tessl/pypi-eel

For little HTML GUI applications, with easy Python/JS interop

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Eel

Name: tessl/pypi-eel
Author: tessl

A little Python library for making simple Electron-like offline HTML/JS GUI apps, with full access to Python capabilities and libraries. Eel hosts a local webserver, then lets you annotate functions in Python so that they can be called from JavaScript, and vice versa.

Package Information

Package Name: Eel
Language: Python
Installation: pip install eel
Optional Dependencies: pip install eel[jinja2] (for HTML templating)

Core Imports

import eel

Function-specific imports:

from eel import expose, init, start, show, sleep, spawn

Basic Usage

import eel

# Set web files folder
eel.init('web')

# Expose Python function to JavaScript
@eel.expose
def say_hello_py(name):
    print(f'Hello from {name}')

# Start the app with a browser window
eel.start('index.html', size=(800, 600))

Architecture

Eel bridges Python and JavaScript through a WebSocket connection:

Local Web Server: Bottle-based server hosting web files and WebSocket endpoint
Function Exposure: Python functions decorated with @eel.expose become callable from JavaScript
Bidirectional Communication: JavaScript functions exposed via eel.expose() become callable from Python
Browser Integration: Automatic detection and launching of Chrome, Edge, Electron, or system browser
Event Loop: Gevent-based asynchronous handling for non-blocking operations

This design enables seamless integration between Python's scientific computing capabilities and JavaScript's visualization libraries while maintaining the simplicity needed for desktop GUI applications.

Capabilities

Core Application Functions

Essential functions for initializing and running Eel applications, including setup, function exposure, and application lifecycle management.

def init(path: str, allowed_extensions: List[str] = ['.js', '.html', '.txt', '.htm', '.xhtml', '.vue'], js_result_timeout: int = 10000) -> None: ...
def expose(name_or_function: Optional[Callable[..., Any]] = None) -> Callable[..., Any]: ...
def start(*start_urls: str, mode: Optional[Union[str, Literal[False]]] = 'chrome', host: str = 'localhost', port: int = 8000, block: bool = True, jinja_templates: Optional[str] = None, cmdline_args: List[str] = ['--disable-http-cache'], size: Optional[Tuple[int, int]] = None, position: Optional[Tuple[int, int]] = None, geometry: Dict[str, Tuple[int, int]] = {}, close_callback: Optional[Callable[..., Any]] = None, app_mode: bool = True, all_interfaces: bool = False, disable_cache: bool = True, default_path: str = 'index.html', app: btl.Bottle = btl.default_app(), shutdown_delay: float = 1.0, suppress_error: bool = False) -> None: ...
def show(*start_urls: str) -> None: ...

Core Functions

Asynchronous Operations

Functions for managing asynchronous execution and non-blocking operations within the Gevent event loop.

def sleep(seconds: Union[int, float]) -> None: ...
def spawn(function: Callable[..., Any], *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> Greenlet: ...

Async Operations

Browser Management

Browser-specific modules and functions for launching applications in different browsers with custom configurations.

def register_eel_routes(app: btl.Bottle) -> None: ...

# From eel.browsers module
def set_path(browser_name: str, path: str) -> None: ...
def get_path(browser_name: str) -> Optional[str]: ...
def open(start_pages: Iterable[Union[str, Dict[str, str]]], options: OptionsDictT) -> None: ...

Browser modules available:

eel.chrome - Google Chrome/Chromium support
eel.electron - Electron support
eel.edge - Microsoft Edge support
eel.msIE - Internet Explorer support

Browser Management

Build Tools and Distribution

Command-line interface for building distributable executables using PyInstaller integration.

# Command-line interface
python -m eel main_script web_folder [PyInstaller arguments...]

Build Tools

Types

from typing import Union, Dict, List, Tuple, Optional, Callable, Any
from typing_extensions import Literal, TypedDict
from bottle import Bottle

OptionsDictT = TypedDict('OptionsDictT', {
    'mode': Optional[Union[str, Literal[False]]],
    'host': str,
    'port': int,
    'block': bool,
    'jinja_templates': Optional[str],
    'cmdline_args': List[str],
    'size': Optional[Tuple[int, int]],
    'position': Optional[Tuple[int, int]],
    'geometry': Dict[str, Tuple[int, int]],
    'close_callback': Optional[Callable[..., Any]],
    'app_mode': bool,
    'all_interfaces': bool,
    'disable_cache': bool,
    'default_path': str,
    'app': Bottle,
    'shutdown_delay': float,
    'suppress_error': bool,
    'jinja_env': JinjaEnvironmentT
}, total=False)

# Type aliases
JinjaEnvironmentT = Any  # jinja2.Environment when available
WebSocketT = Any  # geventwebsocket.websocket.WebSocket
Greenlet = Any  # gevent.Greenlet

Install with Tessl CLI