(Node.js) Dropbox: Access Your Own Account

To programmatically interact with your own Dropbox account, such as for uploading, downloading, listing files, etc., go to the Dropbox app console and create an application. Then generate an access token in the online app console as shown in the screenshot below. The access token does not expire, and can be used to access your own account from your own non-web application.

The example code, located below the screenshot, shows how to list the files in the root folder.

Install Chilkat for Node.js and Electron using npm at Chilkat npm packages for Node.js Chilkat npm packages for Electron on Windows, Linux, MacOSX, and ARM

var os = require('os');
if (os.platform() == 'win32') {  
    if (os.arch() == 'ia32') {
        var chilkat = require('@chilkat/ck-node21-win-ia32');
    } else {
        var chilkat = require('@chilkat/ck-node21-win64'); 
    }
} else if (os.platform() == 'linux') {
    if (os.arch() == 'arm') {
        var chilkat = require('@chilkat/ck-node21-arm');
    } else if (os.arch() == 'x86') {
        var chilkat = require('@chilkat/ck-node21-linux32');
    } else {
        var chilkat = require('@chilkat/ck-node21-linux64');
    }
} else if (os.platform() == 'darwin') {
    if (os.arch() == 'arm64') {
        var chilkat = require('@chilkat/ck-node21-mac-m1');
    } else {
        var chilkat = require('@chilkat/ck-node21-macosx');
    }
}

function chilkatExample() {

    // This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
    // See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

    var rest = new chilkat.Rest();

    // Connect to the www.dropbox.com endpoint.
    var bTls = true;
    var port = 443;
    var bAutoReconnect = true;
    var success = rest.Connect("api.dropboxapi.com",port,bTls,bAutoReconnect);
    if (success !== true) {
        console.log(rest.LastErrorText);
        return;
    }

    rest.AddHeader("Content-Type","application/json");
    rest.AddHeader("Authorization","Bearer DROPBOX-ACCESS-TOKEN");

    var json = new chilkat.JsonObject();
    // The root folder should be an empty string, not "/"
    json.AppendString("path","");
    json.AppendBool("recursive",false);
    json.AppendBool("include_media_info",false);
    json.AppendBool("include_deleted",false);
    json.AppendBool("include_has_explicit_shared_members",false);

    var responseStr = rest.FullRequestString("POST","/2/files/list_folder",json.Emit());
    if (rest.LastMethodSuccess !== true) {
        console.log(rest.LastErrorText);
        return;
    }

    // Success is indicated by a 200 response status code.
    if (rest.ResponseStatusCode !== 200) {
        // Examine the request/response to see what happened.
        console.log("response status code = " + rest.ResponseStatusCode);
        console.log("response status text = " + rest.ResponseStatusText);
        console.log("response header: " + rest.ResponseHeader);
        console.log("response body (if any): " + responseStr);
        console.log("---");
        console.log("LastRequestStartLine: " + rest.LastRequestStartLine);
        console.log("LastRequestHeader: " + rest.LastRequestHeader);
        return;
    }

    var jsonResponse = new chilkat.JsonObject();
    jsonResponse.Load(responseStr);

    jsonResponse.EmitCompact = false;
    console.log(jsonResponse.Emit());

    // A sample JSON response is shown at the end of this example.
    // The following code iterates over the entries.
    var numEntries = jsonResponse.SizeOfArray("entries");
    var i = 0;
    while (i < numEntries) {
        jsonResponse.I = i;
        console.log("----");
        console.log("name: " + jsonResponse.StringOf("entries[i].name"));
        console.log("path_lower: " + jsonResponse.StringOf("entries[i].path_lower"));
        console.log("path_display: " + jsonResponse.StringOf("entries[i].path_display"));
        if (jsonResponse.HasMember("entries[i].sharing_info") == true) {
            console.log("has sharing_info...");
            console.log("read_only: " + jsonResponse.StringOf("entries[i].sharing_info.read_only"));
            console.log("shared_folder_id: " + jsonResponse.StringOf("entries[i].sharing_info.shared_folder_id"));
        }

        if (jsonResponse.HasMember("entries[i].client_modified") == true) {
            // Demonstrate how to parse a date/time:
            var ckdt = new chilkat.CkDateTime();
            success = ckdt.SetFromTimestamp(jsonResponse.StringOf("entries[i].client_modified"));
            // The date/time can now be converted to many other formats, or the individual parts
            // can be accessed.
            var bLocalDateTime = true;
            // dt: DtObj
            var dt = ckdt.GetDtObj(bLocalDateTime);
            console.log(dt.Year + "-" + dt.Month + "-" + dt.Day);

        }

        i = i+1;
    }

    console.log("Success.");

    // {
    //   "entries": [
    //     {
    //       ".tag": "folder",
    //       "name": "chilkat Team Folder",
    //       "path_lower": "/chilkat team folder",
    //       "path_display": "/chilkat Team Folder",
    //       "id": "id:2VqX9RLr-JAAAAAAAAAAAQ",
    //       "shared_folder_id": "1210954290",
    //       "sharing_info": {
    //         "read_only": false,
    //         "shared_folder_id": "1210954290"
    //       }
    //     },
    //     {
    //       ".tag": "file",
    //       "name": "Get Started with Dropbox.pdf",
    //       "path_lower": "/get started with dropbox.pdf",
    //       "path_display": "/Get Started with Dropbox.pdf",
    //       "id": "id:oxE2oMDqH4AAAAAAAAAAAQ",
    //       "client_modified": "2016-05-07T11:47:47Z",
    //       "server_modified": "2016-05-07T11:47:47Z",
    //       "rev": "1483db13f",
    //       "size": 692088
    //     }
    //   ],
    //   "cursor": "AAEnZXciJyS4gzC_tlX6K2na4c8o7_09-dxmXKHpkPPyf3Kl0H4N-VYnz424nCrFOJuhMiM5_RgNAersumx9qe7NgCSdlppr80iFk0gf6vPlecM6SBtLcs6OYXL8ILWiZ62pfnOvgC3WKGlG6dqZ-VXH",
    //   "has_more": false
    // }
    // 

}

chilkatExample();