diff --git a/.cruft.json b/.cruft.json
index e8bbc46a..e37ace13 100644
--- a/.cruft.json
+++ b/.cruft.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "template": "git@github.com:FAIRmat-NFDI/pynxtools-plugin-template.git",
-  "commit": "519f503945368a21d0c44125c0f34cf0d5f46e10",
+  "commit": "616d3dc6584cb0f19e85310a083c7a87857c6b8d",
   "checkout": null,
   "context": {
     "cookiecutter": {
@@ -11,18 +11,25 @@
       "reader_class": "SPMReader",
       "author_name": "The NOMAD authors",
       "author_email": "fairmat@physik.hu-berlin.de",
+      "github_username": "",
+      "organization_name": "fairmat-nfdi",
       "license": "Apache Software License 2.0",
       "zenodo_record": "17390485",
-      "vscode_settings": false,
+      "vscode_settings": true,
       "include_nomad_app": true,
       "include_nomad_example_upload": true,
+      "include_north_tools": true,
+      "north_tool_name": "spm",
       "__package_name": "pynxtools-spm",
       "__module_name": "pynxtools_spm",
       "__nomad_example": "spm_example_upload_entry_point",
-      "__nomad_app": "",
-      "_copy_without_render": ["*.html"],
+      "__nomad_app": "spm_app_entry_point",
+      "__north_tool_EP_name": "north_tool",
+      "_copy_without_render": [
+        "*.html"
+      ],
       "_template": "git@github.com:FAIRmat-NFDI/pynxtools-plugin-template.git",
-      "_commit": "519f503945368a21d0c44125c0f34cf0d5f46e10"
+      "_commit": "616d3dc6584cb0f19e85310a083c7a87857c6b8d"
     }
   },
   "directory": null
diff --git a/.cspell/custom-dictionary.txt b/.cspell/custom-dictionary.txt
index a8909535..016c1fa7 100644
--- a/.cspell/custom-dictionary.txt
+++ b/.cspell/custom-dictionary.txt
@@ -104,3 +104,7 @@ ureg
 valinit
 valtext
 Yichen
+FAIRmat
+fairmat
+jovyan
+ipynb
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..40d1ef96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+# Git
+.gitignore
+.gitattributes
+
+# Python
+__pycache__
+*.py[cod]
+*$py.class
+*.so
+.Python
+build/
+develop-eggs/
+dist/
+downloads/
+eggs/
+.eggs/
+lib/
+lib64/
+parts/
+sdist/
+var/
+wheels/
+pip-wheel-metadata/
+share/python-wheels/
+*.egg-info/
+.installed.cfg
+*.egg
+MANIFEST
+.pytest_cache/
+
+# Virtual Environments
+.venv
+venv/
+ENV/
+env/
+.venv/
+
+# IDE
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+*.swp
+*.swo
+*~
+.DS_Store
+.project
+.pydevproject
+.settings/
+*.sublime-project
+*.sublime-workspace
+
+# CI/CD
+.github/
+.gitlab-ci.yml
+.travis.yml
+.circleci/
+
+# Testing
+.coverage
+.coverage.*
+htmlcov/
+.tox/
+.hypothesis/
+pytest.ini
+.pytest_cache/
+
+# Documentation
+docs/_build/
+site/
+.mkdocs.yml
+mkdocs.yml
+
+# Docker
+Dockerfile*
+.dockerignore
+docker/
+
+# Node (if used)
+node_modules/
+npm-debug.log
+package-lock.json
+
+# Misc
+*.md
+LICENSE
+MANIFEST.in
+*.tar.gz
+*.zip
+.tmp/
+.cache/
+
+# IDE configuration files
+.editorconfig
+.env
+.env.local
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cruft_update.yml b/.github/workflows/cruft_update.yml
index f4cb152b..f931761e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cruft_update.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cruft_update.yml
@@ -15,20 +15,7 @@ env:
 jobs:
   update:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: true
-      matrix:
-        include:
-          - add-paths: .
-            body: Use this to merge the changes to this repository.
-            branch: cruft/update
-            commit-message: "chore: accept new Cruft update"
-            title: New updates detected with Cruft
-          - add-paths: .cruft.json
-            body: Use this to reject the changes in this repository.
-            branch: cruft/reject
-            commit-message: "chore: reject new Cruft update"
-            title: Reject new updates detected with Cruft
+
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
@@ -52,7 +39,6 @@ jobs:
           else
             echo "No .cruft.json file"
           fi
-
           echo "has_changes=$CHANGES" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Run update if available
@@ -62,20 +48,29 @@ jobs:
           git config --global user.name "GitHub"
 
