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Jupyter Book

jupyterbook.org

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Spec score 8.3 #10 of 37 in Technical Documentation Software

What it is

Jupyter Book is an open-source tool for publishing reusable, reproducible computational narratives. Authors can build websites, PDFs, and other formats using MyST Markdown and Jupyter notebooks, with cross-references, citations, figures, tables, equations, and executable code blocks. Code may run during a build to produce computed figures, tables, and values, although execution is off by default. Pages can include interactive widgets, browser execution through a remote kernel, or launch buttons for Binder and JupyterHub. Deployment options include GitHub Pages, ReadTheDocs, Netlify, Vercel, CurveNote, GitLab Pages, and custom hosting. Plugins can add directives, roles, and content transforms. Installation is available through PyPI, conda-forge, and npm, with several package-manager routes. Jupyter Book 2 uses the MyST Document Engine; version 1 is mostly in maintenance mode. The free plan costs nothing.

Spec sheet

Purpose
Jupyter Book creates computational narratives from notebooks or Markdown, executes code, and publishes the results to the web.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Audience
The project describes itself as built for and by researchers, educators, and data scientists.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Integrations
The FAQ lists GitHub Pages, ReadTheDocs, Netlify, Vercel, CurveNote, and custom hosting as deployment options.Read 4 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Support
The project points users to its Discord community and GitHub Discussions, and directs most Jupyter Book 2 bug reports to the MyST repository.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Authoring
Jupyter Book 2 supports MyST Markdown features including directives, cross-references, citations, figures, tables, equations, executable code blocks, tabs, grids, and cards.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Code execution
Books can run code at build time, cache outputs, and include computational results such as figures, tables, and values.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Compatibility limit
Custom Sphinx extensions are not compatible with Jupyter Book 2, and the upgrade guide says books using Sphinx’s `conf.py` directly cannot be automatically upgraded.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Extensibility
Jupyter Book uses the MyST plugin system, which supports directives, roles, and transforms; plugins can be written in JavaScript or another language following the MyST plugin protocol.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Formats
A book can be built as a website, PDF, or other formats and deployed to the web.Read 4 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Install options
The install guide lists PyPI, conda-forge, and npm, with installation methods including pip, mamba or conda, pipx, uv, pixi, and npm.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Installation
Jupyter Book is available through PyPI, conda-forge, and npm, with installation instructions for pip, mamba or conda, pipx, uv, pixi, and npm.Read 4 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Interactive computing
The documentation describes interactive widgets, in-page code execution through Thebe backed by a remote kernel, and launch buttons for Binder or JupyterHub.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Jupyter Book 1 status
The Jupyter Book 1 stack is mostly in maintenance mode, with no active development planned for its tools and limited commitments to review community contributions.Read 4 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Jupyter Book 2
Jupyter Book 2 is a rewrite built on the MyST Document Engine rather than Sphinx.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Jupyter Book 2 status
Jupyter Book 2 is built on the MyST Document Engine and the project says it still has many improvements to be made.Read 4 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Known limitations
The Jupyter Book 2 FAQ lists execution feature parity, editable Thebe cells, Sphinx autodoc-style API documentation, and exporting notebook outputs as MyST as not yet available.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Local preview
The `jupyter book start` command runs a built-in server that serves the book locally and updates as content changes.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Open source community
Jupyter Book is developed by the Executable Books community, which welcomes discussion, feedback, and contributions.Read 4 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Publishing integrations
The publishing guide lists GitHub Pages, Read the Docs, GitLab Pages, Netlify, Curvenote, and custom web servers as hosting options.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org
Security and compliance
The opened Jupyter Book pages do not state security certifications or compliance claims.Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org

Plans and prices

Jupyter Book Free Open source project · installable from PyPI, conda-forge, and npm Read 11 Oct 2026 · jupyterbook.org

Every Jupyter Book plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Open-source and free
  • Supports notebooks and executable code
  • Publishes websites and PDFs
  • Multiple hosting options
  • Plugin-based extensibility

Limits

  • Execution is off by default
  • Jupyter Book 2 still has improvements pending
  • Several version 2 features are unavailable
  • Custom Sphinx extensions are incompatible

Who it suits

Jupyter Book is aimed at researchers, educators, and data scientists creating publishable computational material. It suits teams comfortable with notebooks, Markdown, package installation, and web deployment.

Verdict

Jupyter Book combines notebook authoring, narrative documentation, computation, and web publishing. Version choice is important: the second version changes the underlying engine and has stated feature and compatibility limits.

Where Specifiction places it

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