# Box — MCP Server

> Search, read and organise enterprise content with an agent that respects Box permissions.

**Source:** https://mcpplaygroundonline.com/mcp-servers/box  
**Transport:** http  
**Requires auth:** Yes

---

## What it does

The server exposes Box content operations as MCP tools. An agent can search across the content it is entitled to see, navigate folder hierarchies, read file metadata and extract text from documents — which is the part that turns a file store into something a model can reason over. Because Box already applies per-user and per-folder permissions, the agent operating under a given user’s token sees exactly what that user sees and nothing more: the access control problem that usually blocks AI over internal documents is already solved upstream. That makes it a realistic route for the common enterprise ask — question answering over contracts, policies or reports that live in Box and cannot be copied elsewhere for compliance reasons. Box AI capabilities are reachable too, so summarisation and extraction can run server-side against large documents.

## Tools exposed

- search — full-text search across files the authenticated user can access
- folder navigation — list folder contents and walk the hierarchy
- file metadata — read name, version, owner, timestamps and custom metadata
- text extraction — pull document content out for the model to read
- Box AI — server-side summarisation and extraction on large documents

## Example queries you can run

- "Find the master services agreement with Acme and tell me the termination notice period."
- "What changed between the last two versions of the security policy document?"
- "Summarise every Q3 board deck in the leadership folder."
- "Which files in the finance folder were modified in the last week, and by whom?"

## Details

- **Recommended model:** anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5 — Contract and policy questions turn on precise wording. Sonnet 4.5 quotes the clause it relied on, which lets you verify the answer instead of trusting it.
- **Transport:** http
- **Authentication:** Required — OAuth against your Box account. The agent inherits that user’s permissions exactly — it cannot reach content the user could not open themselves.
- **Hosted endpoint:** https://mcp.box.com/mcp
- **Official source:** [Box Developer documentation](https://developer.box.com/)

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the Box MCP server?

Box’s hosted MCP server at mcp.box.com. It gives an AI assistant search, folder navigation, metadata and document text extraction across Box content, authenticated as a specific Box user.

### Can an agent see files the user cannot?

No. It operates under the authenticated user’s token and Box enforces its normal permission model, so the agent’s reach is exactly that user’s reach. This is the main reason Box is a practical starting point for AI over internal documents.

### Does it handle PDFs and Office files?

Text extraction covers the common enterprise document formats, which is what lets a model answer questions about a contract rather than just report that a PDF exists. Scanned images without OCR remain a limitation, as everywhere.

### Is this better than syncing Box into a vector database?

It is simpler and it stays current — no pipeline, no re-index, no separate copy of regulated content to secure. A vector store still wins for semantic search across a very large corpus; many teams end up using both, with Box MCP for precise retrieval.

### What about audit trails?

Access through the MCP server is Box API access, so it appears in Box’s own event stream like any other API activity. That is worth confirming before a rollout — being able to show who asked what is usually a condition of approval.

---

_Test this server across 40+ models on MCP Playground: https://mcpplaygroundonline.com/mcp-servers/box — free, no install._