Dropbox API integrations in practice
At Dropbox Developer Meetups in San Francisco, Seattle, and New York, engineering teams from Smartsheet, HelloSign, Azuqua, and Workato shared how they built on the DBX Platform to connect content with the tools their users work in every day. Their stories cover quick starts with Dropbox components, deeper automation through API endpoints, and the business impact of removing friction from document-centric workflows.
Fast integration with Dropbox Chooser
Smartsheet, a work execution platform, first integrated Dropbox in 2013 using Chooser, Dropbox's JavaScript component for letting users pick files without implementing a file browser, authentication, or upload handling. Users can attach documents, PDFs, presentations, images, and videos directly from the Smartsheet UI.
Engineer Brian Harper credited Chooser for the low integration cost. "Within a matter of minutes, we had Dropbox Chooser up and running in our application," he said, adding that it has required no engineering time to maintain over five years.
HelloSign, an eSignature provider, also uses Chooser so users can select files from Dropbox for signature. Once a document is signed, HelloSign calls Dropbox's /files/upload endpoint with the user's OAuth token to asynchronously return the finished document to Dropbox. Product Manager Aron Solberg noted that the integration was simple to implement and that customers who activated it showed a higher-than-average contract amount, a sign the workflow was hitting a real need.
Automation platforms take a deeper approach
Azuqua, an integration and digital process automation platform, has connected with Dropbox since 2016. The company maps more than twenty Dropbox API endpoints to drag-and-drop actions for non-technical users. These range from file creation and updates via the /upload endpoint to permission management with /share_folder and /create_shared_link_with_settings. Product Manager Allison Amaral said Dropbox was one of the easier platforms Azuqua has integrated with, citing clear, straightforward documentation.
Workato, another integration and automation platform, built its Dropbox connector in 2016. The connector works with numerous Dropbox API endpoints and makes use of webhooks, polling, and the core API. Users assemble "recipes" that tie business systems together.
At the San Francisco meetup, Workato's VP of Business Development Markus Zirn demonstrated a recipe that uploads Zendesk attachments into Dropbox when a ticket is closed. The example showed how combining Workato's out-of-the-box connectors to Dropbox and Zendesk APIs can produce an automated workflow for customer experience staff in hours.
A joint customer workflow in action
Smartsheet and Azuqua integrate with each other as well as with Dropbox, and the three companies worked together on a webinar with Aramark Corporation, a food services and facilities management provider. Aramark connected Dropbox, Smartsheet, Salesforce, and Azuqua to streamline its request-for-proposal (RFP) process. When an RFP changes in Salesforce, Azuqua updates Smartsheet automatically; when a task is marked complete in Smartsheet, the related file is saved to Dropbox and details are logged back in Salesforce. The automation saved three hours per RFP and over 40 hours per week.
What to expect at upcoming events
The meetups also covered updates to the DBX Platform, including a deep dive into the new team events APIs. The next developer event is DBX Dev Day in Tel Aviv on August 27, featuring a first-app workshop, an overview of what's new, and a panel with local partners. Future event dates will be announced soon.
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