Livebook
Livebook is a collaborative, web-based notebook for running Elixir code, building data workflows, and deploying notebooks as interactive apps, with real-time collaboration.
Livebook is a web application for authoring and running interactive notebooks backed by the Elixir runtime. It combines executable code cells with rich text, visuals, and integrations to support data exploration, automation, and reproducible computational documents. Notebooks can be shared, collaborated on in real time, and turned into interactive “apps” for non-developers.
Key Features
- Interactive notebooks with Elixir code cells, Markdown, and rich outputs (tables, charts, etc.)
- Real-time multi-user collaboration with presence and synchronized editing
- Runtime management: connect local, remote, and clustered runtimes; attach to running nodes
- Package/dependency management inside notebooks (Mix-based) and reusable “Smart cells”
- Integrations for data work (e.g., Kino-based visual components; common I/O and visualization patterns)
- Secrets management and environment-based configuration for notebooks/apps
- Export/share options (notebook files, links/sharing, and runnable artifacts depending on setup)
- Deploy notebooks as Livebook Apps with interactive inputs and controlled execution
Use Cases
- Data exploration, ETL prototyping, and reproducible analysis in Elixir
- Team runbooks and operational notebooks for debugging/observability workflows
- Internal tools: ship a notebook as an interactive app for stakeholders
Limitations and Considerations
- Primarily optimized for the Elixir ecosystem; other languages require external bridging
- Some features (collaboration/deployments) may depend on specific runtime/network configuration
Livebook is well-suited for teams that want notebooks with strong concurrency and distribution primitives from BEAM/Elixir. It bridges documentation and execution, making it practical both for exploratory work and for operationalizing notebooks as interactive applications.
