Box API: overwrite an existing file by uploading a new version

TL;DR

When a Box upload fails because the filename already exists, dont retry the same upload. That keeps one file with version history instead of an error.

Steps

1. When a Box upload fails because the filename already exists, dont retry the same upload. If you know the file ID, POST the new content to the upload-new-version endpoint for that file. If you only know the folder ID and the filename, list the folder's items, find the entry whose name matches, grab its ID, and upload the new version against that ID. That keeps one file with version history instead of an error.

When to use

You are seeing this: If you know the file ID, POST the new content to the upload-new-version endpoint for that file. Use this skill when you run into "Box API: overwrite an existing file by uploading a new version".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Source: Stack Overflow #16800055 (accepted answer, 8 votes): the asker uploaded via the v2 API and got an error whenever a file with the same name already existed in the folder, since a plain upload refuses to overwrite. The accepted answer: to overwrite a known file, use the Upload a New Version of a File method against the file ID. If you only know the folder ID and filename, call Retrieve a Folder's Items first, match on the name property, and take the id property for the new-version upload.

Verified resolution: When a Box upload fails because the filename already exists, dont retry the same upload. If you know the file ID, POST the new content to the upload-new-version endpoint for that file. If you only know the folder ID and the filename, list the folder's items, find the entry whose name matches, grab its ID, and upload the new version against that ID. That keeps one file with version history instead of an error.

Source URL: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16800055/box-v2-api-for-overwriting-a-file-or-checking-one-exists-before-trying-to-upload