Watch received files in a dropbox account

[Richard_D]

 Hello,

I would like to watch for changes to all files in a Dropbox account. I have implemented the following:

1) Call  /list_folder/get_latest_cursor to get a cursor to a users files. I store this locally.

2) I then call list_folder/continue and get any delta from previous hanges and store the new cursor locally. This then repeats periodically.

This appears to be working for files that a user adds to their account. However it doesn't return when a file is shared or unshared by another user.

I then tried list_received_files and list_received_files_continue. This however does not appear to work the same way as list_folder, as it doesn't return a cusor when no more results are present, so I can't keep polling for a delta. I have to retrieve all received files everytime. Is this correct or am I doing something wrong?

My usecase is that I want to watch for changes to any files, shared folders, or recieved files for a Dropbox user. What is the easiest way to do this?

Thanks for the help.

[Greg-DB]

There isn't a way to get notified of sharing actions like this unfortunately, but I'll pass this along as a feature request. 

As you found, /list_folder/continue is only for actual file/folder changes, which doesn't include sharing activity, and the list_received_files interface doesn't work the same way as list_folder.

[Richard_D]

Thanks for the clarification. Are webhooks any help for this scenerio? Will i get notified via a webhook when a file is shared to a user?

[Greg-DB]

No, webhooks would only notify of filesystem changes, i.e., like /list_folder/continue would report, not sharing changes.

(There is technically some additional functionality for Business apps/teams, but it sounds like you're not referring to a Business app/team, so that wouldn't apply. Let me know if not though.)