Dropbox MCP Server

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• dropbox_server.py:213-268 (handler)

  Handler function for the 'list_files' tool. Lists files and folders in a specified Dropbox directory using the Dropbox API, generates content previews for text files by calling get_file_content helper, and returns a list of FileInfo objects. Decorated with @mcp.tool() for automatic registration.

  @mcp.tool()
  def list_files(folder_path: str = "", max_files: int = 20) -> List[FileInfo]:
      """
      List files and folders in a Dropbox directory.
      
      Args:
          folder_path: Path to the folder (empty string for root)
          max_files: Maximum number of items to return
      """
      if not dropbox_client:
          initialize_dropbox_client()
      
      try:
          # Ensure path starts with / if not empty
          if folder_path and not folder_path.startswith('/'):
              folder_path = '/' + folder_path
          
          # List folder contents
          result = dropbox_client.files_list_folder(
              folder_path,
              limit=max_files
          )
          
          files = []
          for entry in result.entries:
              if isinstance(entry, dropbox.files.FileMetadata):
                  # Get preview for text files
                  preview = None
                  if entry.name.lower().endswith(('.txt', '.md', '.py', '.js')):
                      try:
                          content = get_file_content(entry.path_lower)
                          preview = content[:200] + "..." if len(content) > 200 else content
                      except:
                          preview = "[Could not load preview]"
                  
                  files.append(FileInfo(
                      name=entry.name,
                      path=entry.path_lower,
                      size=entry.size,
                      modified=entry.server_modified.isoformat(),
                      is_folder=False,
                      content_preview=preview
                  ))
              elif isinstance(entry, dropbox.files.FolderMetadata):
                  files.append(FileInfo(
                      name=entry.name,
                      path=entry.path_lower,
                      size=0,
                      modified="",
                      is_folder=True
                  ))
          
          return files
          
      except Exception as e:
          raise ValueError(f"Failed to list files: {e}")

• dropbox_server.py:42-50 (schema)

  Pydantic model (BaseModel) defining the output schema for file listing tools including list_files, get_file_info. Used as return type annotation.

  class FileInfo(BaseModel):
      """File information structure."""
      name: str
      path: str
      size: int
      modified: str
      is_folder: bool
      content_preview: Optional[str] = None

• dockerfile.py:213-268 (handler)

  Duplicate handler function for the 'list_files' tool with identical implementation to dropbox_server.py.

  @mcp.tool()
  def list_files(folder_path: str = "", max_files: int = 20) -> List[FileInfo]:
      """
      List files and folders in a Dropbox directory.
      
      Args:
          folder_path: Path to the folder (empty string for root)
          max_files: Maximum number of items to return
      """
      if not dropbox_client:
          initialize_dropbox_client()
      
      try:
          # Ensure path starts with / if not empty
          if folder_path and not folder_path.startswith('/'):
              folder_path = '/' + folder_path
          
          # List folder contents
          result = dropbox_client.files_list_folder(
              folder_path,
              limit=max_files
          )
          
          files = []
          for entry in result.entries:
              if isinstance(entry, dropbox.files.FileMetadata):
                  # Get preview for text files
                  preview = None
                  if entry.name.lower().endswith(('.txt', '.md', '.py', '.js')):
                      try:
                          content = get_file_content(entry.path_lower)
                          preview = content[:200] + "..." if len(content) > 200 else content
                      except:
                          preview = "[Could not load preview]"
                  
                  files.append(FileInfo(
                      name=entry.name,
                      path=entry.path_lower,
                      size=entry.size,
                      modified=entry.server_modified.isoformat(),
                      is_folder=False,
                      content_preview=preview
                  ))
              elif isinstance(entry, dropbox.files.FolderMetadata):
                  files.append(FileInfo(
                      name=entry.name,
                      path=entry.path_lower,
                      size=0,
                      modified="",
                      is_folder=True
                  ))
          
          return files
          
      except Exception as e:
          raise ValueError(f"Failed to list files: {e}")

• dropbox_server.py:61-81 (helper)

  Helper function to initialize the global Dropbox client used by list_files and other tools.

  def initialize_dropbox_client():
      """Initialize Dropbox client with access token from environment."""
      global dropbox_client
      
      access_token = os.getenv('DROPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN')
      if not access_token:
          raise ValueError(
              "DROPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variable is required. "
              "Get your token from https://www.dropbox.com/developers/apps"
          )
      
      try:
          dropbox_client = dropbox.Dropbox(access_token)
          # Test the connection
          dropbox_client.users_get_current_account()
          logger.info("Dropbox client initialized successfully")
      except AuthError as e:
          raise ValueError(f"Invalid Dropbox access token: {e}")
      except Exception as e:
          raise ValueError(f"Failed to initialize Dropbox client: {e}")

• dropbox_server.py:115-148 (helper)

  Helper function called by list_files to generate content previews for text files, and by read_file.

  def get_file_content(file_path: str) -> str:
      """Download and extract text content from a Dropbox file."""
      if not dropbox_client:
          raise ValueError("Dropbox client not initialized")
      
      try:
          # Download file content
          _, response = dropbox_client.files_download(file_path)
          file_content = response.content
          
          # Extract text based on file extension
          file_ext = file_path.lower().split('.')[-1]
          
          if file_ext == 'pdf':
              return extract_text_from_pdf(file_content)
          elif file_ext in ['docx', 'doc']:
              return extract_text_from_docx(file_content)
          elif file_ext in ['txt', 'md', 'py', 'js', 'html', 'css', 'json', 'csv']:
              # Text files
              try:
                  return file_content.decode('utf-8')
              except UnicodeDecodeError:
                  try:
                      return file_content.decode('latin-1')
                  except UnicodeDecodeError:
                      return "[Binary file - cannot display as text]"
          else:
              return f"[Unsupported file type: {file_ext}]"
              
      except ApiError as e:
          raise ValueError(f"Dropbox API error: {e}")
      except Exception as e:
          raise ValueError(f"Error reading file: {e}")