Limit in Request for files/list_folder

Question

Hi Dropbox Developers,

Based on the documentation for list_folder and list_folder_continue, I know Dropbox doesn't exactly return the exact number set by limit. I've noticed that difference is sometimes very significant, e.g. I asked for a 100 set by the limit, but only receive about 9 items for my request - is this normal?

limit UInt32 (min=1, max=2000)? The maximum number of results to return per request. Note: This is an approximate number and there can be slightly more entries returned in some cases. This field is optional.

Thanks,

Greg-DB · Accepted Answer

That's correct, the 'limit' parameter on the /2/files/list_folder endpoint is a way to request an approximate upper bound on how many entries to return. The /2/files/list_folder endpoint, whether or not used with the 'limit' parameter, does not offer a minimum number of entries per page, however.

Due to some specifics of how the Dropbox backend is implemented, that means that in some cases, you will see smaller page sizes like this. Unfortunately this isn't something you can control, as it depends on a variety of factors, such as the activity in the account itself.

In any case, whenever you're using the /2/files/list_folder[/continue] endpoints, with 'limit' or not, you need to make sure you're always checking the "has_more" result value, and call back to /2/files/list_folder/continue if it's true. The page size isn't guaranteed, so apps must always do so in order to make sure they get the full and accurate listing.