Boxley is a git-like CLI for syncing files with Dropbox.

Boxley allows you to add any file to a list of files (paths.json) that can then be synchronized with Dropbox. When adding a file to this list, the directory in Dropbox that the file will be synced to can be specified. Files can also be organized into "groups", so that you don't have to push individual files or all of your files at once.

Installation of Boxley, unfortunately, requires you to create your own Dropbox app. The reason for this is Boxley requires full read/write permissions to your Dropbox, so if I were to distribute the API key with the app, it would pose a security risk, I think.

See INSTALL.md for full instructions.

The default settings are as follows (found in ~/.boxley/boxley.conf):

access_token=YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN
db_dir=/Boxley/
relative_to_home=true
overwrite=true
autopush=false
autopush_time=---
push_on_startup=false
autopull=false
autopull_time=---
pull_on_startup=false

• access_token: A user-specific Dropbox access token. Don't alter this! It is created with init.
• db_dir: The default directory to sync with. Make sure to have a trailing / at the end, regardless of your OS.
• relative_to_home: Tells Boxley to include the path to your home directory in the Dropbox file paths.
• overwrite: Tells Dropbox to overwrite the files that are pushed, instead of duplicating them.

Other settings not yet implemented. Sorry :(

A simple example:

echo Hellogoodbye > my_file.txt
boxley add my_file.txt
boxley push my_file.txt

I like examples, so I'll put a lot here. My notation for displaying the mapping between the local file path and the Dropbox file path is as such:

/home/you/some/path/file.txt  -->  /Boxley/some/path/file.txt

These commands assume the default settings are used. See above.

Adds file paths to paths.json, which can then be pushed. If a group is specified (see -g below), then the path is added to a group file instead. The Dropbox file path defaults to the local file path. Multiple files can be specified, and should work with any option.

Example:

boxley add file.txt
# /home/you/some/path/file.txt  -->  /Boxley/some/path/file.txt

boxley add fileA.txt fileB.txt
# /home/you/some/path/fileA.txt  -->  /Boxley/some/path/fileA.txt
# /home/you/some/path/fileB.txt  -->  /Boxley/some/path/fileB.txt

If RELATIVE_TO_HOME is false, then:

boxley add file.txt
# /home/you/some/path/file.txt  -->  /Boxley/home/you/some/path/file.txt

Adds the file path(s) to the group file specified by its name. Group filenames are of the form group-GROUPNAME.json. If the group does not already exist, it is created.

boxley add -g mygroup file.txt
# /home/you/some/path/file.txt  -->  /Boxley/some/path/file.txt
# this is found in  ~/.boxley/group-mygroup.json

Ignores the default directory in boxley.json. Can be used in conjunction with -d.

boxley add -root file.txt
# /home/you/some/path/file.txt  -->  /some/path/file.txt

If RELATIVE_TO_HOME is false, then:

boxley add -root file.txt
# /home/you/some/path/file.txt  -->  /home/you/some/path/file.txt

Specifies which Dropbox directory the file will be synced to. Can be used in conjunction with -root.

The following example will hold regardless of RELATIVE_TO_HOME's value.

boxley add -d MyDirectory file.txt
# /home/you/some/path/file.txt  -->  /Boxley/MyDirectory/file.txt

boxley add -root -d MyDirectory file.txt
# /home/you/some/path/file.txt  -->  /MyDirectory/file.txt

Deletes file paths from paths.json. If a group is specified (see -g below), then the file path is deleted from the group file instead. If a file path cannot be found in the corresponding .json file, it is skipped.

Example:

boxley add file.txt
# /home/you/some/path/file.txt  -->  /Boxley/some/path/file.txt

boxley add fileA.txt fileB.txt
# /home/you/some/path/fileA.txt  -->  /Boxley/some/path/fileA.txt
# /home/you/some/path/fileB.txt  -->  /Boxley/some/path/fileB.txt

If RELATIVE_TO_HOME is false, then:

boxley del file.txt

Deletes the file path(s) from the group file specified by its name. If the group does not exist, the process is aborted.

boxley del -g mygroup file.txt

List all files in each group given. The absolute path of every file is printed by default. If the --home flag is set, then the paths will be relative to the home directory instead of the root, if applicable. If the -v flag is set, then each file's corresponding Dropbox directory is printed too.

