Configure a first cell by default in Jupyter notebooks

Question

TIs there a way to configure a default first cell for a specific python kernel in the Jupyter notebook? I agree that default python imports go against good coding practices.

Answer 1

A quick and also flexible solution is to create template notebooks e.g. One notebook with specific imports for a python 2.7 kernel:

a_template_for_python27.ipynb

Another notebook with different imports:

a_template_for_python36.ipynb

The preceding a_ has the advantage that your notebook shows up on top.

Now you can duplicate the notebook whenever you need it. The advantage over %load firstcell.py is that you don't need another file.

However the problem of this approach is that the imports do not change dynamically when you want to start an existing notebook with another kernel.