Keyboard Shortcut Customization¶

Starting with IPython 2.0 keyboard shortcuts in command and edit mode are fully customizable. These customizations are made using the IPython JavaScript API. Here is an example that makes the r key available for running a cell:

In [7]:

%%javascript

IPython.keyboard_manager.command_shortcuts.add_shortcut('r', {
    help : 'run cell',
    help_index : 'zz',
    handler : function (event) {
        IPython.notebook.execute_cell();
        return false;
    }}
);

There are a couple of points to mention about this API:

The help_index field is used to sort the shortcuts in the Keyboard Shortcuts help dialog. It defaults to zz.
When a handler returns false it indicates that the event should stop propagating and the default action should not be performed. For further details about the event object or event handling, see the jQuery docs.
If you don't need a help or help_index field, you can simply pass a function as the second argument to add_shortcut.

In [11]:

%%javascript

IPython.keyboard_manager.command_shortcuts.add_shortcut('r', function (event) {
    IPython.notebook.execute_cell();
    return false;
});

Likewise, to remove a shortcut, use remove_shortcut:

In [8]:

%%javascript

IPython.keyboard_manager.command_shortcuts.remove_shortcut('r');

If you want your keyboard shortcuts to be active for all of your notebooks, put the above API calls into your <profile>/static/custom/custom.js file.