Dropbox is a cloud-based file storage and collaboration platform. The Dropbox connector for Glean allows organizations to index and search their Dropbox content—including team folders, private folders, and Dropbox Paper documents—while enforcing Dropbox permissions so users only see results they are authorized to access. This documentation provides the necessary steps and considerations for setup and ongoing use.

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Supported Features and Limitations

The Dropbox connector supports indexing a broad range of content types and strictly enforces Dropbox’s underlying permission models to maintain data privacy and security for all users during search operations.

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Supported Objects/Entities

  • Team folders and files
  • Shared folders and files
  • Private folders and files
  • Dropbox Paper documents

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Supported API Endpoints/Features

  • Dropbox Business API for team, user, and file information
  • OAuth 2.0 authentication and token refresh flow
  • Activity crawl via Dropbox’s activity endpoints to keep content and permissions synchronized

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Limitations

  • No configurations (greenlist/redlists) are supported for the updates team space file structure
  • If a user offboards or is removed from Dropbox, files solely owned by that user may no longer be indexed unless ownership is transferred to an active user or service account.
  • Some legacy Dropbox paper documents may require unique crawl strategies due to Dropbox’s evolving architecture.
  • Troubleshooting active crawl or node count issues may require engineering support, and full crawls of very large Dropbox instances may take a significant amount of time to complete.
  • When a shared folder is selected in a Glean App, only nested normal folders are captured. Other shared folders will not be captured.

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Requirements

Deploying the Dropbox connector requires administrative privileges in Dropbox and initial configuration in both Dropbox and Glean.

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Technical Requirements

  • Dropbox Business (team) account.
  • Glean deployment with admin console access.
  • HTTPS connectivity between Glean and Dropbox’s public APIs.

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Credential Requirements

  • Dropbox admin account credentials (to authorize during OAuth 2.0 flow).
  • Refresh token and access token generated and stored during setup.

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Permission Requirements

The connector requires Team member file access permission to retrieve both team and individual files. During OAuth authorization, the following scopes are requested:
  • View and edit Dropbox files and folders.
  • View Dropbox sharing settings, group membership, and activity logs.
  • View basic account and team information (usernames, emails, team membership and more).
The admin role is required to approve these permissions during setup and maintain them for the connector’s ongoing function.

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Preliminary Source/System Setup

  • Register and authorize the Glean Dropbox app in Dropbox as a team admin.
  • Complete the OAuth 2.0 flow in the Glean admin workspace to grant required API scopes.
  • No custom Dropbox app registration is required—use the central Glean application presented during setup.

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Configuration and Setup Instructions

The connector is primarily configured in the Glean admin workspace. The process utilizes an interactive flow to obtain necessary permissions and tokens, and setup steps are surfaced in the deployment console.

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Prerequisites

  • Ensure you have Dropbox admin privileges.
  • Confirm that your organization has a Dropbox Business subscription.
  • Access to the Glean admin console with the appropriate permissions to add connectors.

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Authentication and Credentials

  • Go to the Glean admin setup page for Dropbox.
  • Click the “Authorize” link to initiate the OAuth 2.0 authorization flow.
  • Log into Dropbox with your admin account when prompted. Approve the requested permissions for Glean to access your team’s Dropbox environment.
  • Upon successful authorization, the required access and refresh tokens are obtained and stored securely by Glean.

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Step-by-Step Setup

  1. Open the Glean admin console and select Add Connector > Dropbox.
  2. Click Authorize to start the OAuth 2.0 flow.
  3. Sign in to Dropbox as a Business account admin and accept the requested permissions. The Glean Dropbox app is now linked to your Dropbox account. Tokens are stored securely for ongoing access.
  4. Monitor the status of the initial crawl in the Glean deployment console. Depending on Dropbox size, initial indexing can take several hours to days.
  5. If a user is offboarded from Dropbox, ensure document ownership is transferred to another active team member or designated service account to maintain indexing for those files.
  6. Use the Glean admin console for managing and troubleshooting the connector, as well as for viewing logs and monitoring ingestion progress.
For further details, consult Dropbox’s official documentation and security guides to stay updated on API changes and relevant setup recommendations.