Creating an IPython Notebook programatically

ProgrammaticNotebook.ipynb

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 "nbformat": 3,
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 "worksheets": [
  {
   "cells": [
    {
     "cell_type": "heading",
     "level": 1,
     "metadata": {},
     "source": [
      "Creating an IPython Notebook programatically"
     ]
    },
    {
     "cell_type": "code",
     "collapsed": false,
     "input": [
      "from IPython.nbformat import current as nbf # deprecated\n",
      "from IPython.nbformat import v4 as nbf # import version directly\n"
     ],
     "language": "python",
     "metadata": {},
     "outputs": [],
     "prompt_number": 3
    },
    {
     "cell_type": "code",
     "collapsed": false,
     "input": [
      "nb = nbf.new_notebook()"
     ],
     "language": "python",
     "metadata": {},
     "outputs": [],
     "prompt_number": 13
    },
    {
     "cell_type": "markdown",
     "metadata": {},
     "source": [
      "This notebook will simply have three cells that read `print 0`, `print 1`, etc:"
     ]
    },
    {
     "cell_type": "code",
     "collapsed": false,
     "input": [
      "text = \"This is an auto-generated notebook.\"\n",
      "code = \"1+2\"\n",
      "\n",
      "cells = [nbf.new_text_cell('markdown', text),\n",
      "         nbf.new_code_cell(code) ]"
     ],
     "language": "python",
     "metadata": {},
     "outputs": [],
     "prompt_number": 14
    },
    {
     "cell_type": "markdown",
     "metadata": {},
     "source": [
      "Now that we have the cells, we can make a worksheet with them and add it to the notebook:"
     ]
    },
    {
     "cell_type": "code",
     "collapsed": false,
     "input": [
      "nb['cells'].extend(cells)"
     ],
     "language": "python",
     "metadata": {},
     "outputs": [],
     "prompt_number": 15
    },
    {
     "cell_type": "markdown",
     "metadata": {},
     "source": [
      "Next, we write it to a file on disk that we can then open as a new notebook.\n",
      "\n",
      "Note: This should be as easy as: `nbf.write(nb, fname)`, but the current api is a little more verbose and needs a real file-like\n",
      "object."
     ]
    },
    {
     "cell_type": "code",
     "collapsed": false,
     "input": [
      "fname = 'test.ipynb'\n",
      "\n",
      "with open(fname, 'w') as f:\n",
      "    nbf.write(nb, f, 'ipynb')"
     ],
     "language": "python",
     "metadata": {},
     "outputs": [],
     "prompt_number": 16
    },
    {
     "cell_type": "markdown",
     "metadata": {},
     "source": [
      "This notebook can be run at the command line with:\n",
      "\n",
      "    ipython -c '%run test.ipynb'\n",
      "\n",
      "Or you can open it [as a live notebook](test.ipynb)."
     ]
    }
   ],
   "metadata": {}
  }
 ]
}

v4 notebooks have no 'worksheets', but directly 'cells'. Also the module version must be imported explicitly.