from IPython.zmq.parallel.client import * client = Client() @remote(client, bound=True) def getkey(name): """fetch something from globals""" return globals().get(name) @remote(client, bound=True, targets='all') def setpids(): import os globals()['pid'] = os.getpid() # set pid in the globals setpids() getkey('pid') getkey.targets=[1,2] getkey('pid') getkey.bound=False getkey('pid') is None