---
id: ipython-autotime
version: "0.3.2"
license: Apache
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: dormant
---

# ipython-autotime — Time everything in IPython

License: permissive · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 120.3K/mo

## What it is and what it does

ipython-autotime is a lightweight IPython extension that hooks into your interactive session and automatically times every command or code block you execute. Once loaded with %load_ext autotime, it prints the elapsed time and timestamp after each input, whether it succeeds or raises an exception. It depends on ipython and monotonic for reliable timing measurement.

The extension is designed for exploratory work, data science notebooks, and interactive debugging where you want to spot slow operations without manually wrapping code in timing calls. You can unload it with %unload_ext autotime when you no longer need it.

Use it for:

- Identify slow cells or commands during interactive data analysis without adding timing code to every operation.
- Debug performance issues in Jupyter notebooks by seeing which cells take longer than expected.
- Profile exploratory code during development to catch inefficient operations early in the REPL.
- Track execution time across a long interactive session to spot cumulative bottlenecks.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

IPython extension that automatically measures and displays the execution time of every command you run in an interactive session.

Yes, if you spend significant time in IPython or Jupyter and want automatic execution timing without code changes. Low install friction and permissive license make it low-risk. However, maintenance is dormant (last update 2023-11-01); verify compatibility with your current IPython version before relying on it.

## Install

pip install ipython-autotime
uv add ipython-autotime
poetry add ipython-autotime

## Installing ipython-autotime

Before you install: Low friction install with two runtime dependencies. Maintenance is dormant—last commit 2023-11-01—but the repository remains active and the package has been stable since 2016.

License in practice: Licensed under Apache (permissive), so you can use, modify, and distribute it freely in commercial and private projects without restriction.

Quickstart:

pip install ipython-autotime

In IPython:
%load_ext autotime
x = 1
%unload_ext autotime

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works with current IPython versions and modern Python releases, given the dormant maintenance status.

## Package facts

- License: Apache (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: dormant
- Downloads: 120.3K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

ipython execution time measurement, time ipython commands, ipython performance profiling, interactive python timing, ipython cell duration tracking, ipython-extension, profiling, interactive-development

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/ipython-autotime) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/ipython-autotime/)