Packaging Jupyter notebooks as installable desktop apps using LabConstrictor

TL;DR

LabConstrictor automates packaging Jupyter notebooks into installable desktop apps with CI/CD, simplifying distribution, installation, and sharing for life sciences research, thus enhancing reproducibility and accessibility.

Contribution

It introduces a GitHub-based pipeline that automates converting notebooks into desktop applications without requiring DevOps skills, improving software deployment in academia.

Findings

Enables one-click installation of packaged notebooks.

Provides a unified interface with documentation and version checks.

Facilitates faster adoption and reuse of computational methods.

Abstract

Life sciences research depends heavily on open-source academic software, yet many tools remain underused due to practical barriers. These include installation requirements that hinder adoption and limited developer resources for software distribution and long-term maintenance. Jupyter notebooks are popular because they combine code, documentation, and results into a single executable document, enabling quick method development. However, notebooks are often fragile due to reproducibility issues in coding environments, and sharing them, especially for local execution, does not ensure others can run them successfully. LabConstrictor closes this deployment gap by bringing CI/CD-style automation to academic developers without needing DevOps expertise. Its GitHub-based pipeline checks environments and packages notebooks into one-click installable desktop applications. After installation, users access a unified start page with documentation, links to the packaged notebooks, and version checks. Code cells can be hidden by default, and run-cell controls combined with widgets provide an app-like experience. By simplifying the distribution, installation, and sharing of open-source software, LabConstrictor allows faster access to new computational methods and promotes routine reuse across labs.