A Dropbox connection lets workflows upload, download, find, move, copy, share and delete files in your Dropbox, save a file from a web address, and start a run when a file is added or changed. You connect with an access token made in your own Dropbox app. Signing in with Dropbox is not offered yet; it comes later, and the token stays on offer beside it.

Who can do this

  • In Bizomate: workspace Admins and Editors, on every plan — Dropbox is not a premium connection. Viewers see the connection but cannot add or change it.
  • In Dropbox: any Dropbox account, personal or on a team. The connection sees what that account can see.

Steps

  1. In Dropbox, open the App Console at dropbox.com/developers/apps and select Create app.
  2. Choose Scoped access, then Full Dropbox — or App folder to keep the token to one folder of its own. Name the app, for example Bizomate Consulace, and select Create app.
  3. On the app's Permissions tab, tick account_info.read, files.metadata.read, files.metadata.write, files.content.read, files.content.write, sharing.read and sharing.write, then select Submit. Do this before the next step: a token carries only the permissions ticked when it is made.
  4. On the Settings tab, under OAuth 2, select Generate beside Generated access token, and copy the token.
  5. In Bizomate, select Connections in the bar at the top, then + Add connection.
  6. Under Cloud Storage, select Dropbox.
  7. Type a Connection name — for example Consulace Dropbox — and paste the token in Access token.
  8. Leave Test the connection before saving ticked, and select Save connection.

What happens next

  • The connection appears under Cloud Storage. Its panel never shows the token.
  • Test answers with who it reached — "Reached Rohan Mehta · Dropbox team Consulace", or "Reached Rohan Mehta · personal Dropbox". A short-lived token adds "— this token stops working within 4 hours of being made".
  • Dropbox steps and triggers list it under Connection, and their Folder and File pickers browse this account's Dropbox.

Good to know

  • A generated token is for trying things. Dropbox's App Console makes short-lived tokens that stop working within four hours, and the test says so. When it stops, generate a new one and replace it on the connection.
  • The triggers check. With a token, Dropbox's triggers check every 5 minutes on paid plans and every 15 on Free. Instant triggers come with signing in with Dropbox, later.
  • Team accounts. On a Dropbox team with a team space, paths start from the team's root, so team folders are listed beside your own folder.
  • App folder tokens see only their own folder, under Apps in Dropbox. Paths, and the pickers, start from that folder.
  • To stop Bizomate reaching Dropbox, select Revoke on the connection, or delete the app in the Dropbox App Console.

If something goes wrong

What you see Why What to do
"Dropbox refused: invalid_access_token. Check the connection's details on Connections." Nothing was saved. The token was mistyped or revoked. Generate a new token and paste it again.
"Dropbox refused: expired_access_token. Generate a new token in the Dropbox App Console, then replace it on Connections." The short-lived token has run out. Generate a new token, then replace it on the connection.
A step fails with "Dropbox refused: missing_scope (files.content.write)." — or another permission The token was made before that permission was ticked. Tick the permission in the App Console, select Submit, generate a new token and replace it on the connection.