           cruft update --skip-apply-ask --refresh-private-variables
-          # git restore --staged .
+
+          # --------------------------------------------------------
+          # HARD BLOCK: never allow workflow updates from Cruft
+          # --------------------------------------------------------
+          git restore --staged .github/workflows || true
+          git restore .github/workflows || true
 
       - name: Create pull request
         if: steps.check.outputs.has_changes == '1'
         uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v4
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          add-paths: ${{ matrix.add-paths }}
-          commit-message: ${{ matrix.commit-message }}
-          branch: ${{ matrix.branch }}
+          add-paths: .
+          commit-message: "chore: accept new Cruft update"
+          branch: cruft/update
           delete-branch: true
           branch-suffix: timestamp
-          title: ${{ matrix.title }}
+          title: New updates detected with Cruft
           body: |
-            This is an autogenerated PR. ${{ matrix.body }}
+            This is an autogenerated PR.
+
+            [Cruft](https://cruft.github.io/cruft/)  has detected updates from the
+            Cookiecutter repository.
 
-            [Cruft](https://cruft.github.io/cruft/) has detected updates from the Cookiecutter repository.
+            Changes to `.github/workflows` are intentionally excluded
+            from automated updates and must be applied manually.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/nomad-requirements.yml b/.github/workflows/nomad-requirements.yml
index 48be2e26..02104a86 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nomad-requirements.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nomad-requirements.yml
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ jobs:
     - name: Generate (dev-)requirements.txt from modified pyproject.toml
       working-directory: ./nomad
       run: |
-        uv pip compile --universal -p ${{ env.python-version }} --annotation-style=line --extra=infrastructure --extra=parsing --output-file=requirements.txt pyproject.toml
-        uv pip compile --universal -p ${{ env.python-version }} --annotation-style=line --extra=dev --extra=infrastructure --extra=parsing --output-file=requirements-dev.txt requirements.txt pyproject.toml
+        uv pip compile --universal -p ${{ env.python-version }} --annotation-style=line --extra=infrastructure --output-file=requirements.txt pyproject.toml
+        uv pip compile --universal -p ${{ env.python-version }} --annotation-style=line --extra=dev --extra=infrastructure --output-file=requirements-dev.txt requirements.txt pyproject.toml
         uv pip compile --universal -p ${{ env.python-version }} --annotation-style=line --output-file=requirements-plugins.txt --unsafe-package nomad-lab -c requirements-dev.txt test_plugins.txt
     - name: Install NOMAD dependencies with pynxtools from current branch
       working-directory: ./nomad
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-north.yaml b/.github/workflows/publish-north.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..128efdab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-north.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+name: Build and publish docker images
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+    tags:
+      - "v*.*.*"
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+env:
+  REGISTRY: ghcr.io
+  UV_VERSION: 0.9
+  PYTHON_VERSION: 3.12
+  JUPYTER_VERSION: 2025-12-31
+  NORTH_TOOL_DIR: src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/spm
+  TEST_DATA_DIR: tests/data/north_tools/spm
+  TEST_NOTEBOOKS: CommandLine.ipynb
+
+permissions:
+  packages: write
+  contents: read
+  attestations: write
+  id-token: write
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    name: Build Jupyter Image
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }} # list
+      labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }} # list
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ github.head_ref || github.ref_name }}
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          show-progress: true
+          submodules: true
+
+      # Replace driver `Docker' by `Docker-container` to support cache export/import
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      # https://github.com/docker/metadata-action
+      - name: Extract Docker metadata
+        id: meta
+        uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
