dropfix

dropfix helps you configure Dropbox to ignore specific development directories (.venv, .conda, node_modules) that don't need to be synced across machines.

Installation

uv tool install dropfix

Usage

# Basic usage (auto-detects Dropbox path and ignores common directories)
dropfix

# Dry run mode (shows what would happen without making changes)
dropfix --dry-run

# Specify custom Dropbox path
dropfix --path /path/to/your/Dropbox

# Ignore specific directories
dropfix --dirs .venv .cache node_modules

Check which directories are being ignored:

# Check which directories are ignored (auto-detects Dropbox path)
dropfix-check

# Show only ignored directories
dropfix-check --show ignored

# Show only not-ignored directories
dropfix-check --show not-ignored

Why These Tools?

• Save Space: Avoid syncing large development directories
• Improve Performance: Reduce Dropbox sync operations
• Cross-Platform Compatible: Works across different operating systems

Cross-Platform Safety

These scripts set the same com.dropbox.ignored attribute (with value 1) that Dropbox recognizes across all platforms:

• Windows uses NTFS alternate data streams
• macOS uses extended attributes
• Linux uses file attributes

You can safely use Windows machines, macOS, and Linux with the same Dropbox account without conflicts.

After Running

Remember to restart Dropbox for the changes to take effect.