The !cd command doesn't work normally.

[ShuhuaGao]

When attempting to change directory with !cd command, it didn't seem to work well. A notebook to reproduce this issue can be found at https://colab.research.google.com/notebook#fileId=1C9x_lQreBVBUvIBOtJD0NHecD6UAHYv4

For your convenience, the screenshots are also attached.

[craigcitro]

tl;dr: this is a known gotcha.

Commands prefixed with ! are run in a new subshell -- so you're starting a new shell, changing directories, and ... letting the shell process quit. (You can do things like !cd /tmp && ls to run a command in another directory.

By default, IPython enables automagics, which lets you skip the leading %.

This means that the cd command is shorthand for %cd (docs), which changes the directory of the python process itself, not a child subprocess. That's why these changes stick.

I'm closing as WAI, but feel free to ask if that isn't clear.

[ShuhuaGao]

@craigcitro Thanks very much. I just knew that IPython can work as a shell, because I only used Jupyter notebook in the Windows environment and never tried shell commands before. I thought !cmd was a feature of Colab.

Anyway, got it. Thank you.

[nyck33]

@craigcitro @ShuhuaGao

can someone please clarify what to put instead of !cd foo/bar ?

[nyck33]

Thanks, I should have reported back that I tried that and it worked :) On Sun, Jun 16, 2019, 21:23 Maxim Ziatdinov <notifications@github.com> wrote:

…

What about %cd foo/bar ? On Sun, Jun 16, 2019, 5:43 AM Nobutaka ***@***.***> wrote: > @craigcitro <https://github.com/craigcitro> @ShuhuaGao > <https://github.com/ShuhuaGao> > > can someone please clarify what to put instead of !cd foo/bar ? > > — > You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. > Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub > < #40?email_source=notifications&email_token=AIFIU22OXNYHYYI6KL6PDCTP2YDKNA5CNFSM4EOHO7T2YY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGODXZJI3A#issuecomment-502436972 >, > or mute the thread > < https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIFIU227Y7OYMIEZZWXHF5LP2YDKNANCNFSM4EOHO7TQ > > . > — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#40?email_source=notifications&email_token=AGAFZKMQC3DB4IKDA7UY5XTP2Y5EVA5CNFSM4EOHO7T2YY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGODXZM6KY#issuecomment-502452011>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AGAFZKL4MFVDDPUGGEJ65ULP2Y5EVANCNFSM4EOHO7TQ> .

[tjvdmolen]

@craigcitro @ShuhuaGao

can someone please clarify what to put instead of !cd foo/bar ?

%cd foo/bar

[Monster-Gaming-Studios]

Can somebody please tell me a solution of the code in "How to reproduce" section of issue #1094 (It's closed)

[colaboratory-team]

@Monster-Gaming-Studios see the last comment on this issue above yours: instead of !cd you want %cd. The reason is explained earlier in this issue.

[mrgransky]

Instead of ! cd my_path/my_dir please try %cd my_path/my_dir!

To confirm, you could now try ! pwd to ensure you're in new directory!

[utkarsh92]

Still not able to use environment variables with cd. Basically, I want to store a path as a variable so I don't have to type it again and again. For example:

EDIT:
Nvm, I found the solution. Putting it here so others can find it...