Box

Agents can search and work with files and folders in Box.

Warning: This connector needs Box administrator work before anyone can connect. An administrator creates the OAuth integration in Box and enables AI access for the enterprise. Without both, authorization either fails or succeeds into an empty account.

Before you connect

  • A Box administrator who will create the OAuth integration and enable AI access for the enterprise. If that is not you, start by asking them — no amount of work in Paperclip substitutes for it.
  • The client ID and secret from that Box integration, and Paperclip's callback URI registered on it. Paperclip shows the URI during setup.
  • A Box account with access to the content you want agents to use.

Box does not support automatic client registration for this server, so your own OAuth integration is required rather than optional.

Connect Box

Most of this happens in Box's Admin Console and needs an administrator. Start in Paperclip only to read the callback URI.

1. Read Paperclip's callback URI

Open Connectors → Box. Box needs an OAuth app you register yourself, so the setup screen opens on Box needs its own OAuth app and displays the callback URI. Copy it and give it to whoever does step 3.

2. Turn on Box AI for the enterprise

In the Box Admin Console:

  1. Select Box AI, then Settings.
  2. Ensure AI API is enabled.
  3. Ensure Official Box Integrations is enabled for all users is selected.

Warning: Without these, authorization can succeed and still leave agents unable to do anything useful. If the connection looks healthy but every call fails or returns nothing, come back to this step before debugging anything in Paperclip.

3. Create the integration credentials

Still in the Admin Console:

  1. Select Integrations in the left sidebar.
  2. Filter by the MCP category, or search for the Box MCP server you want.
  3. Beside the selected MCP server, select its state and enable it.
  4. For a server that is not listed, hover over Custom Box MCP Server and select Configure.
  5. Under Additional Configuration, select + Add Integration Credentials.
  6. Copy the generated Client ID and Client Secret.
  7. Enter the Redirect URI from step 1.
  8. Under Scopes, ensure Manage AI is selected.

4. Finish in Paperclip

Return to the setup screen, supply the client ID and secret, then authorize in Box as the account whose content the agents should reach.

Box's own reference is Managing Box MCP Servers.

Choose access

Reach is the authorizing Box account's: the files, folders, and shared content that account can already open. Paperclip has no folder picker, so narrow access by authorizing with an account that has access to less.

Box enterprises often apply further restrictions on top — classification labels, shared-link policies, and app-access rules can all keep content out of an integration even when the user can see it in the Box web app. This is the usual reason an agent finds nothing after an apparently clean setup.

File writes and deletions are consequential and not always recoverable from Paperclip. Leave them on Ask first or Off, and rely on Box's trash and version history for recovery. See Set action permissions.

Try it

Search Box for a file named "supplier agreement" and tell me its folder and last modified date. Do not download, move, or change anything.

Compare against Box. A metadata read confirms the credential and the enterprise's AI access without pulling document contents into a task transcript.

Note: Illustrative task, not a recorded test result. Substitute a filename you can find yourself.

Troubleshooting and limitations

Problem Likely cause Fix
Authorization fails The Box OAuth integration does not exist, or the callback URI does not match Have an administrator create it and register the exact URI
Authorization succeeds but nothing is found AI access is not enabled for the enterprise, or an enterprise policy blocks the app Ask a Box administrator to enable AI access and check app-access rules
Some folders are visible and others are not The authorizing account is not a collaborator on them, or classification rules apply Add the account as a collaborator, or check the classification policy
A file cannot be read despite being listed Enterprise restrictions on that content, or an unsupported file type Check the file's classification in Box
A delete or move happened unexpectedly A write action was set to Allowed Restore from Box trash, then tighten the action settings
Needs attention The grant was revoked, or the integration was disabled Select Reconnect; check the integration still exists

Limitations: one Box account per connection. No folder restriction inside Paperclip. Enterprise policy can override what the account appears to have.