This page describes the differences between Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform's notebook
environment options so that you can choose the best one for your project.

Agent Platform provides two notebook environment solutions:

- **Colab Enterprise:** A collaborative,
  managed notebook environment with the security and compliance capabilities
  of Google Cloud. If your project's priorities are to collaborate
  with others and to avoid spending time managing infrastructure,
  Colab Enterprise might be the best option for you.
  See the following [Colab Enterprise](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/notebook-solution.md.txt#colab-enterprise)
  section.

- **Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Workbench:** A Jupyter notebook-based environment
  provided through virtual machine (VM) instances with features that support
  the entire data science workflow. If your project's priorities are control
  and customizability, Agent Platform Workbench might be the best option
  for you. See the following [Agent Platform Workbench](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/notebook-solution.md.txt#agent-platform-workbench)
  section.

## Colab Enterprise

Learn about a few of Colab Enterprise's strengths in the
sections that follow. For more information, see [Introduction to
Colab Enterprise](https://docs.cloud.google.com/colab/docs/introduction).

### Share and collaborate

Colab Enterprise lets you share notebooks and collaborate
with others. You can share a notebook with a single user, Google group,
or Google Workspace domain. You control this access
through Identity and Access Management (IAM).

### Managed compute

Colab Enterprise lets you work in notebooks without having
to manage infrastructure. Colab Enterprise provisions
a runtime for you when you need it. If you want to, you can configure
runtimes for specific needs, but Colab Enterprise starts
them for you and shuts them down when you no longer need them.

### Integrated into the Google Cloud console

Colab Enterprise's integrations with Google Cloud services
make it easier to use notebooks that interact with those services.
You can use Colab Enterprise from within the Google Cloud console,
with features built into both Agent Platform and
BigQuery.

### Write code with Gemini assistance

> [!WARNING]
>
> **Preview**
>
>
> This feature is
>
> subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms" in the General Service Terms section of the
> [Service Specific
> Terms](https://docs.cloud.google.com/terms/service-terms#1).
>
> Pre-GA features are available "as is" and might have limited support.
>
> For more information, see the
> [launch stage descriptions](https://cloud.google.com/products/#product-launch-stages).

You can use Gemini in Agent Platform, which is a product in
the [Gemini for Google Cloud](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini/docs/overview.md.txt) portfolio,
to help you write and generate code in a Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform notebook.
Gemini in Agent Platform can generate code completion
suggestions while you type in a code cell. You can also use the
**Help me code** tool to generate code based on a description
of what you want. To learn more, see [Write code
with Gemini assistance](https://docs.cloud.google.com/colab/docs/use-code-completion).

## Agent Platform Workbench

Learn about a few of Agent Platform Workbench's strengths in the
sections that follow. For more information, see [Introduction to
Agent Platform Workbench](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/introduction).

### Overview

All Agent Platform Workbench instances provide the following:

- Prepackaged with [JupyterLab](https://jupyterlab.readthedocs.io/en/stable/getting_started/overview.html).
- A preinstalled suite of deep learning packages, including support for the TensorFlow and PyTorch frameworks.
- Support for GPU accelerators.
- The ability to sync with a [GitHub](https://github.com/) repository.
- Google Cloud authentication and authorization.

### Add conda environments

Agent Platform Workbench instances use
[kernels](https://jupyterlab.readthedocs.io/en/stable/user/documents_kernels.html)
based on conda environments.
You can add a conda environment to your Agent Platform Workbench instance,
and the environment appears as a kernel in your instance's JupyterLab interface.

Adding conda environments lets you use kernels that aren't available in the
default Agent Platform Workbench instance.
For example, you can add conda environments for R and Apache Beam. Or you
can add conda environments for specific earlier versions of the available
frameworks, such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Python.

For more information, see
[Add a conda environment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/instances/add-environment.md.txt).

### Access to data

You can work more efficiently by accessing your data without leaving
the JupyterLab interface.

From within JupyterLab's navigation menu on
a Agent Platform Workbench instance, you can [use the
Cloud Storage integration](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/instances/cloud-storage)
to browse data and other files that you have access to.

Also from within the navigation menu, you can [use the
BigQuery integration](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/instances/bigquery)
to browse tables that you have access to,
write queries, preview results, and load data into your notebook.

### Automated notebook runs

You can [set a notebook to run on a recurring
schedule](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/instances/schedule-notebook-run-quickstart).
Even while your instance is shut down, Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Workbench will
run your notebook file and save the results
for you to look at and share with others.

### Automated shutdown for idle instances

To help manage costs, you can set
your Agent Platform Workbench instance
to shut down after being idle for a specific time period.
For more information,
see [Idle shutdown](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/instances/idle-shutdown.md.txt).

### Custom containers

You can create a Agent Platform Workbench instance based on a custom container.
Start with a Google-provided base container image, and modify it for
your needs. Then create an instance based on your custom container.

For more information, see [Create an instance using a
custom container](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/instances/create-custom-container).

### Use third party credentials

You can create and manage Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform Workbench instances with
third party credentials provided by Workforce Identity Federation.
Workforce Identity Federation uses your external identity provider (IdP)
to grant a group of users access to Agent Platform Workbench instances
through a proxy.

For more information, see [Create an instance with
third party credentials](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/instances/create-third-party-instance).

### Health status monitoring

To help ensure that your Agent Platform Workbench instance
is working properly, you can [monitor the health
status](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/instances/monitor-health).

### Editable Deep Learning VM instances

Agent Platform Workbench provides API methods for modifying the
underlying VM through the Notebooks API.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** You can't edit the underlying VM of an instance by using the Google Cloud console or the Compute Engine API.

## What's next

To get started:

- [Create a Colab Enterprise
  notebook](https://docs.cloud.google.com/colab/docs/create-console-quickstart).

- [Create a Agent Platform Workbench instance](https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/notebooks/workbench/instances/create.md.txt).