diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cf4d2c6..5f56985 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 /build/
 /dist/
 /*.egg-info/
+__pycache__
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ipyida/kernel.py b/ipyida/kernel.py
index 814b191..cacac57 100644
--- a/ipyida/kernel.py
+++ b/ipyida/kernel.py
@@ -133,8 +133,10 @@ def start(self):
                 # IDAPythonStdOut instance
                 log=logging.getLogger("ipyida_kernel")
             )
+            main_module = sys.modules['__main__']
             app.initialize()
-
+            app.kernel.user_module=main_module
+            app.kernel.user_ns=main_module.__dict__
             main = app.kernel.shell._orig_sys_modules_main_mod
             if main is not None:
                 sys.modules[app.kernel.shell._orig_sys_modules_main_name] = main