+        with:
+          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ github.repository }}
+          # set latest tag for main branch and tags
+          # https://github.com/docker/metadata-action?tab=readme-ov-file#image-name-and-tag-sanitization
+          tags: |
+            type=ref,event=tag
+            type=ref,event=pr,prefix=pr-
+            type=raw,value=main,enable=${{ github.ref == format('refs/heads/{0}', 'main') }}
+          flavor: |
+            latest=auto
+
+      # https://docs.docker.com/build/ci/github-actions/share-image-jobs/
+      # https://github.com/docker/build-push-action
+      - name: Build and export to Jupyter image
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
+        with:
+          context: .
+          file: ${{ env.NORTH_TOOL_DIR }}/Dockerfile
+          build-args: |
+            UV_VERSION=${{ env.UV_VERSION }}
+            JUPYTER_TAG=${{ env.JUPYTER_VERSION }}
+          cache-from: type=gha
+          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
+          push: false
+          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
+          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
+          outputs: type=docker,dest=${{ runner.temp }}/jupyter.tar.gz
+      - name: Upload artifact
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: jupyter-image
+          path: ${{ runner.temp }}/jupyter.tar.gz
+  test_and_push_image:
+    name: Test Jupyter Image
+    needs: build
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    # https://docs.docker.com/build/ci/github-actions/share-image-jobs/
+    steps:
+      - name: Setup Repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Download artifact
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: jupyter-image
+          path: ${{ runner.temp }}
+          pattern: "!*.dockerbuild" # warning at https://github.com/docker/build-push-action?tab=readme-ov-file
+
+      - name: Load and test in Jupyter container
+        run: |
+          docker load -i ${{ runner.temp }}/jupyter.tar.gz
+
+          RAW_TAGS="${{ needs.build.outputs.tags }}"
+          echo "Raw tags: $RAW_TAGS"
+          FIRST_TAG=$(echo "$RAW_TAGS" | tr -s '[:space:]' '\n' | grep -v '^$' | head -n 1)
+          echo "Using tag: $FIRST_TAG"
+
+          for nb in ${{ env.TEST_NOTEBOOKS }}; do
+            echo "Running notebook: $nb"
+            docker run \
+              --mount type=bind,src=./${{ env.TEST_DATA_DIR }},dst="/home/jovyan/north_test" \
+              --rm "$FIRST_TAG" \
+              /bin/bash -c "jupyter execute \$HOME/north_test/$nb"
+          done
+          
+      - uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
+          username: ${{ github.actor }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+      - name: Push Jupyter Image
+        run: |
+          RAW_TAGS="${{ needs.build.outputs.tags }}"
+          for TAG in $RAW_TAGS; do
+            echo "Pushing tag: $TAG"
+            docker push "$TAG"
+          done
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index f688409b..c7e6ea8e 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -6,4 +6,28 @@ repos:
       # Run the linter.
       - id: ruff
       # Run the formatter.
-      - id: ruff-format
\ No newline at end of file
+      - id: ruff-format
+
+  - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/mirrors-mypy
+    rev: v1.7.1
+    hooks:
+      - id: mypy # static type checking
+
+  - repo: https://github.com/asottile/pyupgrade
+    rev: v2.37.3
+    hooks:
+      - id: pyupgrade
+        args: [--py36-plus] # modernizes syntax for Python 3.6+
+
+  - repo: https://github.com/kynan/nbstripout
+    rev: 0.6.0
+    hooks:
+      - id: nbstripout # removes notebook outputs before committing
+
+  - repo: https://github.com/streetsidesoftware/cspell-cli
+    rev: v6.31.1
+    hooks:
+      - id: cspell # spellchecking
+        pass_filenames: false
+        args:
+          - --config
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b266907a..0c00f0c0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 .
 
-This `pynxtools` plugin was generated with [`cookiecutter`](https://github.com/cookiecutter/cookiecutter) using the [`pynxtools-plugin-template`](https://github.com/FAIRmat-NFDI/`pynxtools-plugin-template) template.
+This `pynxtools` plugin was generated with [`cookiecutter`](https://github.com/cookiecutter/cookiecutter) using the [`pynxtools-plugin-template`](https://github.com/FAIRmat-NFDI/pynxtools-plugin-template) template.
 
