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LabConstrictor

GitHub:
- CellMigrationLab/LabConstrictor

Publication: Hidalgo-Cenalmor et al. arXiv 2026
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LabConstrictor turns Jupyter notebooks into installable desktop applications, so your users can launch your work with a double-click, without touching Python, pip or a terminal.

🚀 GitHub Template → | 📄 Read the Preprint →

The Problem It Solves

Sharing a notebook-based tool usually means asking people to install Python, resolve dependencies, and run commands they may never have seen. That setup barrier keeps useful lab tools out of the hands of the people who need them. LabConstrictor removes the barrier: you keep a versioned, reproducible notebook workflow, and your users get a clean app they can simply install and open.

It is a GitHub template that handles packaging for you. It bundles your notebooks, builds installers for each platform, and presents a friendly Welcome dashboard in place of raw code.

✨ Key Features

  • Easy configuration: a web form sets repository options, manages dependencies and brands your application, with no manual file editing.
  • Cross-platform installers: builds .exe for Windows, .pkg for macOS and .sh for Linux automatically.
  • App-like interface: code cells can be hidden for a clean experience, while staying available to anyone who wants to reveal them.
  • Dependency guardrails: automated workflows merge and validate requirements, catching conflicts before a release ships.
  • Version awareness: helper cells track versions and let users know when an update is available.

🎯 Who It Is For

  • Researchers sharing reproducible analysis pipelines or lab tools.
  • Developers shipping interactive notebooks to non-technical users.
  • Educators running workshops where setup time must be close to zero.

🚀 Getting Started

LabConstrictor is used as a GitHub template: create a repository from it, initialise it, upload your notebooks, and generate the installers. The only requirements are a GitHub account and the notebooks you want to distribute. Full step-by-step guides live in the repository documentation.

⭐ Star it on GitHub | 🐛 Report Issues

Publications featuring LabConstrictor

Packaging Jupyter notebooks as installable desktop apps using LabConstrictor
Iván Hidalgo-Cenalmor, Marcela Xiomara Rivera Pineda, Bruno M Saraiva, Ricardo Henriques, Guillaume Jacquemet
Preprint published in arXiv, March 2026
Technologies: LabConstrictor ()
DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2603.10704