posit-dev / posit-dev/positron

python: Help pane inconsistent for packages generated with `nbdev`

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area: help lang: python
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Forks
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

nbdev is a style of writing packages (including scripts, documentation, etc) inside Jupyter Notebooks. The current way we show documentation in Help does not have a consistently good experience with packages developed via nbdev. A good example of this is ghapi. Some function references render nicely, while others are just a reference to a Jupyter notebook, like below

pip install ghapi
from ghapi.all import GhApi
GhApi.create_branch_empty?
Screenshot 2024-06-03 at 2 29 43 PM

In contrast, GhApi.list_branches looks pretty normal.
Screenshot 2024-06-03 at 2 38 48 PM

Contributor guide

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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 Help-pane behavior with the nbdev-generated ghapi package using pip install ghapi, then run from ghapi.all import GhApi and inspect GhApi.create_branch_empty? alongside GhApi.list_branches. Trace the Help rendering entry point and compare how both references are resolved; done means nbdev-generated function references render consistently rather than exposing a notebook reference unexpectedly.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
jupyter, python, typescript
Domain
documentation, frontend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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