 ## Installation
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index c581cd0a..2f62f5e1 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ dev = [
     "mypy",
     "ruff>=0.14.0",
     "pytest",
-    "pre-commit"
+    "pre-commit",
+    "cruft",
 ]
 
 docs = [
@@ -51,6 +52,12 @@ docs = [
     "mkdocs-macros-plugin",
     "mkdocs-simple-hooks",
 ]
+north = [
+    "jupyterlab-h5web",
+    "jupyterlab",
+    "ipywidgets",
+]
+nomad = ["nomad-lab[infrastructure]>=1.4.1rc2"]
 
 [project.entry-points."pynxtools.reader"]
 spm = "pynxtools_spm.reader:SPMReader"
@@ -60,6 +67,7 @@ sts_example = "pynxtools_spm.nomad.entrypoints:sts_example"
 stm_example = "pynxtools_spm.nomad.entrypoints:stm_example"
 afm_example = "pynxtools_spm.nomad.entrypoints:afm_example"
 spm_app = "pynxtools_spm.nomad.apps:spm_app"
+spm = "pynxtools_spm.nomad.north_tools.spm:north_tool"
 
 
 [tool.setuptools.packages.find]
@@ -70,7 +78,7 @@ version_scheme = "no-guess-dev"
 local_scheme = "node-and-date"
 
