nbdev
Create delightful software with Jupyter Notebooks
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. nbdev is actively maintained (release 2 days old), has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and a permissive license. It solves a real problem for developers who want to work in notebooks without sacrificing code quality, testing, or packaging standards. Best suited for projects where literate programming and live debugging are valued; less suitable if your team requires pure IDE-based workflows or native Windows development.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Quarto must be installed separately for documentation generation (nbdev provides installation helpers).
- Works on macOS, Linux, and WSL but not native Windows cmd/PowerShell.
License · maintenance · safety
Apache-2.0 (permissive) — Apache-2.0 (permissive) allows commercial and private use with attribution. No restrictions on bundling or modification for downstream users.
last release 2026-08-12 (2 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-12 · 5,302 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 118,109 downloads/mo, #12,134 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install nbdev
from nbdev.export import nb_export
nb_export('notebook.ipynb', 'module_name')- Whether the two-way sync between notebooks and plaintext source code works reliably with all IDE workflows and merge scenarios beyond the documented git-hook setup.
- Performance characteristics of parallel test execution across large notebook suites.
- Compatibility with Jupyter extensions or custom notebook configurations beyond the standard setup.
What it is and what it does
nbdev bridges Jupyter notebooks and production Python packages by treating notebooks as the primary development artifact. You write code, tests, and documentation in notebooks using lightweight markup, and nbdev exports them to clean Python modules, generates searchable HTML documentation via Quarto, runs tests in parallel, and publishes to PyPI or conda. The platform also maintains a two-way sync between notebooks and exported source code, so you can edit in your IDE and have changes reflected back in the notebook.
The workflow is built around modern Python packaging standards (PEP 621 with pyproject.toml configuration) and includes git-friendly notebook handling to reduce merge conflicts. It comes with built-in GitHub Actions integration for continuous integration and automated documentation deployment. Version 3.3.12 represents a major update that moved configuration from settings.ini to pyproject.toml, with a migration tool provided for existing projects.
Use it for
- Develop Python packages where documentation, tests, and code live together in executable notebooks for easier debugging and refactoring.
- Publish packages to PyPI with automatically generated documentation and README files derived from notebook cells.
- Set up continuous integration pipelines that run notebook-based tests in parallel and rebuild documentation on every commit.
- Maintain a codebase where library code and its usage examples are synchronized bidirectionally between notebooks and Python modules.
- Create searchable, hyperlinked documentation with LaTeX support automatically generated from notebook cells without separate doc files.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
nbdev is actively maintained (release 2 days old), has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and a permissive license. It solves a real problem for developers who want to work in notebooks without sacrificing code quality, testing, or packaging standards. Best suited for projects where literate programming and live debugging are valued; less suitable if your team requires pure IDE-based workflows or native Windows development.
Install
nbdev on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction installation with a pure-Python wheel. Active maintenance with a release 2 days old and 5302 repository stars. Requires Python 3.10 or later and 11 runtime dependencies including fastcore, execnb, and build; all are standard ecosystem packages.
Requires Python 3.10 or later. Quarto must be installed separately for documentation generation (nbdev provides installation helpers). Works on macOS, Linux, and WSL but not native Windows cmd/PowerShell.
License in practice
Apache-2.0 (permissive) allows commercial and private use with attribution. No restrictions on bundling or modification for downstream users.
Quickstart
pip install nbdev
from nbdev.export import nb_export
nb_export('notebook.ipynb', 'module_name')Verify before relying
- Whether the two-way sync between notebooks and plaintext source code works reliably with all IDE workflows and merge scenarios beyond the documented git-hook setup.
- Performance characteristics of parallel test execution across large notebook suites.
- Compatibility with Jupyter extensions or custom notebook configurations beyond the standard setup.
Package facts
| License | Apache-2.0 permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 11 packagesfastcoreexecnbastunparseghapiwatchdogasttokenssetuptoolsbuildfastgitpyyamltomli |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 2 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 118,109 / month, #12,134 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software LicenseNatural Language :: EnglishProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only |
Evidence: nbdev-3.3.12-py3-none-any.whl
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See also execnb · nbval · nbsphinx · nbmake · nb-clean · jupyter-book · nbtoolbelt · marimo · mkdocs-jupyter · pybatfish