Jupyter notebooks, a JSON-based interactive Python interface, is a powerful and convenient way to run the JWST pipeline that can be easily configured and shared. This article provides links to a selection of such notebooks that help demonstrate how to reduce JWST data using the JWST Science Calibration Pipeline.

Curated pipeline notebooks

The primary reference examples for how to run the JWST calibration pipeline for various different instruments and modes can be found on the jwst-pipeline-notebooks GitHub repository (Law et al. 2025).  These notebooks are designed to be easily configurable and allow users to run the JWST pipeline on data from a wide variety of science programs with minimal need for editing while still exposing many of the optional parameters that they might be most interested in modifying for a given instrument mode. These notebooks are also lightweight, running the entire pipeline end-to-end without stepping through individual stages or producing large quantities of intermediate plots, and are thus intended more for day-to-day use than for teaching users about individual pieces of the pipeline.

By default, the pipeline notebooks run in "demo" mode, processing example data downloaded from the MAST archive.  If "demo" mode is disabled, they can instead process locally available data associated with any corresponding program.

Notebooks are actively curated and kept up-to-date with recent versions of the JWST pipeline software; while not always backwards-compatible, they generally work with more-recent versions of the pipeline than formally advertised.

Notebooks for individual observing modes will be added as they become available.  Current notebooks include:

Pipeline caveat notebooks

As discussed in Known Issues with JWST Data, some of the existing JWST data issues can be worked around using dedicated offline notebooks while awaiting long-term pipeline fixes. The majority of these notebooks are located in the jwst-caveat-examples GitHub repository, although some are maintained in alternate locations.  The best way to discover these notebooks is through the tables of common issues and workarounds on the known issues articles for each JWST instrument mode.

JDAT and Jdaviz notebooks

Multiple notebooks have been made available for post-pipeline analysis and inspection of JWST data products. These notebooks do not focus on running the JWST pipeline, but rather on working with the data products that it produces. See JWST Post-Pipeline Data Analysis for further details.

JWebbinars

The JWebbinar series has produced many demonstration notebooks and video tutorials throughout the lifetime of the JWST mission to introduce the community to the JWST pipeline, data products, and scientific data analysis tools.  While many of these notebooks are no longer maintained and may no longer reflect the latest JWST pipeline environment, they can nonetheless be useful to get started in learning about the pipeline and the data products that it produces.

Videos and materials from recent JWebbinars can be found on the JWST Observer JWebbinar site.

References

Law, D. et al. 2025, Zenodo
JWST Pipeline Notebooks