 [tool.ruff]
-include = ["src/pynxtools_spm/*.py", "tests/*.py"]
+include = ["src/pynxtools_spm/**/*.py", "tests/**/*.py"]
 lint.select = [
     "E", # pycodestyle
     "W", # pycodestyle
diff --git a/scripts/generate_reference_files.sh b/scripts/generate_reference_files.sh
index 227d707b..c6a2c123 100755
--- a/scripts/generate_reference_files.sh
+++ b/scripts/generate_reference_files.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 function update_ref_file {
   local FOLDER=$1
   local NXDL=$2
-  cd $FOLDER
+  cd "$FOLDER"
   if [[ "$FOLDER" == "." ]]; then
     FOLDER="test"
   fi
diff --git a/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/README.md b/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/README.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 3ad108f8..00000000
--- a/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/README.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-# NOMAD integration
-
-This module is for integrating pynxtools-spm into [NOMAD](https://nomad-lab.eu/) as a plugin.
diff --git a/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/__init__.py b/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/spm/Dockerfile b/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/spm/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cb8e3222
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/spm/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+ARG JUPYTER_TAG=2025-12-31
+ARG BASE_JUPYTER=quay.io/jupyter/base-notebook
+ARG UV_VERSION=0.9
+ARG PLUGIN_NAME=pynxtools-spm
+
+FROM ghcr.io/astral-sh/uv:${UV_VERSION} AS uv_stage
+
+FROM ${BASE_JUPYTER}:${JUPYTER_TAG} AS base_notebook
+# https://github.com/hadolint/hadolint/wiki/DL4006
+# https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/wiki/SC3014
+SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-o", "pipefail", "-c"]
+
+COPY --from=uv_stage /uv /uvx /bin/
+
+USER root
+
+# Define environment variables
+# With pre-existing NB_USER="jovyan" and NB_UID=100, NB_GID=1000
+ENV HOME=/home/${NB_USER}
+ENV CONDA_DIR=/opt/conda
+
+ARG PLUGIN_NAME
+
+RUN apt-get update \
+ && apt-get install --yes --quiet --no-install-recommends \
+      libmagic1 \
+      file \
+      build-essential \
+      curl \
+      zip \
+      unzip \
+      git
+
+# By default base-notebook:2025-10-20 has node 18
+# But, node > 20 is required for jupyterlab >= 4.4.10
+# Add NodeSource APT repo for Debian-base distributions repository
+RUN curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_24.x | bash -
+
+# Install Node.js from the Debian-based distributions repository
+RUN apt-get install nodejs -y \
+       && npm install -g configurable-http-proxy@^4.2.0 \
+       # clean cache and logs
+       && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* /var/log/* /var/tmp/* ~/.npm
+
+USER ${NB_USER}
+
+# uv env
+ENV UV_PROJECT_ENVIRONMENT=${CONDA_DIR} \
+    UV_LINK_MODE=copy \
+    UV_NO_CACHE=1 \
+    # Use python from conda which is default for base-notebook
+    # so that uv pip and pip refer to the same python
+    # If needed one can create another venv with 'uv venv'
+    UV_SYSTEM_PYTHON=1
+
+COPY --chown=${NB_USER}:${NB_GID} . ${HOME}/${PLUGIN_NAME}
+
+WORKDIR ${HOME}/${PLUGIN_NAME}
+
+# https://docs.astral.sh/uv/guides/integration/docker/#intermediate-layers
+# Install dependencies
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
+    uv pip install ".[north]"
+    # uv pip install . --group north --constraint requirements.txt
+
+WORKDIR ${HOME}
+RUN rm -rf ${HOME}/${PLUGIN_NAME}
+
+RUN jupyter lab build --dev-build=False --minimize=False && \
+    fix-permissions "/home/${NB_USER}" \
+    && fix-permissions "${CONDA_DIR}"
+
+WORKDIR ${HOME}
+
+EXPOSE 8888
+
+RUN touch ${HOME}/.hushlogin
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/spm/README.md b/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/spm/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..759d5bf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/spm/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# pynxtools-spm - NORTH Jupyter tool
+
+This directory contains the NORTH tool configuration and Docker file for programmatic creation of a Jupyter-based NOMAD NORTH tool.
+
+## Quick start
+
+The spm NORTH tool provides a containerized JupyterLab environment for interactive analysis with the pynxtools-spm plugin.
+
+## Building and testing
+
+Build the Docker image locally from package root:
+
+```bash
+docker build -f src/pynxtools_spm/north_tools/spm/Dockerfile \
+	-t ghcr.io/fairmat-nfdi/pynxtools-spm:latest .
+```
+
+Test the image:
+
+```bash
+docker run -p 8888:8888 ghcr.io/fairmat-nfdi/pynxtools-spm:latest
+```
+
+Access JupyterLab at `http://localhost:8888`.
+
+## Documentation
+
+For comprehensive guidance, see the main docs and the single source of truth for NORTHTool and NorthToolEntryPoint. These resources cover entry point configuration, image structure, and dependency management.
+
+- [NOMAD NORTH tools](https://fairmat-nfdi.github.io/nomad-docs/howto/plugins/types/north_tools.html)
+- [Reference for NorthToolEntryPoint](https://fairmat-nfdi.github.io/nomad-docs/reference/plugins.html#northtoolentrypoint)
+- [Reference for NORTHTool](https://fairmat-nfdi.github.io/nomad-docs/howto/plugins/types/north_tools.html#north-tool-entry-point)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/spm/__init__.py b/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/spm/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8d2f4ab8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pynxtools_spm/nomad/north_tools/spm/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+from nomad.config.models.north import NORTHTool
+from nomad.config.models.plugins import NorthToolEntryPoint
+
+tool = NORTHTool(
+    short_description="Jupyter Notebook server in NOMAD NORTH for NOMAD and pynxtools plugin pynxtools-spm.",
+    image="ghcr.io/fairmat-nfdi/pynxtools-spm/jupyter:latest",
+    description="Jupyter Notebook server in NOMAD NORTH for NOMAD and pynxtools plugin pynxtools-spm.",
+    external_mounts=[],
+    file_extensions=["ipynb", "nxs"],
+    icon="logo/jupyter.svg",
+    image_pull_policy="Always",
+    default_url="/lab",
+    maintainer=[{"email": "fairmat@physik.hu-berlin.de", "name": "The NOMAD authors"}],
+    mount_path="/home/jovyan",
+    path_prefix="lab/tree",
+    privileged=False,
+    with_path=True,
+    display_name="spm",
+)
+
+north_tool = NorthToolEntryPoint(id_url_safe="pynxtools_spm_spm", north_tool=tool)
diff --git a/src/pynxtools_spm/nxformatters/base_formatter.py b/src/pynxtools_spm/nxformatters/base_formatter.py
index ad7bdc19..3a2250e0 100644
--- a/src/pynxtools_spm/nxformatters/base_formatter.py
+++ b/src/pynxtools_spm/nxformatters/base_formatter.py
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ def _resolve_link_in_config(self, val: str, path: str = "/"):
         """
 
         if val.startswith("@default_link:"):
-            val = val.split("@default_link:")[-1]
+            val = val.rsplit("@default_link:", maxsplit=1)[-1]
 
