Dropbox Connector #

Register Dropbox Connector #

curl -XPOST "http://localhost:9000/connector/" -d '{
    "name": "Dropbox Connector",
    "description": "Index files and folders from Dropbox",
    "icon": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/icon.png",
    "category": "cloud_storage",
    "path_hierarchy": false,
    "tags": [
        "dropbox",
        "cloud_storage",
        "file_sharing"
    ],
    "url": "http://coco.rs/connectors/dropbox",
    "assets": {
        "icons": {
            "default": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/icon.png",
            "docx": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/docx.png",
            "xlsx": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/xlsx.png",
            "pptx": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/pptx.png",
            "pdf": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/pdf.png",
            "photo": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/photo.png",
            "zip": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/zip.png",
            "document": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/document.png",
            "paper": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/paper.png",
            "gdoc": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/gdoc.png",
            "gexcel": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/gexcel.png",
            "gppt": "/assets/icons/connector/dropbox/gppt.png"
        }
    },
    "processor": {
        "enabled": true,
        "name": "dropbox"
    }
}'

Use the Dropbox Connector #

The Dropbox Connector allows you to index files and folders from Dropbox.

Features #

OAuth 2.0 Authentication: Secure authentication using Dropbox OAuth 2.0 with automatic token refresh.
Hierarchical Indexing: Preserves the folder structure from Dropbox.
Recursive Indexing: Automatically indexes subfolders.
Metadata Extraction: Extracts file metadata including size, modification times, and content hash.
File Type Icons: Maps common file extensions to appropriate icons.
Auto-Refresh Token: Automatically refreshes access tokens when they expire.

Setup Dropbox Application #

Before using this connector, you need to create a Dropbox App in the Dropbox Developer Console.

1. Create App #

Go to Dropbox App Console.
Click “Create app”.
Choose “Scoped access”.
Choose “Full Dropbox” or “App folder” depending on your needs.
Name your app.

2. Configure Permissions #

In the “Permissions” tab, enable the following permissions:

files.content.read
files.metadata.read
sharing.read
account_info.read
team_data.member (if applicable)

3. Configure Redirect URI #

In the “Settings” tab, add the Redirect URI. The URI usually follows this pattern:

YOUR_COCO_SERVER_URL/api/coco/connector/{connector_id}/dropbox/oauth_redirect

Replace YOUR_COCO_SERVER_URL with your actual server URL (e.g., http://localhost:8080).

4. Get Credentials #

Copy the “App key” and “App secret” from the “Settings” tab.

Connector Configuration #

To configure the Dropbox connector, you need to provide the App Key and App Secret.

Field	Description	Required
`client_key`	The App Key from Dropbox	Yes
`client_secret`	The App Secret from Dropbox	Yes

OAuth Flow #

Configure Connector: Register the connector with your client_key (App Key) and client_secret (App Secret).
Connect: Use the UI to initiate the connection. This will redirect you to Dropbox to authorize the application.
Authorization: After authorization, you will be redirected back to the application.
Token Management: The connector will automatically exchange the authorization code for an access token and a refresh token. These are stored securely and used for subsequent requests. The refresh token allows the connector to maintain access without user intervention.

Datasource Configuration Example #

The datasource is typically created automatically after the OAuth flow completes. However, internal configuration looks like this:

{
    "connector": {
        "id": "dropbox-connector-id",
        "config": {
            "client_key": "YOUR_APP_KEY",
            "client_secret": "YOUR_APP_SECRET",
            "refresh_token": "AUTOMATICALLY_OBTAINED",
            "profile": {
                "account_id": "dbid:...",
                "email": "user@example.com",
                "name": "User Name"
            }
        }
    }
}

Note: You do not need to manually provide the refresh_token or profile. These are populated automatically.

File Processing #

The connector lists files starting from the root directory (or a configured path). It iterates through folders recursively.

Files: Indexed with their metadata and content (if supported by pipeline).
Folders: Indexed as folder documents to maintain hierarchy structure.
Icons: Files are assigned icons based on their extension (e.g., Word docs, PDFs, Images).

API Endpoints Used #

https://api.dropboxapi.com/oauth2/token: For token exchange and refresh.
https://api.dropboxapi.com/2/users/get_current_account: To get user profile information.
https://api.dropboxapi.com/2/files/list_folder: To list files and folders.
https://api.dropboxapi.com/2/files/list_folder/continue: To paginate through file lists.

Troubleshooting #

Invalid Redirect URI: Ensure the Redirect URI in Dropbox Console matches exactly what the application uses.
Permissions Error: Ensure all required permissions are checked in the Dropbox App Console.
Token Expiry: If the refresh token becomes invalid (e.g., user revokes access), you will need to reconnect the datasource via the UI.