A simple python script to convert .ipynb to cli output. Thereby enabling us to view the contents (text-only!) of a jupyter notebook from command-line.

ipynb2cli.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
import json
import sys

Width = 80
HeaderDemarc = "%s" % ("*" * Width)
CellDemarc = "%s" % ("-" * (Width // 2))
CellDemarc2 = CellDemarc * 2
OutputDemarc = "%s" % ("." * Width)

def printHeader(root):
    print(HeaderDemarc)
    if "nbformat" in root and "nbformat_minor" in root:
        print("nbformat: v%d.%d" % (root["nbformat"], root["nbformat_minor"]))
    else:
        print("nbformat: NA")
    if "metadata" in root and "language_info" in root["metadata"]:
        info = root["metadata"]["language_info"]
        print("language: %s (v%s)" % (info["name"], info["version"]))
    print("#cells:   %d" % len(root["cells"]))
    print(HeaderDemarc)
    print

def printCell(cell):
    print(CellDemarc + " " + cell["cell_type"] + " " + CellDemarc)
    if cell["cell_type"] == "markdown":
        for line in cell["source"]:
            print(line.rstrip())
    elif cell["cell_type"] == "code":
        cnt = cell["execution_count"]
        cnt = cnt if cnt is not None else -1
        tag = "In [%d]:" % cnt
        spaces = " " * len(tag)
        for line in cell["source"]:
            print("%s %s" % (tag, line.rstrip()))
            tag = spaces
        if len(cell["outputs"]) > 0:
            print(OutputDemarc)
            for output in cell["outputs"]:
                if "name" in output:
                    print("Target: %s" % output["name"])
                if "text" in output:
                    for line in output["text"]:
                        print("%s %s" % (spaces, line.rstrip()))
    print(CellDemarc2)
    print

def printCells(root):
    for cell in root["cells"]:
        printCell(cell)

def main():
    file = sys.argv[1]
    with open(file, "r") as fp:
        root = json.load(fp)
    printHeader(root)
    printCells(root)
    return

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Usage: ./ipynb2cli /path/to/notebook.ipynb