Fax from Dropbox — Paste a Share Link
Send FAX Mail does not have a Dropbox chooser or a Dropbox OAuth app that lists your files. It has import-from-link: you create a Dropbox shared link for the file, paste it into /dashboard/import (or the API's document_url field), and our server fetches it behind an SSRF guard, checks the type, normalizes it to a fax-ready PDF, and sends it. The Dropbox connection is real, but it is driven by a link you copy over rather than a native picker embedded in our app.
Plan requirement
Fax-from-a-link works on paid plans and counts against your monthly page allowance like any send. Pasting a link at /dashboard/import needs no API access; sending the same link through the REST API's document_url field requires the Business ($79.99/mo) or Enterprise ($169.99/mo) plan, since the API is gated to those tiers.
How it works
In Dropbox you create a shared link for the file — anyone with the link can view — and copy it. Dropbox share links normally open a preview page, so append the raw-download parameter (dl=1) so the link resolves to the file bytes rather than the preview. On our side, /dashboard/import (and the API's document_url field) fetches that HTTPS URL server-side behind an SSRF guard that re-checks each redirect hop, verifies the content type against the faxable-mime list, normalizes the file to a PDF, and runs it through the same gated send pipeline as a compose. Because we fetch at send time, the link has to resolve to the actual file when you submit.
What you can do
- ✓Fax a Dropbox file by pasting its shared link at /dashboard/import
- ✓Send the same link through the REST API's document_url field on Business or Enterprise
- ✓Use the dl=1 raw-download form so the link returns the file, not a preview
- ✓Rely on an SSRF-guarded fetch that re-checks each redirect hop
- ✓Have the type checked and the file normalized to a fax-ready PDF automatically
- ✓Run the send through the same quota, BAA, and number gates as any fax
Setup steps
- 1In Dropbox, create a shared link for the file with view access
- 2Change the link's dl=0 to dl=1 so it resolves to the raw file instead of a preview page
- 3Open /dashboard/import and paste the link into the document URL field
- 4Enter the recipient fax number and any cover-page details
- 5Send — our server fetches the file, checks its type, and normalizes it to a PDF
- 6Track the result in /dashboard/history, where quota and status are recorded
Example
# /dashboard/import
Document URL: https://www.dropbox.com/s/abc123/contract.pdf?dl=1
Recipient: +15551234567Dropbox — FAQ
No. There is no embedded Dropbox picker and no OAuth link to your Dropbox account inside our app. You create a shared link and paste it into the import page or the API. An OAuth-based cloud picker is an operator follow-up we have not shipped, so link-paste is the honest, working path today.
Default Dropbox shared links end in dl=0 and open an HTML preview page rather than the file. Our fetch needs the bytes, so change the suffix to dl=1 (the raw-download form). If the link still returns HTML instead of a PDF or image, the content-type check rejects it and no fax goes out.
Yes. The fetch is SSRF-guarded: it refuses links resolving to internal or private addresses, and it re-applies that guard on every redirect hop so a link cannot bounce the request to somewhere internal. Only a public, faxable file is normalized and sent.
Yes, once the send finishes. We fetch the file at send time and keep the resulting PDF ourselves, so you can delete or expire the Dropbox shared link afterward without affecting the fax record. If the link is already disabled when you submit, though, the fetch fails and nothing is sent.
Build with the Dropbox
API access and webhooks are included on the Business and Enterprise plans. Create a key at /dashboard/developers and start sending.
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