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/files/list_folder do not return entries correctly when filtering

I'm developer of an app that uses Dropbox API to fetch folders from the root of user's account.
For most users the request works just fine, but there are some scenarios where a user have a lot of deleted files and folders in the root, in this scenario the API is not returning the entries correctly when filtering using `include_deleted=true` and `limit=100`, instead of excluding the deleted and returning the remaining entires up to the limit it returns only 1 entry, that is exactly the one that is not deleted from the first page of the request done with `include_deleted=false`, even using without limit it still fail to return all non-deleted entries in the first call, the user that raised this issue have 26 non-deleted folders in the root and 1 file, so it should be returned in just one page regardless of the limit, but the API apply the limit before the filterring.

Am I doing something wrong or is there a way to fix this?

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iNeil

Hi @rafakato,

Due to various factors, the exact number of entries you receive per /2/files/list_folder or /2/files/list_folder/continue call can vary. It is not guaranteed to remain consistent over time, across accounts, folders, or parameter configurations.

The /2/files/list_folder endpoint itself is not guaranteed to return all results in a single API response, and there is no way to force it to do so. Therefore, you should always check the returned "has_more" value. If "has_more" is true, you need to call /2/files/list_folder/continue to retrieve the remaining results.

rafakato

I understand it is not guaranteed to return all results, but what I'm saying is that the api apply first the limit then apply the filtering for deleted files.

When I pass "include_deleted=false" and "limit=100" I get 100 items, but if I just change include_deleted to true, I get only 1 result that is exactly the only one in the first page that is not deleted

iNeil

Hi @rafakato,

When you use the "include_deleted=true" parameter with the /2/files/list_folder endpoint, it will include entries for files and folders that used to exist but were deleted, as well as those that still exist. It doesn’t filter out only deleted files and folders.

Unfortunately there isn't a parameter that filters deleted files and folders with the /2/files/list_folder endpoint, but I'll pass this along as a feature request. I can't promise if or when that might be implemented though.