Add interactivity to your Jupyter Notebooks and Python data apps

In this walkthrough, Nathan from Plotly demonstrates how to create an interactive data app from a Jupyter Notebook, using App Studio within Dash Enterprise. The goal is to replace static variables with dynamic Dash components, allowing users to explore data and adjust parameters directly from the app interface.

Starting with a basic layout built from a notebook, Nathan introduces a Dash Dropdown to replace a hardcoded list of tickers. By assigning the dropdown’s value to drive model inputs, users can now control which ticker data is used in the application. App Studio automatically detects the new component and integrates it into the app layout when synchronized.

• Dash components like dcc.Dropdown can be embedded directly into the notebook
• App Studio reads and renders these components into the application interface
• Synchronizing updates the layout to include new controls without manual HTML or layout code
• Users can now interactively change the input data and see results update in real time

Nathan then extends this pattern to other static parameters in the notebook, replacing them with interactive controls like sliders or inputs. These components are grouped into control sections for easier navigation. Using App Studio’s layout editor, he demonstrates how to switch control placement from a header layout to a sidebar, enabling a sticky interactive panel that stays visible while navigating the app.

• Controls can be grouped into named accordion sections for clarity
• Sidebar layout provides persistent access to inputs while scrolling through outputs
• Developers can customize control group names, descriptions, and organization directly in App Studio
• Visual updates require no manual layout configuration and can be previewed instantly

Once the app is configured with dynamic inputs and organized controls, it is ready for deployment. A single click publishes the app to Dash Enterprise, where access controls can restrict or share access with specific users or teams.

Watch the video to see how to bring your notebooks to life with interactivity and get your data apps into users’ hands faster.