In this tutorial, you will learn how to add a tile to Anaconda Navigator that launches your custom application. Using the JupyterLab feedstock as a base, you’ll make modifications to files in the build recipe to declare the package as an application for Navigator, then rebuild it and upload it to an Anaconda.org channel. We’ll then add the channel in Navigator, causing the application to appear as a tile on the Home page.

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Who is this for?

This tutorial is for users who want to generate an Anaconda Navigator app conda package from a given recipe. Prior knowledge of conda-build or conda recipes is recommended.

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Prerequisites

Any application you intend to launch from Anaconda Navigator should include a Graphical User Interface (GUI) component. Not all conda packages have graphical interfaces.
  1. Install Miniconda or Anaconda.
  2. If you installed Miniconda, you also need to install the conda-build, anaconda-client, and anaconda-navigator packages. Open an Anaconda Prompt (Terminal for macOS/Linux users) and run the following commands: 
    # Ensure conda is up to date
conda update --name base conda

# Install conda-build
conda install --name base conda-build anaconda-client anaconda-navigator
  3. If necessary, Create an account on Anaconda.org.
    Your Anaconda.org username is the same as your Anaconda.org channel name.

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Using a recipe

  1. Make a new directory called myapp and then change to the new directory: 
    mkdir myapp
cd myapp
  2. Create the recipe by opening a text file and naming it meta.yaml.
  3. For this tutorial, we will use the jupyterlab recipe yaml from the jupyterlab feedstock as a base.
Because JupyterLab is already an application in Navigator, you must change the name: parameter in the example jupyterlab meta.yaml to make sure that the app appears properly in Navigator.
package:
  name: my-test-app

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App parameter in meta.yaml

The app: parameter in the meta.yaml file declares a conda package to be an app. The app parameter can contain four keys: entry, summary, icon, and type. 
app:
  entry: jupyter lab
  icon: icon.png
  summary: JupyterLab {{ version }}
  type: desk
  • entry: The command required to run the package
  • icon: (Optional) The path to an image you want to appear on your app’s tile in Navigator.
  • summary: A short description of the app.
  • type: The application type, such as desk for desktop application or web for a web application.

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Build

Now that you have the conda-build recipe ready, you can use the conda-build tool to create the package.
You must build and upload your app separately on Windows, macOS, and Linux machines in order for the package to be available on all platforms.
  1. Navigate to your myapp directory by running the following command: 
    #Replace <PATH-TO-DIRECTORY> with the file path to your my app folder
cd <PATH-TO-DIRECTORY>/myapp
  2. Build your application by running the following command: 
    conda build .
  3. When conda-build is finished, it displays the exact path and filename of the conda package. See the Troubleshooting section if the conda-build command fails.
    The path and filename will vary depending on your installation and operating system. For example:
    C:\Users\<USERNAME>\miniconda\conda-bld\win-64\my-test-app-1.2.4-py38_0.tar.bz2
  4. Save the path and filename information for the upload step.

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Upload to Anaconda.org

Now you can upload the new local packages to Anaconda.org.
  1. First, log in to Anaconda.org from your terminal by running the following command: 
    anaconda login
  2. Provide your Anaconda.org username and password. If the login is successful, you will see output similar to the following: 
    Using Anaconda.org api site https://api.anaconda.org

Username: jsmith
jsmith's Password:
login successful
    The following step must be done in the base conda environment. To return to your base environment, run the following command:
    conda activate base
  3. Now that you are logged into your channel, you can upload the JupyterLab package. Choose a command that works for your operating system:
    Change your username, path, and filename to the exact username, path, and filename you saved when you built the application. These will vary depending on your installation and operating system.
    anaconda upload C:\Users\<USERNAME>\miniconda\conda-bld\win-64\my-test-app-1.2.4-py38_0.tar.bz2
For more information about Anaconda.org, see the Anaconda.org documentation.

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Configure Anaconda Navigator

Now that the JupyterLab package has been uploaded to your Anaconda.org channel, you can add the channel to Anaconda Navigator.
  1. Open Anaconda Navigator.
    From the Start menu, search for “Anaconda Navigator” and click to open.
  2. To add your channel, click Channels, then Add. Enter the URL to your Anaconda.org channel: https://conda.anaconda.org/{CHANNEL}, replacing {CHANNEL} with your Anaconda.org username.
  3. Press Enter (Windows)/Return (Mac) and click Update Channels.
  4. Close and restart Anaconda Navigator. Your app will be displayed on the Home page.

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Troubleshooting

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My app isn’t appearing on the Home page

  • Check that the conda package has been uploaded to your Anaconda.org channel.
  • Check that your channel has been added to the Channels list.
  • Remove the .anaconda/navigator folder from your home directory to reset Navigator’s configuration information, then restart Navigator.

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My app isn’t launching

  1. If the application does not launch after installation, confirm that it works via the command line by running the following command: 
    conda run jupyter lab
    If you are not using the example feedstock, the command after run will be the entry: command you have designated.
  2. If JupyterLab starts correctly with conda, remove the .anaconda/navigator folder from your home directory to reset the Navigator configuration information and enable the app to launch correctly from the Navigator application. Then, restart Navigator.

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Additional Information

For more information about adding Start Menu entries in Windows, see the menuinst documentation.