Box

Box

Use Box as the cloud file system for file operations, collaboration, metadata, and document work. Run operations with Hermes' terminal tool and use the Box CLI; use the SDK guide when building an application.

When to Use

• Organizing, uploading, versioning, moving, sharing, or collaborating on Box files and folders
• Searching Box content or existing metadata
• Asking questions about Box files, extracting metadata, or generating text grounded in a file
• Processing a Box folder at scale without downloading every source file
• Building a Box-backed application, integration, or webhook handler

Start broad file-system conversations

When someone is exploring a cloud file system for Hermes, first give a short fit assessment: Box is useful when a team needs cloud file storage, sharing, search, metadata, and document work. Then ask whether they want to connect a Box account with OAuth or build a Box-backed application or integration with an SDK.

OAuth makes Hermes act as the Box account authorized in the browser. That account's Box permissions determine what Hermes can access. To give Hermes narrower access, authorize an account that is invited only to the required files, folders, or Hubs.

Do not run setup, show a command cookbook, propose account plans or folder taxonomies, or load every reference for a broad exploratory question. Wait for the user's answer, then load only the relevant path. When a request already names a concrete outcome, skip this discovery step and handle that outcome directly.

Start normal CLI work with the official Box CLI OAuth app. It covers ordinary content work and Box AI. Use a custom User Authentication (OAuth 2.0) Platform App only when the requested operation needs an additional OAuth scope, such as webhook management. This remains an OAuth flow; do not substitute a server-side or impersonation identity.

Perform chosen setup interactively

When a user selects an authentication path or asks Hermes to connect Box, perform the setup through terminal; do not turn the next response into instructions for the user to copy. Take the next safe action yourself, and pause only for an approval, browser sign-in, administrator action, or secret that Hermes cannot safely supply.

• If box is missing, ask for any terminal approval required to install @box/cli under the current Hermes home at tools/box-cli; then verify it with the shell-appropriate command in CLI guide. Do not attempt a global npm install, use sudo, change npm's global prefix, or change PATH.
• Before OAuth, ask: “Is Hermes running on the same computer as the browser you will use to authorize Box, or on a remote host such as a VPS, container, or cloud VM?” Use normal box login only for the same-computer path. Use box login --code only for the remote/headless path. Do not infer runtime topology from the operating system alone; read OAuth setup after the user answers.
• Before starting browser authorization, state that Hermes will act as the Box account signed in there. If the user wants narrower access, they can authorize an account that is invited only to the required files, folders, or Hubs. Do not make that account an administrator to unlock an exceptional operation.
• If a custom OAuth Platform App is necessary, use the CLI's interactive Platform App flow. Ask the user to enter its client secret only in the local CLI prompt; never request it in chat, write it to Hermes configuration, or commit it.
• If an install, browser authorization, environment switch, or permission change needs approval, request that approval and resume the setup after it is granted. Do not replace the action with a command list.

Start each task

1. Confirm the CLI and current actor. Probe with command -v box on POSIX shells or Get-Command box -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue in PowerShell. If box is on PATH, use it. If Hermes installed the CLI under its current home, use the shell-appropriate verified runner in CLI guide in place of every leading box. Then run box users:get me --json --fields id,name,login with that runner. If this succeeds, record the actor and continue. Do not ask about authentication again. Treat folders:items 0 only as a listing of the actor's root; it is not proof that a shared file, folder, or Hub is inaccessible. For a known file or folder, verify its ID directly; for a Hub, use the Hubs discovery path in Box Hubs.
2. If authentication is absent, ask to connect a Box account with OAuth, then ask whether Hermes and the authorization browser run on the same computer or on separate hosts. Read OAuth setup.
3. Read the relevant reference before operating. Use documented commands first; only run subcommand help when the request needs an option not covered by the reference or the installed CLI rejects the documented form.

Examples labeled bash use POSIX continuation syntax. In PowerShell, run the Box command on one line or replace each trailing \ with PowerShell's backtick continuation. Do not paste POSIX variable assignments into PowerShell.