Dropbox MCP Server

A local MCP server that gives Claude (Ancilla) direct control over your Dropbox.

What This Unlocks

Once connected, you can say things like:

"List everything in my /Projects folder"
"Search my Dropbox for the Q3 budget file"
"Move that file to /Archive"
"Create a shared link for /Reports/Final.pdf"
"How much Dropbox storage am I using?"

Available Tools

Tool	What It Does
`dropbox_list_folder`	List files/folders at any path
`dropbox_create_folder`	Create a new folder
`dropbox_search`	Search by file name or content
`dropbox_get_metadata`	Get size, dates, ID for any file
`dropbox_move`	Move or rename files/folders
`dropbox_copy`	Copy files/folders
`dropbox_delete`	Delete files/folders (destructive!)
`dropbox_create_shared_link`	Generate a public share URL
`dropbox_list_shared_links`	List existing share links
`dropbox_get_space_usage`	Check storage usage

Setup

Step 1 — Get Your Dropbox Access Token

Go to https://www.dropbox.com/developers/apps
Click "Create app"
Choose:
- API: Scoped access
- Access type: Full Dropbox (or App Folder for limited access)
- Give it a name (e.g. "Ancilla MCP")
On the app settings page, scroll to "OAuth 2"
Under "Generated access token", click "Generate"
Copy the token — keep it secret, treat it like a password

Permissions needed (set in the "Permissions" tab before generating token):

files.metadata.read
files.metadata.write
files.content.read
files.content.write
sharing.read
sharing.write

⚠️ If you change permissions AFTER generating the token, you must regenerate the token.

Step 2 — Install Node.js (if not already installed)

Check if you have it:

node --version

If not, download from https://nodejs.org — get the LTS version.

Step 3 — Install Dependencies & Build

cd dropbox-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

Step 4 — Connect to Claude Desktop

Open your Claude Desktop config file:

Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add this to the mcpServers section:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dropbox": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/FULL/PATH/TO/dropbox-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "DROPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN": "YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace:

/FULL/PATH/TO/dropbox-mcp-server with the actual path on your machine
YOUR_TOKEN_HERE with the token from Step 1

Step 5 — Restart Claude Desktop

Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop. You should see the Dropbox tools available.

Troubleshooting

"DROPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variable is not set" → Check your claude_desktop_config.json — the env block must be inside the dropbox server entry.

"invalid_access_token" or "expired_access_token" → Your token is invalid. Go back to the Dropbox developer portal and regenerate it.

"path/not_found" → Dropbox paths are case-sensitive. Use /FolderName not /foldername if that's how it was created.

Tools not showing in Claude → Make sure you fully quit Claude Desktop (not just close the window) and restart it.

Security Notes

Your access token gives full Dropbox access — treat it like a password
The token is stored locally in your Claude config — never commit that file to Git
For production use, consider OAuth with refresh tokens instead of long-lived tokens