Dropbox Automation

# Dropbox Automation via Rube MCP

Automate Dropbox operations including file upload/download, search, folder management, sharing links, batch operations, and metadata retrieval through Composio's Dropbox toolkit.

Prerequisites

- Rube MCP must be connected (RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS available)

- Active Dropbox connection via `RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS` with toolkit `dropbox`

- Always call `RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS` first to get current tool schemas

Setup

**Get Rube MCP**: Add `https://rube.app/mcp` as an MCP server in your client configuration. No API keys needed — just add the endpoint and it works.

1. Verify Rube MCP is available by confirming `RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS` responds

2. Call `RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS` with toolkit `dropbox`

3. If connection is not ACTIVE, follow the returned auth link to complete Dropbox OAuth

4. Confirm connection status shows ACTIVE before running any workflows

Core Workflows

1. Search for Files and Folders

**When to use**: User wants to find files or folders by name, content, or type

**Tool sequence**:

1. `DROPBOX_SEARCH_FILE_OR_FOLDER` - Search by query string with optional path scope and filters [Required]

2. `DROPBOX_SEARCH_CONTINUE` - Paginate through additional results using cursor [Required if has_more]

3. `DROPBOX_GET_METADATA` - Validate and get canonical path for a search result [Optional]

4. `DROPBOX_READ_FILE` - Read file content to verify it is the intended document [Optional]

**Key parameters**:

- `query`: Search string (case-insensitive, 1+ non-whitespace characters)

- `options.path`: Scope search to a folder (e.g., `"/Documents"`); empty string for root

- `options.file_categories`: Filter by type (`"image"`, `"document"`, `"pdf"`, `"folder"`, etc.)

- `options.file_extensions`: Filter by extension (e.g., `["jpg", "png"]`)

- `options.filename_only`: Set `true` to match filenames only (not content)

- `options.max_results`: Results per page (default 100, max 1000)

**Pitfalls**:

- Search returns `has_more: true` with a `cursor` when more results exist; MUST continue to avoid silently missing matches

- Maximum 10,000 matches total across all pages of search + search_continue

- `DROPBOX_GET_METADATA` returned `path_display` may differ in casing from user input; always use the returned canonical path

- File content from `DROPBOX_READ_FILE` may be returned as base64-encoded `file_content_bytes`; decode before parsing

2. Upload and Download Files

**When to use**: User wants to upload files to Dropbox or download files from it

**Tool sequence**:

1. `DROPBOX_UPLOAD_FILE` - Upload a file to a specified path [Required for upload]

2. `DROPBOX_READ_FILE` - Download/read a file from Dropbox [Required for download]

3. `DROPBOX_DOWNLOAD_ZIP` - Download an entire folder as a zip file [Optional]

4. `DROPBOX_SAVE_URL` - Save a file from a public URL directly to Dropbox [Optional]

5. `DROPBOX_GET_SHARED_LINK_FILE` - Download a file from a shared link URL [Optional]

6. `DROPBOX_EXPORT_FILE` - Export non-downloadable files like Dropbox Paper to markdown/HTML [Optional]

**Key parameters**:

- `path`: Dropbox path (must start with `/`, e.g., `"/Documents/report.pdf"`)

- `mode`: `"add"` (default, fail on conflict) or `"overwrite"` for uploads

- `autorename`: `true` to auto-rename on conflict instead of failing

- `content`: FileUploadable object with `s3key`, `mimetype`, and `name` for uploads

- `url`: Public URL for `DROPBOX_SAVE_URL`

- `export_format`: `"markdown"`, `"html"`, or `"plain_text"` for Paper docs

**Pitfalls**:

- `DROPBOX_SAVE_URL` is asynchronous and may take up to 15 minutes for large files

- `DROPBOX_DOWNLOAD_ZIP` folder must be under 20 GB with no single file over 4 GB and fewer than 10,000 entries

- `DROPBOX_READ_FILE` content may be base64-encoded; check response format

- Shared link downloads via `DROPBOX_GET_SHARED_LINK_FILE` may require `link_password` for protected links

3. Share Files and Manage Links

**When to use**: User wants to create sharing links or manage existin