Select App Type
Select App Type
The type of Box Application to select depends on the use case for the project. The following is a high level overview of the different types.
Custom Apps
| Authentication methods | OAuth 2.0, JWT, and App Token Authentication |
| Features | Webhooks, App Gallery, and Web App Integrations |
By far the more flexible way to use Box Platform is through a Custom App integration. Custom Apps support various different authentication methods, and allow for downloading, uploading, viewing, searching, and much more.
A custom application typically presents Box functionality to a user within a custom interface. Box offers pre-built user interface components known as UI Elements for functionality like browsing, search, viewing and more that can be customized, or you can build your own.
App Use Cases
Example use cases for Custom Apps include:
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A file vault in an application that allows an end user to access files that have been shared with them, while also providing access for employees to the same files through the Box Web app.
An example of this would be a financial advisor sharing statements and investment prospectuses with investors that can be viewed and commented on within a custom-built application.
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A file upload feature in an application that allows an end user to submit and upload files from within a custom-built application to Box that then initiates a business process with the Box Web app.
An example of this would be a candidate submitting a PDF of a resume to a recruiting portal then can then be routed to an appropriate employee for review.
Custom Skills
| Authentication methods | Access Tokens in Skills events |
| Features | Limited API access |
A Custom Skill, or Box Skill is a type of application that performs custom processing for files uploaded to Box. Skills are designed to make it possible to use third-party Machine Learning services to automatically extract information from files uploaded to Box.
Box Skills need to be enabled on a folder by a Box Admin. After this an event is sent to the Skill's application server every time a file is uploaded to the folder. This application can then download the file, inspect it or hand it off to a machine learning service, and write powerful metadata to the file.
Working with Box Skills simplified by providing pre-authorized API credentials with every Skill Event. For this reason though, Box Skills allow for limited API access, mainly to read the file and write Metadata to the file.
Learn more about Custom Skills
Skill Use Cases
Example use cases for Custom Skills include:
- A process that automatically extracts license plate details from images and writes the details back to the file as keywords
- A process that automatically detects faces in videos, and writes the timestamps at which these faces occur back to the file as a timeline
- A process that extracts audio from a video file and writes a transcript of the audio back to the file
Enterprise Integrations
Enterprise Integrations are similar to Custom Apps but restricted to OAuth 2.0 and JWT authentication. We recommend using a Custom Application and configuring the application accordingly.
Partner Integrations
| Authentication methods | App Token auth |
| Features | Limited API access |
Partner Integrations are similar to Custom Apps but restricted to App Token authentication. We recommend using a Custom Application with App Token authentication and configuring the application accordingly.