diff --git a/.changeset/warm-mice-repair.md b/.changeset/warm-mice-repair.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3814ec3d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/warm-mice-repair.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@myst-theme/jupyter': patch
+---
+
+Separate out launch binder logic into a reusable hook
diff --git a/packages/jupyter/src/controls/Buttons.tsx b/packages/jupyter/src/controls/Buttons.tsx
index 36d8bf53f..08491351b 100644
--- a/packages/jupyter/src/controls/Buttons.tsx
+++ b/packages/jupyter/src/controls/Buttons.tsx
@@ -11,8 +11,7 @@ import {
 import { BoltIcon as BoltIconSolid } from '@heroicons/react/24/solid';
 import classNames from 'classnames';
 import { Spinner } from './Spinner.js';
-import { useThebeServer } from 'thebe-react';
-import { useCallback, useState } from 'react';
+import { useLaunchBinder } from '../hooks.js';
 
 function BinderButton({
   icon,
@@ -56,19 +55,8 @@ function BinderButton({
 }
 
 export function LaunchBinder({ style, location }: { style: 'link' | 'button'; location?: string }) {
-  const { connect, connecting, ready, server, error } = useThebeServer();
-  const [autoOpen, setAutoOpen] = useState(false);
-
-  // automatically click the link when the server is ready
-  // but only if the connection was initiated in this component by the user
-  const autoClick = useCallback(
-    (node: HTMLAnchorElement) => {
-      if (node != null && autoOpen) {
-        node.click();
-      }
-    },
-    [autoOpen],
-  );
+  const { connecting, ready, error, autoClickRef, handleStart, getUserServerUrl } =
+    useLaunchBinder();
 
   let btnStyles =
     'flex gap-1 px-2 py-1 font-normal no-underline border rounded bg-slate-200 border-slate-600 hover:bg-slate-800 hover:text-white hover:border-transparent';
@@ -85,29 +73,13 @@ export function LaunchBinder({ style, location }: { style: 'link' | 'button'; lo
       'inline-flex items-center mr-2 font-medium no-underline text-gray-900 lg:mr-0 lg:flex';
   }
 
-  const handleStart = () => {
-    if (!connect) {
-      console.debug("LaunchBinder: Trying to start a connection but connect() isn't defined");
-      return;
-    }
-    setAutoOpen(true);
-    connect();
-  };
-
   if (ready) {
     // we expect ?token= to be in the url
-    let userServerUrl = server?.userServerUrl;
-    if (userServerUrl && location) {
-      // add the location to the url pathname
-      const url = new URL(userServerUrl);
-      if (url.pathname.endsWith('/')) url.pathname = url.pathname.slice(0, -1);
-      url.pathname = `${url.pathname}/lab/tree${location}`;
-      userServerUrl = url.toString();
-    }
+    const userServerUrl = getUserServerUrl(location);
 
     return (
       <a
-        ref={autoClick}
+        ref={autoClickRef}
         className={btnStyles}
         href={userServerUrl}
         target="_blank"
diff --git a/packages/jupyter/src/hooks.ts b/packages/jupyter/src/hooks.ts
index 9906e0a21..c67c16ba9 100644
--- a/packages/jupyter/src/hooks.ts
+++ b/packages/jupyter/src/hooks.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ import type {
   MinifiedStreamOutput,
 } from 'nbtx';
 import { walkOutputs } from 'nbtx';
-import { useState, useLayoutEffect } from 'react';
+import { useState, useLayoutEffect, useCallback } from 'react';
+import { useThebeServer } from 'thebe-react';
 
 interface LongContent {
   content_type?: string;
@@ -136,3 +137,52 @@ export default function useWindowSize() {
 
   return windowSize;
 }
+
+export function useLaunchBinder() {
+  const { connect, connecting, ready, server, error } = useThebeServer();
+  const [autoOpen, setAutoOpen] = useState(false);
+
+  // automatically click the link when the server is ready
+  // but only if the connection was initiated in this component by the user
+  const autoClickRef = useCallback(
+    (node: HTMLAnchorElement) => {
+      if (node != null && autoOpen) {
+        node.click();
+      }
+    },
+    [autoOpen],
+  );
+
+  const handleStart = useCallback(() => {
+    if (!connect) {
+      console.debug("LaunchBinder: Trying to start a connection but connect() isn't defined");
+      return;
+    }
+    setAutoOpen(true);
+    connect();
+  }, [connect]);
+
+  const getUserServerUrl = useCallback(
+    (location?: string) => {
+      let userServerUrl = server?.userServerUrl;
+      if (userServerUrl && location) {
+        // add the location to the url pathname
+        const url = new URL(userServerUrl);
+        if (url.pathname.endsWith('/')) url.pathname = url.pathname.slice(0, -1);
+        url.pathname = `${url.pathname}/lab/tree${location}`;
+        userServerUrl = url.toString();
+      }
+      return userServerUrl;
+    },
+    [server],
+  );
+
+  return {
+    connecting,
+    ready,
+    error,
+    autoClickRef,
+    handleStart,
+    getUserServerUrl,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/packages/jupyter/src/index.tsx b/packages/jupyter/src/index.tsx
index 92cb2ea6b..9a6a6857a 100644
--- a/packages/jupyter/src/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/jupyter/src/index.tsx
@@ -14,5 +14,7 @@ export * from './ConnectionStatusTray.js';
 export * from './providers.js';
 export * from './execute/index.js';
 export * from './controls/index.js';
+export * from './utils.js';
+export { useLaunchBinder } from './hooks.js';
 
 export default OUTPUT_RENDERERS;
diff --git a/packages/jupyter/src/providers.tsx b/packages/jupyter/src/providers.tsx
index 889e291b5..a5e78706c 100644
--- a/packages/jupyter/src/providers.tsx
+++ b/packages/jupyter/src/providers.tsx
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import type { RepoProviderSpec } from 'thebe-core';
 
 function makeThebeOptions(
   siteManifest: SiteManifest | undefined,
-  optionsOverrideFn = (opts?: ExtendedCoreOptions) => opts,
+  optionsOverrideFn = (opts: ExtendedCoreOptions) => opts,
 ): {
   options?: ExtendedCoreOptions;
   githubBadgeUrl?: string;
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ function makeThebeOptions(
     binderBadgeUrl,
   );
 
-  const options = optionsOverrideFn(thebeFrontmatter ? optionsFromFrontmatter : undefined);
+  let options = optionsFromFrontmatter;
+  if (options) options = optionsOverrideFn(options);
 
   return {
     options,
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ export function ConfiguredThebeServerProvider({
   children,
 }: React.PropsWithChildren<{
   siteManifest?: SiteManifest;
-  optionOverrideFn?: (opts?: ExtendedCoreOptions) => ExtendedCoreOptions;
+  optionOverrideFn?: (opts: ExtendedCoreOptions) => ExtendedCoreOptions;
   customRepoProviders?: RepoProviderSpec[];
 }>) {
   const thebe = React.useMemo(