---
jupytext:
  formats: md:myst
  text_representation:
    extension: .md
    format_name: myst
    format_version: 0.12
    jupytext_version: 1.6.0
kernelspec:
  display_name: Python 3
  language: python
  name: python3
---

# Overview

This is a short overview of the major components and steps in building a Jupyter Book. See the other pages in this guide for more in-depth information.

(start:install)=
## Install Jupyter Book

You can install Jupyter Book version 1.x [via `pip`](https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/):

```bash
pip install "jupyter-book<2"
```
or via [`conda-forge`](https://conda-forge.org/):

```bash
conda install -c conda-forge "jupyter-book=1.*"
```

This will install everything you need to build a Jupyter Book version 1 locally.

:::{margin}
Note that if you need to [execute code](content/executable) when building your book, you'll need to install these dependencies as well.
:::

## The Jupyter Book command-line interface

Jupyter Book uses a command-line interface to perform a variety of actions. For example, building and cleaning books. You can run the following command to see what options are at your control:

```{margin}
You can also use the short-hand `jb` for `jupyter-book`. E.g.,:
`jb create mybookname`. We'll use `jupyter-book` for the rest of this guide.
```

% double-writing this so users aren't confused by the ! but we still get the output
```bash
jupyter-book --help
```

```{code-cell}
:tags: [remove-input]

!jupyter-book --help
```

For more complete information about the CLI, see [](../reference/cli.md).

## The book building process

Building a Jupyter Book broadly consists of these steps:

1. **Create your book's content**. You structure your book with a collection of folders, files, and configuration. See [](anatomy-of-a-book).
2. **Build your book**. Using Jupyter Book's command-line interface you can
   convert your pages into either an HTML or a PDF book. See [](build.md).
3. **Publish your book online**. Once your book is built, you can share it with others. Most common is to build HTML, and host it as a public website. See [](publish.md).

:::{note}
We will use the word "book" to describe the outputs generated by this tutorial, but you can also use Jupyter Book to build **articles**.
See [](structure:article) for more information.
:::

Now that we've got a short overview, let's get started building your first book.