             classes = val.split("/")[1:]
             pattern = ""
@@ -671,7 +671,9 @@ def _handle_special_fields(self):
             r"active_channel$": str,
             r"model/@version$": str,
             r"/model$": str,
-            r"lockin_amplifier/(demodulated|modulation)_signal$": lambda input: input.lower(),
+            r"lockin_amplifier/(demodulated|modulation)_signal$": lambda input: (
+                input.lower()
+            ),
             r"lockin_amplifier/(hp|lp){1,}_filter_orderN\[\1_filter_order_[\w]*\]$": (
                 lambda input: input if isinstance(input, (int, float)) else ""
             ),
diff --git a/src/pynxtools_spm/nxformatters/helpers.py b/src/pynxtools_spm/nxformatters/helpers.py
index 7a03d347..72dcb2db 100644
--- a/src/pynxtools_spm/nxformatters/helpers.py
+++ b/src/pynxtools_spm/nxformatters/helpers.py
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ def get_actual_from_variadic_name(name: str) -> str:
     str
         The actual name.
     """
-    return name.split("[")[-1].split("]")[0]
+    return name.rsplit("[", maxsplit=1)[-1].split("]", maxsplit=1)[0]
 
 
 def flatten_nested_list(list_dt: Union[list, tuple, Any]):
diff --git a/tests/data/north_tools/spm/CommandLine.ipynb b/tests/data/north_tools/spm/CommandLine.ipynb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..55d834bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/north_tools/spm/CommandLine.ipynb
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+{
+ "cells": [
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "4adab3e0-b913-4a6f-a434-1427094b0c0d",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "# Jupyter Notebook as a Placeholder for NOMAD north tool hub\n",
+    "\n",
+    "This Notebook mainly runs a few commands for testing purpose. As plugin developer you can remove the entire content of the file or rename the file or delete the file and create a new one according to your requirements.\n",
+    "If you rename or relocate the file, please update the corresponding file path in the north publish CI/CD workflow (or search the project directory for this notebook name)."
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "74918766-45d2-41ad-89ce-04ef1ee30b6d",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "## Prints the available python library in this environment using uv"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "3b8decdf-657c-447c-8173-33ecc528bc7c",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "!uv pip list"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "id": "9be891f7",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "## Prints the available python library in this environment using pip, it gives the same result as the previous command."
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "ee57dfba",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "!pip list"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "id": "56505869",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "# installation of build-essential\n",
+    "! make --version\n",
+    "! gcc --version\n",
+    "! g++ --version\n",
+    "\n",
+    "! git --version\n",
+    "! nodejs --version\n",
+    "! npm --version"
+   ]
+  }
+ ],
+ "metadata": {
+  "kernelspec": {
+   "display_name": "Python 3 (ipykernel)",
+   "language": "python",
+   "name": "python3"
+  },
+  "language_info": {
+   "codemirror_mode": {
+    "name": "ipython",
+    "version": 3
+   },
+   "file_extension": ".py",
+   "mimetype": "text/x-python",
+   "name": "python",
+   "nbconvert_exporter": "python",
+   "pygments_lexer": "ipython3",
+   "version": "3.12.9"
+  }
+ },
+ "nbformat": 4,
+ "nbformat_minor": 5
+}
diff --git a/tests/test_nomad_north_tools.py b/tests/test_nomad_north_tools.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..27211591
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_nomad_north_tools.py
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+"""Tests for the NOMAD NORTH tool."""
+
+import pytest
+
+try:
+    import nomad  # noqa: F401
+except ImportError:
+    pytest.skip(
+        "Skipping NOMAD NORTH tool tests because nomad-lab is not installed",
+        allow_module_level=True,
+    )
+
+
+def test_importing_north_tool():
+    # this will raise an exception if pydantic model validation fails for the north tool
+    from pynxtools_spm.nomad.north_tools.spm import (
+        north_tool,
+    )
+
+    assert (
+        north_tool.id_url_safe == "pynxtools_spm_spm"
+        or north_tool.id == "nomad-north-spm"
+    ), "NORTHtool entry point has incorrect id or id_url_safe"
diff --git a/tests/test_reader.py b/tests/test_reader.py
index f05bd25e..76075410 100644
--- a/tests/test_reader.py
+++ b/tests/test_reader.py
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@
 
 module_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
 
-ignore_lines: list = [
+ignore_lines: list[str] = [
     "DEBUG - value: 20",
 ]
-ignore_sections: dict = {}
+ignore_sections: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(