory = os.listdir(desired_path)

for file in list_of_directory:
        os.system('ipython nbconvert --to script ' + str(file))

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