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Connect Box to your preprocessing pipeline, and use the Unstructured CLI or Python to batch process all your documents and store structured outputs locally on your filesystem.

You will need:

The Box prerequisites:

  1. Access to the Developer Console from your Box enterprise account or Box developer account.

  2. A Box Custom App in your Box account, set up to use Server Authentication (with JWT). See Setup with JWT.

  3. The appropriate application scopes and advanced features set up for the Box Custom App, as follows:

    • In the Box Custom App, on the Configuration tab, under Application Scopes, check the box titled Write all files and folders stored in Box.
    • In the Box Custom App, on the Configuration tab, under Advanced Features, check the box titled Make API calls using the as-user header.
    • Click Save Changes before continuing.
  4. Authorization by a Box Admin in your Box account for the Box Custom App. See App Authorization.

  5. Access by your Box account’s source or target folder to your Box Custom App, as follows:

    • In the Box Custom App, on the General Settings tab, copy the Service Account ID (which takes the form AutomationUser_<your-app-service-id>_<a-random-string@boxdevedition.com).
    • Share your Box account’s target folder with the copied service account’s email address as a Co-owner or Editor.
    • Note the remote URL to the target folder, which takes the format box://<path/to/folder/in/account>.
  6. The private key configuration JSON file for the Box Custom App. To download this file, in the Box Custom App, on the Configuration tab, under Add and Manage Public Keys, click Generate a Public/Private Keypair. Store the downloaded private key configuration JSON file in a secure location. Do not share it with others.

The Box connector dependencies:

CLI, Python
pip install "unstructured-ingest[box]"

You might also need to install additional dependencies, depending on your needs. Learn more.

The following environment variables:

  • BOX_APP_CONFIG_PATH - The local path to the downloaded private key configuration JSON file for the Box Custom App, represented by --box-app-config (CLI) or box_app_config (Python).
  • BOX_REMOTE_URL - The remote URL to the target folder, represented by --remote-url (CLI) or remote_url (Python).

Now call the Unstructured CLI or Python. The destination connector can be any of the ones supported. This example uses the local destination connector.

This example sends data to Unstructured API services for processing by default. To process data locally instead, see the instructions at the end of this page.

For the Unstructured Ingest CLI and the Unstructured Ingest Python library, you can use the --partition-by-api option (CLI) or partition_by_api (Python) parameter to specify where files are processed:

  • To do local file processing, omit --partition-by-api (CLI) or partition_by_api (Python), or explicitly specify partition_by_api=False (Python).

    Local file processing does not use an Unstructured API key or API URL, so you can also omit the following, if they appear:

    • --api-key $UNSTRUCTURED_API_KEY (CLI) or api_key=os.getenv("UNSTRUCTURED_API_KEY") (Python)
    • --partition-endpoint $UNSTRUCTURED_API_URL (CLI) or partition_endpoint=os.getenv("UNSTRUCTURED_API_URL") (Python)
    • The environment variables UNSTRUCTURED_API_KEY and UNSTRUCTURED_API_URL
  • To send files to Unstructured API services for processing, specify --partition-by-api (CLI) or partition_by_api=True (Python).

    Unstructured API services also requires an Unstructured API key and API URL, by adding the following:

    • --api-key $UNSTRUCTURED_API_KEY (CLI) or api_key=os.getenv("UNSTRUCTURED_API_KEY") (Python)
    • --partition-endpoint $UNSTRUCTURED_API_URL (CLI) or partition_endpoint=os.getenv("UNSTRUCTURED_API_URL") (Python)
    • The environment variables UNSTRUCTURED_API_KEY and UNSTRUCTURED_API_URL, representing your API key and API URL, respectively.

    Get an API key and API URL.