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Can't access shared folder metadata

Hello,

I have a folder that has been shared with me (I am a co-owner), from which I need to download several files. I am trying to do this with the dropbox Python API so that I don't have to manually generate a shared link for each file. I am able to generate and use an API token, however it seems like the dropbox object can only see what has been downloaded to my personal laptop. I don't have enough storage space to download the full shared folder, and it is not showing up at all in the dropbox folder on my computer, so I can't set it to be online-only as many forums suggest.

How can I download and upload files to this shared folder without needing to first put the whole thing on my laptop?

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DB-Des

Hi @eaev,

In order for a shared folder to show in your Dropbox account, or the Dropbox folder on your computer, you need to ensure you have joined the folder after you were added to it as a member. You can do so by:

Log in to dropbox.com.
Click Home in the left navigation bar.
Click Shared in the left sidebar.
Find the shared folder you want to access.
Hover over the folder you’d like to join and select Join folder.

Once you have joined this shared folder, it should be available for you to interact with (uploading and downloading files, in your case) using the API, without needing to download the folder and all of its contents locally.

You can reference this example for an idea on how to upload and download documents using the Python SDK.

You also mentioned:

I am able to generate and use an API token, however it seems like the dropbox object can only see what has been downloaded to my personal laptop

To clarify, when sending requests to the Dropbox API, the information returned is information stored on our servers, not information stored locally on your computer.

I hope you find this information helpful!

eaev

Hello,

This worked! Thanks for your response. I figured out that this was failing because I had not used DropBox before and I was using the wrong links (ones from the Box version of this folder instead of the correct DropBox links).

For the other problem, I am unable to join the shared folder as I don't have enough storage space in my account (even though only the uploader should technically need that much space - viewing files doesn't take up space in the viewer's account), but as long as I can download and upload files to the shared folder then I should be fine without that.

DB-Des

@eaev,

I'm glad we were able to help you get that working.

As a side note, shared folders do count against your Dropbox storage space. You can find more details on shared folders and how this affect Dropbox storage quota here: https://help.dropbox.com/storage-space/storage-space.

eaev

Thank you! Yes, I am more saying that the development team should consider removing that stipulation - shared folders should count towards the uploader's storage space instead of the person it is shared with, unless that person wants to download it. There is a lot about Dropbox I don't understand, but from a new user's perspective it seems like having to keep the original shared link around anytime I want to access the folder (instead of just being able to view it from my account) is a pain.