Every 15 minutes

Get told when files land in a Dropbox folder

You get an email listing new files shortly after they show up in the folder.

Runs: Every 15 minutes
Apps: Dropbox
AI: Not needed
Access: files.metadata.read

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: every 15 minutes, check my Dropbox /Inbox folder and email me the name and size of any new files.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

Add to ChatGPT Add to Claude

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

A client drops signed forms into a shared Dropbox folder. A photographer's second shooter uploads the day's images. A supplier posts a price list. Nobody tells you they did it, so the file sits there until you happen to open the folder, and whatever depends on it, such as an edit, a payment or an order, is held up for hours or days. Dropbox's own notifications are inconsistent across plans and tend to bundle everything into a digest.

Every 15 minutes the automation asks Dropbox what changed in the folder since the last check, using a stored cursor, and notifies you about each new file. It then saves the new cursor, so a file is only ever announced once, and nothing is missed between runs.

Freelancers, studios, accountants and small teams that receive files from outside people will use it most.

What you get out of it

Work starts when the file arrives
Knowing within fifteen minutes that something new landed lets you begin the edit, the review or the payment run the same day. Waiting until you remember to check can cost a full day on a deadline.
Clients are not left wondering
When a client uploads something and hears back quickly, they feel looked after. A short acknowledgment within the hour sets a very different tone from silence, and it costs you almost nothing.
No missed uploads in busy folders
With many files arriving across several days, it is easy to overlook one. A notification per new file means each one is seen, and the order in which they arrived is preserved in your inbox.
Each file announced exactly once
Using a stored cursor means the automation does not re-announce old files or miss any between checks. That keeps the notifications trustworthy, so you do not learn to ignore them.
Works for folders you do not own
If you can see a shared folder, you can watch it. That is helpful when someone else controls the folder and has no intention of notifying you themselves, such as a client who uploads and moves on.

How it works

What happens, step by step

Every 15 minutes, ClickRuntime checks your Dropbox folder for changes since the last check.
It picks out files that have been added, so you only hear about each one once.
You get an email listing each new file with its name and size.

Before it runs live

Connect Dropbox

What you get

RunsEvery 15 minutes

Get told when files land in a Dropbox foldertoday, 9:00Succeeded

Email · 2 new files in Dropbox /InboxAcme-signed-contract.pdf (412 KB) Northwind-logo.png (88 KB)

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.

Your own rules
Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.
Any number of apps
One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.
AI where it helps
Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.
On a schedule or on each event
Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
Combine it with other Dropbox steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.

new_file_in_folder_alert_dropbox.pyexample

from clickruntime import on_trigger, report_fetched, state, notify, http, credentials

API = "https://api.dropboxapi.com/2/files"

@on_trigger
def run(event):
    auth = {"Authorization": "Bearer " + credentials.connection("dropbox", "main")}
    cursor = state.get("cursor")
    if not cursor:
        state.set("cursor", http.post(f"{API}/list_folder/get_latest_cursor", headers=auth, json={"path": "/Inbox"}).json()["cursor"])
        report_fetched(0)
        return {"summary": "Started watching /Inbox"}
    page = http.post(f"{API}/list_folder/continue", headers=auth, json={"cursor": cursor}).json()
    files = [e for e in page["entries"] if e[".tag"] == "file"]
    report_fetched(len(files))
    if not files:
        return {"summary": "No new files"}
    lines = [f"{f['name']} ({f['size'] / 1024:,.0f} KB)" for f in files]
    notify.email_me(f"{len(files)} new files in Dropbox /Inbox", "\n".join(lines))
    state.set("cursor", page["cursor"])
    return {"new": len(files)}

FAQ

Common questions

Does it notice edits to existing files?

It reports new entries in the folder. Depending on how it is set up, modified files can be reported too, but a plain new-file alert ignores changes to files that were already there, which keeps the notifications focused on arrivals.

Does it include files in subfolders?

It can watch the folder and everything inside it, or just the top level, depending on what you ask for. For a client folder organized by project, watching subfolders means uploads in any project folder are announced.

How does the stored cursor work?

Dropbox returns a cursor with each listing that marks where you left off. The automation saves it after every run and sends it next time, so Dropbox only returns what changed since then, which is both fast and reliable.

What permissions does it need?

files.metadata.read. Nothing else in your accounts is used.

Does it need AI?

No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's AI allowance.

How many runs does it use?

One run each time it checks. Checks that find nothing new and stop right away aren't counted.

Can I change how it works?

Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

Every 15 minutes