[Python] Cannot import Python modules from sibling directory in Jupyter Notebook running in VS...

I am running Jupyter Notebooks inside Visual Studio Code using the official Jupyter extension.

My project structure is as follows:

my_project/
├── notebooks/
│ └── analysis.ipynb
├── libs/
│ ├── __init__.py
│ └── my_module.py


In analysis.ipynb, I would like to import my_module using either:

from libs import my_module


or:

import my_module


However, I consistently get the following error:

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'libs'


I have read the official VS Code Jupyter documentation, but it does not cover anything about import paths or how sys.path is handled.

Here are the things I have tried:

1. Changing the working directory:

import os
os.chdir("..")


This does not work. The import still fails.

1. Manually adding the path to sys.path:

import sys
import os
sys.path.append(os.path.abspath("../libs"))
import my_module


This also does not work. The import fails with the same ModuleNotFoundError.

In a normal Python script (outside of a notebook), these methods usually work for me. But in this case, inside a Jupyter Notebook running in VS Code, they are not working.

I would like to understand:

1. Why do these approaches not work in this environment?
2. How can I properly import modules from sibling or parent directories in this setup?
3. What is the recommended way to structure this in VS Code when using Jupyter Notebooks?

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