Ansible Kernel calls ansible-playbook on a specially constructed playbook. Ansible Kernel constructs a playbook with a two tasks in it: 1. wait for the kernel and 2. include tasks from a file that does not exist yet. When you enter a #task cell we write that included file and then tell the wait task to proceed. The included file contains the #task cell contents, a wait task, and another include task. This continues until you stop the kernel, the playbook dies on an error, or you enter a #play cell. On a #play cell ansible kernel throws away the old playbook and make a new one with the new arguments. The exported playbook just contains the content on the page (without the wait/include tasks) and should work with ansible-playbook normally.