In this lesson, we’ll see some important endpoints of the file_requests namespace. These endpoints require us to enable the file_requests.read and file_requests.write permissions. We’ll discuss the following endpoint operations:

create
list
count

Create a file request

We’ll first explore the /file_requests/create endpoint. It initiates a request to create a file for the user whose access token is being passed in the request’s headers parameter. This is an HTTP POST request.

Request parameters

Let’s take a look at some of the important parameters for our request, their descriptions, and their formats in the table below:

Parameter Name	Format	Required	Description
`title`	String	Yes	Specifies the name of the requested file.
`destination`	String	Yes	Defines the path to the Dropbox folder where we want to create or save a file. Path should be in "/(.\|[\r\n])"* format. Applications that have enabled the “App folder” permission will have a path relative to the specified folder.
`deadline`	Object	No	Can only be used by professional and business accounts.
`open`	Boolean	No	Indicates whether this file should be open or not. Submissions can’t be made if the file is closed. It’s set to `true` by default.
`description`	String	No	Defines the description of the file request.

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// Define import libraries here
import fetch from 'node-fetch';
// Define API key here
const token = '{{TOKEN}}'
// Define endpoint URL here
const endpointUrl = new URL('https://api.dropboxapi.com/2/file_requests/create');
// Define Header Parameters here
const headerParameters = {
  'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}`,
  'Content-Type': 'application/json',
};
// Define Body Parameters here
const bodyParameters = JSON.stringify({
  title : "demoFileByAPI",
  destination : "/home",
  open : true,
  description : "We used an API call to create this request."
});
// Set the API call options
const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: headerParameters,
  body: bodyParameters,
};
// Function to make the API call
async function fetchRequest() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(endpointUrl, options);
    // Custom function for printing the API response
    printResponse(response);
  } catch (error) {
    // Custom function for printing the error message
    printError(error);
  }
}
// Call function to make the API call
fetchRequest();

In the code above, we do the following:

Line 2: We import the fetch library that we need to use in our code from node-fetch.
Line 5: We get the value for TOKEN to use for authentication.
Line 8: We define the request URL.
Lines 11–13: We define the headers of the fetch request. It includes the authorization and the type of content, which is application/json in most cases.
Lines 17–22: We define the bodyParameters of the fetch request.
Lines 25–29: We set the API call options.
Lines 32–42: We create a function to make the API call. It will try to get the response and will pass the response to the custom function printResponse; otherwise, it will catch the error and will pass it to the custom function printError.
Line 45: We call the function fetchRequest to make the API call.

Response fields

We’ll now go to our Dropbox dashboard and select the “File requests” option from the side menu. Our file request will be available here.

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// Define import libraries here
import fetch from 'node-fetch';
// Define API key here
const token = '{{TOKEN}}'
// Define endpoint URL here
const endpointUrl = new URL('https://api.dropboxapi.com/2/file_requests/list');
// Define Header Parameters here
const headerParameters = {
  'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}`,
  'Content-Type': 'application/json',
};
// Set the API call options
const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: headerParameters,
  body : 'null'
};
// Function to make the API call
async function fetchRequestList() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(endpointUrl, options);
    // Custom function for printing the API response
    printResponse(response);
  } catch (error) {
    // Custom function for printing the error message
    printError(error);
  }
}
// Call function to make the API call
fetchRequestList();

In the code above, we do the following:

Line 2: We import the fetch library that we need to use in our code from node-fetch.
Line 5: We get the value for TOKEN to use for authentication.
Line 8: We define the request URL.
Lines 11–13: We define the headers of the fetch request. It includes the authorization and the type of content, which is application/json in most cases.
Lines 17–21: We set the API call options.
Lines 24–33: We create a function to make the API call. It will try to get the response and will pass the response to the custom function printResponse; otherwise, it will catch the error and will pass it to the custom function printError.
Line 36: We call the function fetchRequestList to make the API call.

The successful execution of the code above will return file_requests, including all the requested files and their properties.

Response fields

Most of the response fields are the same as the ones we’ve discussed previously. Regardless, let’s take a look at some of the important response fields for the list endpoint in the table below:

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// Define import libraries here
import fetch from 'node-fetch';
// Define API key here
const token = '{{TOKEN}}'
// Define endpoint URL here
const endpointUrl = new URL('https://api.dropboxapi.com/2/file_requests/count');
// Define Header Parameters here
const headerParameters = {
  'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}`,
  'Content-Type': 'application/json',
};
// Set the API call options
const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: headerParameters,
  body : 'null'
};
// Function to make the API call
async function fetchTotalRequests() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(endpointUrl, options);
    // Custom function for printing the API response
    printResponse(response);
  } catch (error) {
    // Custom function for printing the error message
    printError(error);
  }
}
// Call function to make the API call
fetchTotalRequests();

In the code above, we do the following:

Line 2: We import the fetch library that we need to use in our code from node-fetch.
Line 5: We get the value for TOKEN to use for authentication.
Line 8: We define the request URL.
Lines 11–14: We define the headers of the fetch request. It includes the authorization and the type of content, which is application/json in most cases.
Lines 17–21: We set the API call options.
Lines 24–33: We create a function to make the API call. It will try to get the response and will pass the response to the custom function printResponse; otherwise, it will catch the error and will pass it to the custom function printError.
Line 36: We call the function fetchTotalRequests to make the API call.

Response

The code above will return the total file requests specific to the current user.

Field	Format	Description
`id`	String	Unique ID of the file.
`url`	String	URL of our created file; anyone with this link can upload files to our Dropbox.
`title`	String	Title of the file that we specified in the call.
`destination`	String in format "/(.\|[\r\n])"*	Provides the full path to the file (in our case, it’s "/home").
`is_open`	Boolean	Tells us the status of the file, if it’s `open` or `closed`. If the file is `closed`, then content can’t be uploaded to it.

Fields	Format	Description
`id`	string	Unique ID of the file request.
`is_open`	boolean	Indicates whether the file request is `open` or `closed`.
`file_count`	int	Total number of files that were uploaded using the URL associated with the file request.

Introduction to Dropbox API

Profile Information

Directories Management

Access Management

Dropbox API Intergration in React

Conclusion

Create, List, and Get File Requests

Create a file request

Request parameters

Response fields

List all file requests

Response fields

Get the total number of file requests

Response