# Creating an OAuth App for Dropbox This guide will walk you through creating a Dropbox app, retrieving your **Client ID** and **Client Secret**, and adding them to your Apideck Dashboard so you can sync files securely. --- ## Step 1: Create a Dropbox App 1. Access the Dropbox developers page at [https://www.dropbox.com/developers](https://www.dropbox.com/developers) ![Dropbox login page](https://res.cloudinary.com/apideck/image/upload/v1756198246/docs/connectors/dropbox/login-page.png) 2. Click **Create App** > ⚠️ **The access type cannot be changed later.** Dropbox fixes **App folder** or **Full Dropbox** access at creation time and provides no way to switch afterwards. Correcting it means deleting the app and registering a new one, which gives you new credentials and forces every customer who has already connected to authorise again. Dropbox asks you to pick the least-privileged option that works, and checks during Production review that an app is not requesting broader access than its functionality justifies, so asking for **Full Dropbox** when **App folder** would do can cost you an approval. 3. Select the following options: - **API**: Choose **Scoped Access** - **Type of Access**: Choose **App Folder** if the integration only needs its own folder under the customer's `/Apps/` directory, and **Full Dropbox** only if it genuinely needs to reach the rest of their account. See the warning above: this cannot be changed afterwards. - **Name your app**: Enter a unique name (e.g., *YourCompany-Integration*) 4. Click **Create App** ![Dropbox create app page](https://res.cloudinary.com/apideck/image/upload/v1756198246/docs/connectors/dropbox/create-app.png) --- ## Step 2: Configure App Settings 1. On the **App Settings** page: - Copy the **App Key** (this will be your **Client ID**) - Copy the **App Secret** (this will be your **Client Secret**) 2. Under **OAuth 2**, add a redirect URI: - Use the callback URL: ``` https://unify.apideck.com/vault/callback ``` - Click **Add** to save it 3. Under **Permissions**, make sure to assign these scopes: - **account_info.read** View basic information about your Dropbox account such as your username, email, and country - **files.metadata.read** View information about your Dropbox files and folders - **files.metadata.write** View and edit information about your Dropbox files and folders - **files.content.read** View content of your Dropbox files and folders - **files.content.write** Edit content of your Dropbox files and folders ![Dropbox permissions tab](https://res.cloudinary.com/apideck/image/upload/v1756198246/docs/connectors/dropbox/permissions-tab.png) > 💡 **Enable every scope you need before you roll out.** Dropbox keeps an existing authorisation exactly as it was granted and never re-prompts for new permissions. If you add a scope later, it does not reach customers who are already connected: each of them has to authorise the connection again before the new permission works for them. 4. (Optional) Configure your domain name and logo on the **Branding** tab ![Dropbox branding tab](https://res.cloudinary.com/apideck/image/upload/v1756198246/docs/connectors/dropbox/branding-app.png) --- ## Step 3: Enable Additional Users By default, a newly created Dropbox app is in **Development** status and can only be linked to the account that created it (the app's settings page shows **Development users: Only you**). To allow other Dropbox accounts to connect through Apideck, you must raise this limit: 1. On the app's **Settings** page, find the **Development users** row 2. Click **Enable additional users**, which raises the development ceiling to **500 users** ![Dropbox enable additional users](https://res.cloudinary.com/apideck/image/upload/v1782138972/docs/connectors/dropbox/dropbox-increase-limit-users.png) ### 500 users and 50 users are two different limits Dropbox applies two numbers to an app in Development status, and they do not mean the same thing: - **500 linked users** is the ceiling a Development app can ever reach, even when everything else is in order. - **50 linked users** is the threshold that starts a **two-week window** to obtain Production approval. This is the number that bites in practice, because it arrives well before the ceiling does. If that window closes without approval, the app can no longer link **additional** users. Customers who are already connected keep working normally. Only Production approval lifts the freeze: disconnecting users does not lift the freeze. Dropbox exposes no API for the linked-user count, so the app's **Analytics** tab is the only place to watch it approach 50. Check it as you roll the connection out. ### Applying for production Click **Apply for production** on the app's page in the App Console. Dropbox asks how the app uses the API and for an app icon, and requires that you follow its Developer Branding Guidelines and Developer Terms. Two things commonly cost an approval: an app that still calls deprecated v1 endpoints is rejected, and an app requesting broader access than its functionality justifies is questioned (see Step 1). **Apply before your 50th customer connects, not after.** Dropbox usually leaves an application unreviewed until the app reaches 50 connected users, so submitting early does not get you approved early, but it does mean the review is already under way when the clock starts rather than beginning from nothing. If you can justify it, you can ask Dropbox for an earlier review. Watch the count on the Analytics tab as you roll the connection out, since no API reports it. After approval the app can link an unlimited number of users, but its **name can no longer be changed**, so settle on the name your customers will see before you apply. --- ## Step 4: Add Credentials to Your Apideck Dashboard 1. Log in to your [Apideck Dashboard](https://platform.apideck.com/) 2. Open the [Dropbox connector settings](https://platform.apideck.com/configuration/file-storage/dropbox) 3. Select **Use your own client credentials** and enter the **Client ID** and **Client Secret** you copied earlier 4. Save your changes ![Apideck dashboard Dropbox integration](https://res.cloudinary.com/apideck/image/upload/v1756198246/docs/connectors/dropbox/configure-connector.png) --- ## Step 5: Test the Connection 1. Go back to the **Dropbox connector settings** in your Apideck Dashboard 2. Click **Test Vault** to launch a Dropbox sign-in window 3. You will be redirected to Dropbox to authorise the connection 4. After granting access, you should see the connection status as **Connected** ![Dropbox integration connected](https://res.cloudinary.com/apideck/image/upload/v1756198246/docs/connectors/dropbox/authorization-completed.png) --- ## FAQ and troubleshooting **Authorisation fails or Dropbox reports a redirect URI mismatch.** Check that the redirect URI registered on the app is exactly `https://unify.apideck.com/vault/callback`, with no trailing slash and no other path. **A customer authorised successfully but a new feature returns a permission error.** They authorised before you added the scope that feature needs. Dropbox does not re-prompt an existing authorisation, so ask that customer to authorise the connection again. **New customers can no longer connect while existing ones are fine.** The app has passed 50 linked users and its Production window has closed. Apply for production on the app's page in the App Console; approval is what restores linking. **The access type is wrong.** It cannot be changed on an existing app. Weigh a new app (new credentials, and every connected customer authorises again) against staying with the current one before you delete anything. Need a hand? Contact [Apideck Support](https://help.apideck.com/en/articles/7774658). ## Further reading - [Dropbox developer guide (app status and production approval)](https://www.dropbox.com/developers/reference/developer-guide) - [Dropbox getting started (access types)](https://www.dropbox.com/developers/reference/getting-started) - [Dropbox OAuth guide](https://developers.dropbox.com/oauth-guide)