dropblock-cli

A cross-platform CLI tool to ignore or unblock files and folders in Dropbox using platform-specific methods, based on official documentation here https://help.dropbox.com/sync/ignored-files

Features

• Cross-platform support (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• Wildcard and glob pattern support
• Automatic detection and removal of Dropbox conflicted copies
• Batch processing of multiple paths
• Unblock (reverse) operation to restore syncing for previously ignored files
• Verbose and quiet modes
• PyPI distribution for easy installation

Installation

From PyPI (Recommended)

pip install dropblock-cli

From Source

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/dropbox-ignore-cli.git
cd dropbox-ignore-cli
pip install -e .

Or for system-wide installation:

pip install .

Usage

Basic Operations

Ignore files/folders (stop Dropbox sync):

dropblock /path/to/file
dropblock /path/to/folder

Unblock files/folders (restore Dropbox sync):

dropblock --unblock /path/to/file
dropblock --unblock /path/to/folder

Multiple paths

Ignore multiple files/folders:

dropblock file1.txt folder1 file2.pdf

Unblock multiple files/folders:

dropblock --unblock file1.txt folder1 file2.pdf

Wildcard patterns

Ignore parent folder (path ending with *):

dropblock /path/to/folder/*

Ignore files matching a pattern:

dropblock /path/*/specific/file.txt
dropblock /home/user/*/node_modules

Options

• --unblock: Unblock files instead of ignoring them (restore Dropbox syncing)
• --ignore-conflicts: Don't remove conflicted copies when ignoring files
• -n, --no-output: Suppress the list of ignored/unblocked files
• -v, --verbose: Show verbose output

Examples

Ignoring files and folders:

# Ignore node_modules in all projects
dropblock ~/projects/*/node_modules

# Ignore a folder and don't remove conflicts
dropblock --ignore-conflicts ~/Dropbox/large-folder

# Quiet mode - no output
dropblock -n ~/Dropbox/temp/*

# Verbose mode
dropblock -v ~/Dropbox/cache ~/Dropbox/logs

Unblocking files and folders:

# Restore syncing for a previously ignored folder
dropblock --unblock ~/Dropbox/large-folder

# Unblock multiple paths with verbose output
dropblock --unblock -v ~/projects/*/node_modules

# Restore syncing for cache folders
dropblock --unblock ~/Dropbox/cache ~/Dropbox/logs

Common workflows:

# Temporarily ignore large folders during initial sync
dropblock ~/Dropbox/videos ~/Dropbox/archives

# Later restore syncing when needed
dropblock --unblock ~/Dropbox/videos ~/Dropbox/archives

How it works

The tool uses platform-specific methods to set or remove the ignore attribute:

Ignore Operation (Default)

• Windows: Uses PowerShell to set the com.dropbox.ignored stream
• macOS: Uses xattr to set com.dropbox.ignored attribute
• Linux: Uses attr command to set com.dropbox.ignored attribute

Unblock Operation (--unblock flag)

• Windows: Uses PowerShell to clear the com.dropbox.ignored stream
• macOS: Uses xattr to remove the com.dropbox.ignored attribute
• Linux: Uses attr command to remove the com.dropbox.ignored attribute

When files are ignored, Dropbox stops syncing them but keeps local copies. When unblocked, Dropbox resumes syncing and the files become available across all devices again.

Conflict handling

By default, the tool automatically detects and removes Dropbox conflicted copies (files matching the pattern filename (user's conflicted copy date).ext). Use --ignore-conflicts to disable this behavior.

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Platform-specific tools:
  • Windows: PowerShell (built-in)
  • macOS: xattr (built-in)
  • Linux: attr package (sudo apt install attr on Debian/Ubuntu)

License

MIT