sys.path different in Jupyter and Python - how to import own modules in Jupyter?

Question

In Jupyter my own little module is not loaded but in python/bpython is everything is fine. When typing

import sys
print(sys.path)

the path

Answer 1

Jupyter is base on ipython, a permanent solution could be changing the ipython config options.

Create a config file

$ ipython profile create
$ ipython locate
/Users/username/.ipython

Edit the config file

$ cd /Users/username/.ipython
$ vi profile_default/ipython_config.py

The following lines allow you to add your module path to sys.path

c.InteractiveShellApp.exec_lines = [
    'import sys; sys.path.append("/path/to/your/module")'
]

At the jupyter startup the previous line will be executed

Here you can find more details about ipython config https://www.lucypark.kr/blog/2013/02/10/when-python-imports-and-ipython-does-not/

Answer 2

Here is what I do on my projects in jupyter notebook,

import sys
sys.path.append("../") # go to parent dir
from customFunctions import *

Then, to affect changes in customFunctions.py,

%load_ext autoreload
%autoreload 2

Answer 3

Jupyter has its own PATH variable, JUPYTER_PATH.

Adding this line to the .bashrc file worked for me:

export JUPYTER_PATH=<directory_for_your_module>:$JUPYTER_PATH

Answer 4

Suppose your project has the following structure and you want to do imports in the notebook.ipynb:

/app
  /mypackage
    mymodule.py
  /notebooks
    notebook.ipynb

If you are running Jupyter inside a docker container without any virtualenv it might be useful to create Jupyter (ipython) config in your project folder:

/app
  /profile_default
    ipython_config.py

Content of ipython_config.py:

c.InteractiveShellApp.exec_lines = [
    'import sys; sys.path.append("/app")'
]

Open the notebook and check it out:

print(sys.path)

['', '/usr/local/lib/python36.zip', '/usr/local/lib/python3.6', '/usr/local/lib/python3.6/lib-dynload', '/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages', '/usr/local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/IPython/extensions', '/root/.ipython', '/app']

Now you can do imports in your notebook without any sys.path appending in the cells:

from mypackage.mymodule import myfunc

Answer 5

You can use absolute imports:

/root
    /app
      /config
        config.py
      /source
        file.ipynb

# In the file.ipynb importing the config.py file
from root.app.config import config