# Launch Your First Notebook

Get a cloud- or onprem-hosted Jupyter environment running on Valohai.

### Launch a Notebook

Navigate to your project and follow these steps:

1. Go to the **Notebooks** tab
2. Click **Create Notebook Execution**
3. Select your environment and Docker image

Valohai will spin up a machine and install Jupyter if your image doesn't include it. This takes 2–5 minutes depending on your environment.

> 💡 **Tip:** Use standard images like `python:3.12` to get started quickly. Valohai handles Jupyter installation automatically.

#### Optional Configuration

You can also set:

* **Title and tags** to find your notebook later
* **Inputs** to download files from your data stores
* **Git commit** to load code from a specific version

Once the notebook shows "Ready," click **Open Notebook** to access your Jupyter environment.

### Run Your First Cell

Your notebook is now running on cloud infrastructure. Test it:

```python
import sys

print(f"Python version: {sys.version}")
print("Hello from Valohai!")
```

Run the cell. You're now executing code on a real cloud machine with access to your configured storage and compute resources.

### Stop the Notebook

**Critical:** Your notebook keeps running (and billing) until you manually stop it.

When you're done working:

1. Go back to the Valohai UI
2. Navigate to **Notebooks**
3. Click **Stop** on your running notebook

The machine will be released and billing will stop. Your notebook's final state is automatically saved and versioned.

> ⚠️ **Always stop notebooks when done.** Leaving a notebook running costs the same as an active training job—even if you're not using it.

### Next Steps

Now that you have a notebook running, you can:

* [Save Your Work](/notebook-executions/save-and-version.md) — Version outputs and models
* [Push to Git](/notebook-executions/push-to-git.md) — Commit changes directly from Jupyter
* [Convert to Production Script](/notebook-executions/notebook-to-execution.md) — Move from experimentation to execution


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