workspace-course-topics

Workflow: Open Jupyter notebook in Cursor

Purpose: Navigate to your ballpark notebook and open it within Cursor.

⚠️ Working directory (Cursor workspace root)

Cursor must have been opened from: ~/GitHub/<your-username>/ballpark

How to check: Look at the Explorer panel (left side of Cursor). The root folder should be ballpark, not models or a paper name.

If Cursor shows the wrong root:

  1. Close Cursor
  2. In terminal: cd ~/GitHub/econ-ark/ballpark && cursor .

⚠️ Common mistake

Opening Cursor from a subdirectory like models/We_Would_Like_In_Econ-ARK/SomeProject/ will cause problems:

Always open Cursor from the ballpark directory itself, then navigate to notebooks within Cursor.

Verify first

1. Verify the environment is activated

In Cursor’s terminal, run:

echo $VIRTUAL_ENV

Expected: A path containing .venv-...

If empty or no output: You haven’t activated the environment. Complete cursor-environment-install first.

2. Verify your prompt shows the environment

Look at your terminal prompt in Cursor.

Expected: Prompt starts with (VENV-Darwin-arm64) or similar

If not visible: Run the activation command:

source .venv-$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')-$(uname -m)/bin/activate

3. Verify Cursor’s workspace root

In the Explorer panel, the top-level folder should be ballpark.

If it shows something else:

  1. File → Open Folder
  2. Navigate to ~/GitHub/econ-ark/ballpark
  3. Click Open

Steps

1. Navigate to your notebook in Cursor’s Explorer

In the left sidebar, expand:

ballpark/
  └── models/
      └── We_Would_Like_In_Econ-ARK/
          └── [your-paper-folder]/
              └── [your-notebook].ipynb

Click on the .ipynb file to open it.

2. Select the kernel

When prompted “Select Kernel”:

  1. Click “Python Environments” — this is the correct option
  2. Look for your .venv-... environment (usually at the TOP of the list)
  3. Select it

Common mistake: Clicking “Jupyter Kernel” or “Select Another Kernel” instead. These options usually don’t find your environment. Always start with “Python Environments”.

If the environment doesn’t appear:

3. Verify the kernel is correct

Look at the top-right of the notebook (next to “Run All”).

Expected: Shows VENV-Darwin-arm64 or your environment name

4. Run the notebook

Click “Run All” to execute all cells.

Troubleshooting

“Kernel not found” or can’t find Python environment:

  1. Check that Cursor is open at the ballpark root (not a subdirectory)
  2. Check that you activated the environment before opening Cursor
  3. Close Cursor, activate environment, reopen from ballpark directory

Windows: Environment shows but fails to start: