Box Platform API

Name: Box Platform API API
Brand: Box Platform API
Availability: InStock

★ Only Publicly Available OpenAPI DocumentStorageDocument Managementoauth2296 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Store, share, and govern enterprise documents in Box. Apply metadata, retention policies, and AI classifications while controlling access across teams and external collaborators.

Quickstart

Get started with Box Platform API in minutes using your preferred integration method.

# Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf)
{
  "jentic": {
    "url": "https://api.jentic.com/mcp",
    "auth": "oauth"
  }
}

# Then ask your agent:
"upload a file to Box"

# → Jentic returns the GET /events tool with parameter schema, agent executes.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with Box Platform API API.

Upload files in single or chunked sessions and organize them within nested folder hierarchies

Apply metadata templates and security classifications to files for automated governance workflows

Configure retention policies and legal holds on content to meet regulatory requirements

Generate shared links with granular permission controls including password, expiry, and download restrictions

GET STARTED

Start building with Box Platform API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI document for Box Platform API, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

Provide programmatic access to enterprise content stored in Box with 296 endpoints covering file operations, collaboration, metadata, and governance. Apply retention policies, legal holds, and security classifications to documents at scale. The API supports chunked uploads for large files, AI-powered content extraction, and fine-grained permission controls across organizational hierarchies.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use Box Platform API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ AI Agent Document Governance

AI agents enforce document governance policies by applying metadata templates, security classifications, and retention schedules to content stored in Box. Through Jentic, agents discover the correct Box operations by intent (e.g., 'apply retention policy'), receive the operation schema, and execute without manual configuration. The 296 endpoints cover the full lifecycle from upload to legal hold to disposition.

Apply the 7-year retention policy to all files in folder 123456789 using POST /retention_policies and POST /retention_policy_assignments

Enterprise File Collaboration

Enable cross-team and external collaboration on documents with role-based access controls. Add collaborators with specific permission levels (editor, viewer, uploader) to individual files or entire folders. Track activity through comments, tasks, and version history. Box handles watermarking for sensitive content and device pinning for access control.

Add user@example.com as an Editor collaborator on folder 987654321 using POST /collaborations with role 'editor'

Automated Metadata Classification

Classify documents automatically by applying metadata templates with structured fields. Create custom templates with date, enum, float, and string fields, then apply instances to files and folders. The metadata cascade policy feature propagates metadata from a folder to all contained items automatically, reducing manual classification work across large document repositories.

Create a metadata template with fields for 'contract_type' and 'expiry_date', then apply it to file 111222333 using POST /metadata_templates/schema and POST /files/{file_id}/metadata/{scope}/{template_key}

Large File Upload and Version Management

Upload files of any size using chunked upload sessions that support parallel part uploads and automatic retry on failure. Each file maintains a complete version history, allowing rollback to any prior state. Upload sessions break files into parts, upload them independently, and commit the final assembled file in a single atomic operation.

Create a chunked upload session for a 500 MB file using POST /files/upload_sessions, upload 3 parts with PUT /files/upload_sessions/{id}/parts, then commit with POST /files/upload_sessions/{id}/commit

Key Endpoints

296 endpoints — provide programmatic access to enterprise content stored in box with 296 endpoints covering file operations, collaboration, metadata, and governance.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/files/{file_id}

Retrieve file metadata by ID

POST

/files/content

Upload a new file to a folder

POST

/folders

Create a new folder

GET

/folders/{folder_id}/items

List items in a folder

POST

/collaborations

Add a collaborator to a file or folder

POST

/files/upload_sessions

Create a chunked upload session

GET

/search

Search for content across the account

POST

/retention_policy_assignments

Assign a retention policy to content

GET

/files/{file_id}

Retrieve file metadata by ID

POST

/files/content

Upload a new file to a folder

POST

/folders

Create a new folder

GET

/folders/{folder_id}/items

List items in a folder

POST

/collaborations

Add a collaborator to a file or folder

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

Box OAuth 2.0 tokens and JWT credentials are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault (MAXsystem). Agents receive scoped access tokens — raw client secrets and private keys never enter the agent's context.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search by intent (e.g., 'apply retention policy to a folder') and Jentic returns matching Box operations with their input schemas, covering all 296 endpoints across files, metadata, and governance.

Time to first call

Direct Box integration: 3-7 days for OAuth/JWT setup, webhook configuration, and chunked upload handling. Through Jentic: under 1 hour — search, load schema, execute.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Alternative

Dropbox API v2

Consumer and small-team cloud storage with simpler file sync and sharing

Choose Dropbox when the use case is personal or small-team file sync without enterprise governance needs like retention policies or legal holds

Alternative

Google Drive API

File storage tightly integrated with Google Workspace collaboration tools

Choose Google Drive when users already work in Google Workspace and need native Docs/Sheets editing integration

Complementary

Google Cloud Storage

Infrastructure-level object storage for raw data, backups, and application assets

Use alongside Box when you need high-throughput programmatic object storage for application data while keeping governed business documents in Box

FAQs

Specific to using Box Platform API API through Jentic.

What authentication does the Box Platform API use?

The Box Platform API uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication. Apps authorize via the /authorize endpoint and exchange codes for tokens at /oauth2/token. Server-to-server apps can use JWT or Client Credentials Grant. Through Jentic, OAuth tokens are stored encrypted in the MAXsystem vault — agents receive scoped access tokens without handling client secrets.

Can I apply retention policies to files with the Box Platform API?

Yes. Create retention policies with POST /retention_policies specifying the duration and disposition action (permanently_delete or remove_retention). Assign them to folders, files, or metadata-matched content with POST /retention_policy_assignments. The API also supports legal holds via /legal_hold_policies for litigation preservation.

What are the rate limits for the Box Platform API?

Box enforces rate limits of 1,000 API calls per minute per user for most endpoints. Upload endpoints have separate limits. The API returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header when limits are exceeded. Bulk operations like metadata cascades count as single calls regardless of affected item count.

How do I upload large files to Box through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'upload a large file to Box' to load the chunked upload session schema. Create a session with POST /files/upload_sessions, upload parts in parallel with PUT /files/upload_sessions/{id}/parts, then commit with POST /files/upload_sessions/{id}/commit. Files up to 50 GB are supported. Install with pip install jentic.

Can I search file contents with the Box Platform API?

Yes. The GET /search endpoint searches across file names, descriptions, tags, comments, and full-text file content (for supported formats like PDFs and Office documents). Filter results by file type, owner, ancestor folder, date range, and metadata template fields.

How does Box handle file versioning?

Every file upload to an existing file ID creates a new version. Access all versions with GET /files/{file_id}/versions, download specific versions, or promote an older version to current with POST /files/{file_id}/versions/current. Enterprise accounts retain up to 100 versions per file by default.