Wrong YAML Front Matter when convert .qmd to .ipynb

[rgaiacs]

https://quarto.org/docs/tools/jupyter-lab.html#yaml-front-matter says

The first cell of your notebook should be a Raw cell that contains the document title, author, and any other options you need to specify.

Given mwe.qmd as

---
title: MWE
---

Lorem ipsum.

When I convert mwe.qmd into mwe.ipynb using quarto convert mwe.qmd, I expects that mwe.ipynb will be

{
  "cells": [
    {
      "cell_type": "raw",
      "metadata": {},
      "source": [
        "---\n",
        "title: MWE\n",
        "---"
      ]
    },
    {
      "attachments": {},
      "cell_type": "markdown",
      "metadata": {},
      "source": [
        "Lorem ipsum."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "kernelspec": {
      "display_name": "Python 3 (ipykernel)",
      "language": "python",
      "name": "python3",
      "path": "/home/raniere/.local/share/jupyter/kernels/python3"
    }
  },
  "nbformat": 4,
  "nbformat_minor": 4
}

but, instead, mwe.ipynb is

{
  "cells": [
    {
      "cell_type": "markdown",
      "metadata": {},
      "source": [
        "---\n",
        "title: MWE\n",
        "---\n",
        "\n",
        "Lorem ipsum."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "kernelspec": {
      "name": "python3",
      "language": "python",
      "display_name": "Python 3 (ipykernel)",
      "path": "/home/raniere/.local/share/jupyter/kernels/python3"
    }
  },
  "nbformat": 4,
  "nbformat_minor": 4
}

Note that the YAML front matter from the .qmd file was converted into a markdown cell instead of a raw cell.

Am I misunderstanding the use of quarto convert?

Environment

quarto check produces

Quarto 1.5.39
[✓] Checking versions of quarto binary dependencies...
      Pandoc version 3.2.0: OK
      Dart Sass version 1.70.0: OK
      Deno version 1.41.0: OK
      Typst version 0.11.0: OK
[✓] Checking versions of quarto dependencies......OK
[✓] Checking Quarto installation......OK
      Version: 1.5.39
      Path: /opt/quarto/bin

[✓] Checking tools....................OK
      TinyTeX: (not installed)
      Chromium: (not installed)

[✓] Checking LaTeX....................OK
      Using: Installation From Path
      Path: /usr/bin
      Version: 2021

[✓] Checking basic markdown render....OK

[✓] Checking Python 3 installation....OK
      Version: 3.10.12
      Path: /usr/bin/python3
      Jupyter: 5.2.0
      Kernels: python3

[✓] Checking Jupyter engine render....OK

[✓] Checking R installation...........OK
      Version: 4.3.3
      Path: /usr/lib/R
      LibPaths:
        - /home/raniere/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/4.3
        - /usr/local/lib/R/site-library
        - /usr/lib/R/site-library
        - /usr/lib/R/library
      knitr: 1.45
      rmarkdown: 2.25

[✓] Checking Knitr engine render......OK

[cderv]

We do indeed document that first cell with YAML should be raw cell : https://quarto.org/docs/tools/jupyter-lab.html#yaml-front-matter

So it seems like we should do better...

Though the produced .ipynb is valid and working, right ?

[rgaiacs]

Though the produced .ipynb is valid and working, right ?

Yes, the produced .ipynb is valid and it is working.

[cderv]

@cscheid do you think we should adapt quarto convert to adjust to our raw cell recommandation in our doc ?

[cscheid]

We could. I believe we ask that the first cell be raw so that our jupyterlab extension can render the metadata nicely in the jupyterlab view. Still, the difference shouldn't affect rendering, as can be checked by converting the two different .ipynb variants back to .qmd.

Let's file an enhancement ticket.

[cderv]

Tracked in #9819