boxley add -g somegroup file.txt     # assume the path is /home/user/Documents/file.txt

boxley ls somegroup

Files in 'somegroup':
  /home/user/Documents/file.txt

Prints each file path relative to home instead of the root.

boxley ls --home somegroup

Files in 'somegroup':
  ~/Documents/file.txt

Prints each file's corresponding Dropbox path.

boxley ls -v somegroup

Files in 'somegroup':
  /home/user/Documents/file.txt --> /Boxley/Documents/file.txt

Creates a group file. Multiple group files can be created at once.

boxley mkgroup awesomestuff     # creates ~/.boxley/group-awesomestuff.json
boxley mkgroup groupA groupB    # multiple groups!

Pulls specified files from Dropbox. If a file belongs to a group, its group name MUST be specified, unless it belongs to both paths.json and a group, in which case, either one can be specified. Files of different groups CANNOT be pulled at the same time; only files of one group can be. If a file specified does not exist in the *.json file it should belong to, then it will be skipped.

boxley pull myfile.txt
boxley pull file_A.txt file_B.txt

# if file_C.txt and file_D.txt are in the group "hello"
boxley push -g hello file_C.txt file_D.txt

Group that the file(s) belong to. Multiple groups cannot be specified. If a file belongs to a group, its group must be specified.

Verbose output; prints a message for every file that is pulled.

Pulls ALL files (those specified in paths.json and all group-*.json files) from Dropbox. If a file in the *.json file cannot be found, it is skipped.

boxley pullall

Verbose output; prints a message for every file that is pushed.

Pulls files in specified group(s) from Dropbox. If a file in the group-*.json file cannot be found, it is skipped.

boxley pullgroup awesomestuff     # a single group
boxley pullgroup assets sprites   # multiple groups!

Verbose output; prints a message for every file that is pulled.

Pushes specified files to Dropbox. If a file belongs to a group, its group name MUST be specified, unless it belongs to both paths.json and a group, in which case, either one can be specified. Files of different groups CANNOT be added at the same time; only files of one group can be. If a file specified does not exist in the *.json file it should belong to, then it will be skipped.

boxley push myfile.txt
boxley push file_A.txt file_B.txt

boxley push --dup myfile.txt    # duplicate file instead of overwriting

# if file_C.txt and file_D.txt are in the group "hello"
boxley push -g hello file_C.txt file_D.txt

Duplicate; if the file being pushed already exists on Dropbox, then this file will have a duplicate name. Equivalent to having the paths.json overwrite setting set to false.

Group that the file(s) belong to. Multiple groups cannot be specified. If a file belongs to a group, its group must be specified.

Overwrite; if the file being pushed already exists on Dropbox, then this file will overwrite the existing version. Equivalent to having the paths.json overwrite setting set to true.

Verbose output; prints a message for every file that is pushed.

Pushes ALL paths (those specified in paths.json and all group-*.json files) to Dropbox. If a file in the *.json file cannot be found, it is skipped.

boxley pushall

Duplicate; if the file being pushed already exists on Dropbox, then this file will have a duplicate name. Equivalent to having the paths.json overwrite setting set to false.

Overwrite; if the file being pushed already exists on Dropbox, then this file will overwrite the existing version. Equivalent to having the paths.json overwrite setting set to true.

Verbose output; prints a message for every file that is pushed.

Pushes specified group(s) to Dropbox. If a file in the group-*.json file cannot be found, it is skipped.

boxley pushgroup awesomestuff     # a single group

boxley pushgroup -d sprites models    # push multiple groups, and duplicate files instead of overwriting

Duplicate; if the group files being pushed already exist on Dropbox, then these files will have duplicate names. Equivalent to having the paths.json overwrite setting set to false.

Overwrite; if the group files being pushed already exist on Dropbox, then these files will overwrite the existing versions. Equivalent to having the paths.json overwrite setting set to true.

Verbose output; prints a message for every file that is pushed.

py.test is required for running Boxley's tests. Tests must be run inside the test/ directory due to a relative import. The tests can be run by simply running py.test inside the directory.

Removes all specified group files by group name. Skips groups that do not exist.

Verbose output; prints a message for each group file to be removed.

Boxley, like all of us, has a few issues. These issues are put here on GitHub. If you feel as if you can fix any of those issues, feel free to submit a pull request!

GPL