This magic is similar to the cat utility, but it will assume the file to be Python source and will show it with syntax highlighting. Will output in the pop-up window: Show a syntax-highlighted file through a pager. In : # you can use ? to get details about magics, for instance: %pycat ? In : from sklearn.cross_validation import train_test_split # show the sources of train_test_split function in the pop-up window train_test_split ? linspace(0, 1, 1000) **1.5) See the source of python functions / classes / whatever with question mark (?, ?) In : # if you don't put semicolon at the end, you'll have output of function printed plt.

In : %matplotlib inline from matplotlib import pyplot as plt import numpy Sometimes output isn’t needed, so we can either use pass instruction on new line or semicolon at the end In : !pip install numpy !pip list | grep Theano Requirement already satisfied (use -upgrade to upgrade): numpy in /Users/axelr/.venvs/rep/lib/python2.7/site-packages Theano (0.8.2) Suppress output of last line This in particular useful to manage your virtual environment. In : # %env - without arguments lists environmental variables %env OMP_NUM_THREADS=4 env: OMP_NUM_THREADS=4 Executing shell commands Some libraries (like theano) use environment variables to control behavior, %env is the most convenient way. You can manage environment variables of your notebook without restarting the jupyter server process. Out: Available line magics: %alias %alias_magic %autocall %automagic %autosave %bookmark %cat %cd %clear %colors %config %connect_info %cp %debug %dhist %dirs %doctest_mode %ed %edit %env %gui %hist %history %killbgscripts %ldir %less %lf %lk %ll %load %load_ext %loadpy %logoff %logon %logstart %logstate %logstop %ls %lsmagic %lx %macro %magic %man %matplotlib %mkdir %more %mv %notebook %page %pastebin %pdb %pdef %pdoc %pfile %pinfo %pinfo2 %popd %pprint %precision %profile %prun %psearch %psource %pushd %pwd %pycat %pylab %qtconsole %quickref %recall %rehashx %reload_ext %rep %rerun %reset %reset_selective %rm %rmdir %run %save %sc %set_env %store %sx %system %tb %time %timeit %unalias %unload_ext %who %who_ls %whos %xdel %xmode Available cell magics: %%! %%HTML %%SVG %%bash %%capture %%debug %%file %%html %%javascript %%js %%latex %%perl %%prun %%pypy %%python %%python2 %%python3 %%ruby %%script %%sh %%svg %%sx %%system %%time %%timeit %%writefile Automagic is ON, % prefix IS NOT needed for line magics.

In : # list available python magics %lsmagic

Magics are turning simple python into magical python.

Magic ab plugin alternative