Sharing Notebooks with nbgitpuller

nbgitpuller is a JupyterHub extension that lets you create a single shareable link that automatically pulls a Git repository into a recipient’s hub environment and opens a specific file — no terminal or git commands required on the user’s end. It is particularly useful for educators and workshop organizers who want to distribute notebooks to participants.

When a user clicks an nbgitpuller link, GeoLab will:

1. Clone the repository into their /home/jovyan directory if it doesn’t exist, or sync it if it does

2. Open the specified notebook or file directly

Importantly, nbgitpuller uses a one-way merge strategy: it pulls changes from the remote repository without overwriting any local edits the user has made. This means participants can work on a notebook and receive upstream updates without losing their work.

Generating a link¶

The easiest way to create an nbgitpuller link is with the nbgitpuller Link Generator. You will need:

• JupyterHub URL — the GeoLab hub URL

• Repository URL — the public GitHub repository containing your notebooks

• Branch — the branch to pull from (usually main)

• File to open — the path to the notebook or file to open on launch (optional)

Further reading¶

See the nbgitpuller documentation for full details on link options, the merge strategy, and troubleshooting.