Get Started

This guide walks you through installing and configuring jupyter-positron-server to run Positron Server in your Jupyter environment.

Prerequisites

Before installing, ensure you have:

  1. Python 3.9 or later
  2. Positron Server installed and accessible in your system’s PATH
  3. A valid Positron license key file

Install the jupyter-positron-server package

Install from PyPI:

pip install jupyter-positron-server

Or install from source:

git clone https://github.com/posit-dev/jupyter-positron-server.git
cd jupyter-positron-server
pip install -e .

Server Setup

1. Download Positron Server

Download the Positron Server binary for your Linux architecture and add it to your PATH. For the latest release of Positron (April 2026), you can find the downloads here:

After downloading, untar the archive and add it to your PATH.

2. Set the License Key

Set the POSITRON_LICENSE_KEY_FILE environment variable to point to your license file:

export POSITRON_LICENSE_KEY_FILE=/path/to/your/license.lic

3. Start JupyterHub

Log into JupyterHub.

4. Open Positron

Click the “Positron” icon in the JupyterLab launcher to start Positron Server.

How It Works

jupyter-positron-server uses jupyter-server-proxy to proxy requests between JupyterHub/JupyterLab and the Positron Server process. When you click the Positron launcher icon:

  1. The proxy starts a new positron-server process (or connects to an existing one)
  2. A secure connection token is generated automatically
  3. Requests are proxied through the Jupyter server to Positron

This approach is similar to how jupyter-rsession-proxy integrates RStudio Server with Jupyter.

Next Steps