MCP server
Dropbox MCP server
Dropbox's own MCP server lets AI list, search and read files, convert them to markdown and create, move, share and delete files. In beta.
- Official server
- Files and storage
Why it matters
What it does and why it matters
Many small and mid-size businesses keep their files in Dropbox. Dropbox's own MCP server lets an assistant list folders, search, read file content and metadata, convert documents to markdown, create files and folders, move files, create share links and delete files.
The markdown conversion is useful: it turns PDFs and office documents into clean text an assistant can read and summarize accurately.
At review time, the server is in beta and available to selected customers. It includes a delete tool, so we connect it with an account limited to the folders a workflow needs and require approval before anything is moved, shared or deleted.
Use cases
Best business use cases
Find files
Read documents
Organize folders
Share links
Tools
Available tools
Tool names as published by the maintainer at review time. Versions change, so check the repository for the current list.
Read and write: Read and write: browse, search, extract text, create, copy, move, delete, share links, file requests and revision restore.
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ListFolderBrowse folder contents, up to 100 items per call.
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SearchSearch files and folders by name or content with filters.
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GetFileContentExtract text from PDFs, Word files and other text files up to 5 MB.
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GetFileMetadataGet file size, dates and MIME type by path or ID.
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GetMarkdownConvert PDFs and Word files to Markdown, with OCR.
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CreateFileCreate a new text file from inline content up to 5 MB.
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CreateFolderCreate a folder at a given path.
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MoveMove or rename files and folders.
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CreateSharedLinkCreate a shared link and invite up to 25 viewers.
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DeleteMove files or folders to Deleted files (not permanent).
Workflows
Example workflows
Sort an intake folder
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New documents land in an intake folder.
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The assistant reads each one.
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It proposes a destination folder and name.
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A person approves the moves.
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It files them and logs the result.
Share a document safely
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Ask for the latest price list.
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The assistant finds and reads it.
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3
You confirm it is the right file.
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4
It creates a share link.
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5
You send the link to the client.
Prompts
Example prompts
“Find our latest price list and tell me when it was last changed.”
“Convert this PDF to markdown and summarize the key points.”
“Suggest a folder structure for the Projects folder, but do not move anything yet.”
Setup
Installation and configuration
Examples for Claude Desktop and Claude Code. Replace the placeholder values with your own keys, and store secrets outside version control.
Claude Code: terminal
claude mcp add --transport http DropboxMCP https://mcp.dropbox.com/mcp- Hosted server: https://mcp.dropbox.com/mcp.
- Needs: Dropbox OAuth. Clients with Dynamic Client Registration (such as Claude) register automatically; others need an app in the Dropbox App Console..
- Claude Desktop: Settings > Connectors > Add custom connector. Name: Dropbox MCP. URL: https://mcp.dropbox.com/mcp.
Security
Security considerations
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Limit folders
Connect an account or service user that sees only the folders a task needs.
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Start with reading
Begin with search and read access. Add write actions one at a time.
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Sensitive files
Delete and share actions should always be approved by a person.
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Keep a record
Log which files the assistant opens and changes.
Related servers
Servers that pair well with it
Box
Box's official MCP server lets AI search and read files, ask questions across documents with Box AI, extract data and upload files.
Google Drive
Google's own Drive MCP server lets AI search, read and create files in Google Drive, with your Google Workspace sign-in.
OneDrive
Microsoft's OneDrive MCP server, part of its Work IQ preview, lets AI find, read, create, move, share and delete files in OneDrive.
Keep exploring
Solutions and services that use it
Related services
View all related services- MCP integration Connect AI assistants to your CRM, files, databases and tools through Model Context Protocol servers, with safe permissions.
- RAG knowledge assistants Assistants that answer questions from your own documents and show where each answer came from.
- Document automation Read invoices, forms, contracts and IDs, pull out the right fields and route them for review.
- AI Product Development AI agents, knowledge assistants, copilots and document automation built into the way your team already works.
- Customer portals A secure place where your customers upload documents, check status, pay and message your team.
Solutions
View all solutions- Knowledge assistant (RAG) Ask a question in plain words and get an answer from your own documents, with links to the sources.
- AI document processing Read forms, applications, IDs and statements, extract the fields you need and route each document for the right review.
- Contract review assistant Highlight unusual clauses, missing terms and deviations from your standard positions, so reviewers focus where it matters.
- Automated quoting Draft accurate quotes and proposals from a request, your price rules and past work, for a person to approve.
- Internal help desk assistant An assistant in Slack or Teams that answers policy and how-to questions from your handbooks and opens tickets when needed.
- Invoice processing Read supplier invoices, match them to orders and push approved ones into accounting, with exceptions flagged for review.
Industries
View all industries- Legal Contract review assistants, knowledge search, intake and document automation for law firms and in-house legal teams.
- Tax and compliance services Client portals, document checklists, case queues and deadline tracking for tax preparers and compliance firms.
- Insurance Claims intake, document and photo processing, policy knowledge assistants and customer portals for brokers and insurers.
- Finance and accounting Client portals, document collection, invoice and receipt processing, and reporting for accounting firms and finance teams.
- Property management Tenant portals, maintenance tracking, owner statements and inbox automation for property managers.
- Healthcare Patient booking, intake forms, internal knowledge assistants and admin automation for clinics and care providers.
Case studies
View all case studiesGuides and articles
View all guides and articlesAI models
View all ai models- Claude Sonnet 5 Anthropic's balance of speed and intelligence: a strong everyday model for assistants, document work, tool calling and coding.
- Embeddings Models that turn text into vectors for search, retrieval, clustering and recommendations.
- Open weights Models whose weights you can download and run on your own servers or a cloud of your choice.
- Gemini 3.8 Flash Google's most capable Flash model, stable since September 2026, for agents, software engineering and enterprise workflows with full multimodal input.
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite Google's lowest-cost current Gemini model for high-throughput work such as sub-agent tasks and document parsing.
- Gemma 4 Google's open-weight model family under Apache 2.0, in sizes from phone-friendly to 31B, with image input and function calling.
Glossary terms
View all glossary terms- OCR OCR, or optical character recognition, is technology that turns text in images and scanned documents into machine-readable text.
- Workflow automation Workflow automation uses software to move work through a series of steps, such as routing, approvals and notifications, based on rules and events.
- AI agent An AI agent is software that uses a language model to plan steps, call tools and act toward a goal, instead of only answering one question.
- Embeddings Embeddings are lists of numbers that represent the meaning of text or images, so software can find items that are similar in meaning.
- Hallucination A hallucination is when an AI model states something false or invented as if it were true, such as a made-up fact, figure or source.
- Model Context Protocol The Model Context Protocol, or MCP, is an open standard for connecting AI assistants to external tools and data in a consistent way.
FAQ
Questions people ask us
Have a question that is not here? Ask us directly.
Yes. It is maintained by Dropbox and was in beta at review time.
Yes, it has a delete tool. Require approval for deletes.
Yes. It can convert documents to markdown for reading.