Settings

Configure appearance, editor behavior, and preferences.

Open Settings with Cmd+, or from the app menu.

General

  • Notebooks directory: choose the folder where new notebooks are created (default: ~/pynb)
  • Notebook format: set the default format for new notebooks, either .py (percent format) or .ipynb (Jupyter)
  • Python version: set the global default Python version (system default, 3.11-3.14, or a custom version). Individual notebooks can override this with PEP 723 metadata
  • Python runtime: shows the status of uv and Python installations. uv and Python are downloaded automatically when first needed
  • Anonymous telemetry: opt in or out of anonymous usage analytics. No notebook contents are collected

Appearance

  • Theme: choose between Dark and Light mode
  • Layout: set the default notebook width to Narrow or Wide

Editor

  • Default cell type: set whether new cells default to Python or SQL
  • Reactive mode: enable ipyflow reactive execution by default, so dependent cells re-run automatically when upstream cells change
  • Show execution count: display execution counters next to cells
  • Debug mode: enable verbose logging for troubleshooting

SQL Connections

Configure database connections for SQL cells. Supported drivers: PostgreSQL, SQLite, Snowflake, BigQuery, Flight SQL, and DuckDB.

  • Add, edit, or remove connections
  • Set a default connection for new SQL cells
  • Passwords are stored securely in macOS Keychain
  • Reference connections in SQL cells with @alias syntax
  • Optional init SQL per connection or for the internal DuckDB engine

Secrets

Store sensitive values (API keys, tokens) in the macOS Keychain. Secrets are available to notebook code via the pynb secrets API without hardcoding them in your notebooks.

Sandbox

  • Enable sandbox: run the Python kernel in a macOS sandbox with restricted file system access
  • Allowed folders: the notebook's own directory is always accessible. Add additional folders for data files or projects
  • Network access is always allowed (for databases, APIs, etc.)

Agent

Configure the AI agent integration. See AI Agent for details.

  • View Codex installation status
  • Authenticate with OpenAI (OAuth or API key)
  • Log out