Box MCP server for AI agents

The Box MCP Server is a Python project that integrates with the Box API to perform various operations including file search, text extraction, AI-based querying, and data extraction. It implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to standardize interactions with Box services and data sources.

Installation

Prerequisites

Python 3.13 or higher
Box API credentials

Setup Instructions

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/box-community/mcp-server-box.git
cd mcp-server-box

Install uv package manager:

For MacOS/Linux:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

For Windows:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

Create and set up the project environment:

For MacOS/Linux:

# Create virtual environment and activate it
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Lock the dependencies
uv lock

For Windows:

# Create virtual environment and activate it
uv venv
.venv\Scripts\activate

# Lock the dependencies
uv lock

Create a .env file in the root directory with your Box API credentials:

For OAuth authentication:

BOX_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
BOX_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
BOX_REDIRECT_URL=http://localhost:8000/callback

For CCG authentication:

BOX_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
BOX_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
BOX_SUBJECT_TYPE=user # or enterprise
BOX_SUBJECT_ID=your user id or enterprise id

Usage

Running the MCP Server

The server supports multiple transport methods: stdio (default), SSE, HTTP, and FastAPI.

To run with stdio transport (default):

uv --directory /path/to/mcp-server-box run src/mcp_server_box.py

Client Integration

Using with Claude Desktop

Edit your Claude Desktop configuration file:

code ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add the following configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "mcp-server-box": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/path/to/mcp-server-box",
                "run",
                "src/mcp_server_box.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Restart Claude if it's currently running.

Using with Cursor IDE

Open your Cursor IDE
Go to Cursor settings
Select MCP from the left navigation
Click "Add new global MCP server" in the top-left
Add the following JSON (update paths for your system):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "box": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/mcp-server-box",
        "run",
        "src/mcp_server_box.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Save and restart if necessary

Available Tools

Box API Tools

box_who_am_i: Get your current user information
box_authorize_app_tool: Start Box application authorization
box_search_tool: Search for files in Box
box_search_folder_by_name_tool: Locate a folder by name

Box AI Tools

box_ai_ask_file_single_tool: Query Box AI about a single file
box_ai_ask_file_multi_tool: Query Box AI using multiple files
box_ai_ask_hub_tool: Ask Box AI about a hub
box_ai_extract_freeform_tool: Extract data using AI with freeform prompts
box_ai_extract_structured_using_fields_tool: Extract structured data with specified fields
box_ai_extract_structured_using_template_tool: Extract structured data with templates

Box File Tools

box_read_tool: Read the text content of a Box file
box_list_folder_content_by_folder_id: List a folder's content
box_manage_folder_tool: Create, update, or delete folders
box_upload_file_from_path_tool: Upload files from local filesystem
box_upload_file_from_content_tool: Upload content as a file
box_download_file_tool: Download files from Box

User and Group Management

box_users_list_tool: List all users in the Box enterprise
box_users_locate_by_email_tool: Find users by email
box_groups_search_tool: Search for groups by name
box_groups_list_members_tool: List members of a group

Metadata and Doc Gen Tools

box_metadata_template_create_tool: Create metadata templates
box_metadata_set_instance_on_file_tool: Set metadata on files
box_docgen_create_batch_tool: Generate documents using Box Doc Gen templates
box_docgen_template_list_tool: List available Box Doc Gen templates

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "box" '{"command":"uv","args":["--directory","/Users/shurrey/local/mcp-server-box","run","src/mcp_server_box.py"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "box": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/Users/shurrey/local/mcp-server-box",
                "run",
                "src/mcp_server_box.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "box": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/Users/shurrey/local/mcp-server-box",
                "run",
                "src/mcp_server_box.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect