---
id: jupyter-ui-poll
version: "1.1.0"
license: unclear
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: aging
---

# jupyter-ui-poll — Block jupyter cell execution while interacting with widgets

License: permissive · Maintenance: aging · Downloads: 240.2K/mo

## What it is and what it does

jupyter-ui-poll solves a specific problem in Jupyter notebooks: making widget interactions feel synchronous when they are fundamentally asynchronous. When you display widgets and want to wait for user input before running downstream cells, a naive polling loop does not work because the Jupyter kernel only processes one event at a time—widget callbacks never fire while your cell code is running. This library hooks into IPython's kernel event handling to selectively process widget events in a loop while deferring execution of subsequent cells until your poll loop exits.

The package provides a context manager (`ui_events()`) that temporarily intercepts the kernel's cell-execution handler, allowing you to call `poll()` repeatedly to process widget events. When you exit the context, any queued cell-execution requests are replayed in order. This makes it possible to write notebooks that run end-to-end with `Cells → Run All` while still collecting user input at the top.

Use it for:

- Parameterize a notebook's analysis by collecting user input before running computation cells.
- Build a multi-step data-entry workflow where each step validates input before allowing the user to proceed.
- Create an interactive notebook where user actions trigger updates to visualizations in cells below.
- Implement a notebook that can be run unattended via `Run All` after initial setup, with all user input collected upfront.
- Develop a Jupyter-based tool that guides users through a workflow using a GUI instead of requiring code cell edits.

## Worth the install?

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

Blocks Jupyter cell execution while waiting for user interaction with widgets, enabling synchronous-style polling of widget events within a notebook.

Yes, if you are building an interactive Jupyter notebook that needs to collect user input before running downstream analysis, and you want the notebook to work with `Run All`. The package is stable (Production/Stable status), has no known vulnerabilities, and solves a real problem that is otherwise difficult to implement. Maintenance is aging but the repo is active and the library is narrow in scope, reducing the risk of bit-rot.

## Install

pip install jupyter-ui-poll
uv add jupyter-ui-poll
poetry add jupyter-ui-poll

## Installing jupyter-ui-poll

Before you install: Low friction: pure Python wheel with a single runtime dependency on ipython. Last release was 287 days ago; repo is not archived and remains active, though maintenance pace is aging.

License in practice: Permissive license means you can use, modify, and distribute this package with minimal restrictions in commercial or private projects.

Quickstart:

pip install jupyter-ui-poll

from jupyter_ui_poll import ui_events
import time

ui_done = False
def on_click(btn):
    global ui_done
    ui_done = True

with ui_events() as poll:
    while not ui_done:
        poll(10)
        time.sleep(0.1)

Requires Python 3.8 or later and a Jupyter environment with ipython installed.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works correctly with all Jupyter frontends or has known limitations.
- Performance characteristics when polling at high frequency or with many concurrent widgets.
- Compatibility with recent ipython versions beyond what classifiers indicate.

## Package facts

- License: not declared (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: aging
- Downloads: 240.2K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

jupyter widget blocking, jupyter cell execution pause, notebook interactive polling, jupyter ui event loop, blocking gui jupyter, widget callback polling, jupyter input waiting, jupyter-interactive, widget-polling

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