matplotlib / matplotlib/ipympl

Google Colab issue

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Dominant language
Jupyter Notebook
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Description

The problem in encountered in current Google Collab version. If I use `ipympl` the easiest way - the code worked about two months ago:
```
!pip install ipympl
from google.colab import output
output.enable_custom_widget_manager()

%matplotlib ipympl
```

I get an Error message:

> Key backend: 'module://ipympl.backend_nbagg' is not a valid value for backend; supported values are ['gtk3agg', 'gtk3cairo', 'gtk4agg', 'gtk4cairo', 'macosx', 'nbagg', 'notebook', 'qtagg', 'qtcairo', 'qt5agg', 'qt5cairo', 'tkagg', 'tkcairo', 'webagg', 'wx', 'wxagg', 'wxcairo', 'agg', 'cairo', 'pdf', 'pgf', 'ps', 'svg', 'template', 'module://ipykernel.pylab.backend_inline', 'inline']

However, If I do

`%matplotlib --list`

I get:
> Available matplotlib backends: ['tk', 'gtk', 'gtk3', 'gtk4', 'wx', 'qt4', 'qt5', 'qt6', 'qt', 'osx', 'nbagg', 'notebook', 'agg', 'svg', 'pdf', 'ps', 'inline', 'ipympl', 'widget']

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Reproduce the issue's notebook snippet in the current Google Colab environment, including the ipympl installation and output.enable_custom_widget_manager() call. Compare the backend listed by `%matplotlib --list` with the backend accepted by Matplotlib and inspect the resulting compatibility path. Done means the cause is identified and either the integration works in current Colab or the limitation is documented.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
jupyter-notebook
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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