Consider this python script:

from boxsdk import JWTAuth, Client





class CFG:


    """config class"""


    JWT_CONFIG_FILE = ".jwt.config.json"


    AS_USER = "18622116055"


    PARENT_FOLDER_ID = "165803865043"  # folder id 0 is root folder








def get_box_client(as_user: bool = False):


    """get a box client"""


    auth = JWTAuth.from_settings_file(CFG.JWT_CONFIG_FILE)


    service_client = Client(auth)


    if not as_user:


        return service_client


    user = service_client.user(CFG.AS_USER)


    return service_client.as_user(user)








def print_items(items):


    """print items"""


    print("\n")


    print("Type\tID\tName")


    print("----\t--\t----")


    for item in items:


        print(f"{item.type}\t{item.id}\t{item.name}\t")








def main():


    """main function"""





    client = get_box_client(as_user=True)





    # print current user info


    user = client.user().get()


    print(f"Current User: {user.name}\tid:{user.id}")





    # list files in root folder


    items = client.folder(CFG.PARENT_FOLDER_ID).get_items()


    print_items(items)

In the above example we have a box app, configured with JWT authentication. We are grabbing a client for which the service user of the app is impersonating the as-user who actually has access to the content we want to locate.

I’m also using another parent folder, but you can replace this with 0 which always represent the user root folder.

This initial part, outputs the items inside the parent folder, this test checks if we actually have access to the file.

In my case the output is:

Type    ID      Name


----    --      ----


file    974207525964    Audio.mp3


...


file    974229112148    Single Page.docx


file    974225001875    ZIP.zip

So let’s locate file audio.mp3 in this parent folder using the search:

    # get parent folder


    parent_folder = client.folder(CFG.PARENT_FOLDER_ID).get()





    # search for audio.mp3 text string


    file_name_exact_match = '"audio.mp3"' # note the double quotes


    ancestor_folders = (parent_folder,) 


    result_type = ("file",) # what type of result we are looking for


    content_types = ("name",) # look only in file name for query string


    


    items = client.search().query(


        file_name_exact_match,


        ancestor_folders=ancestor_folders,


        result_type=result_type,


        content_types=content_types,


    )


    print_items(items)

And the output is:

Type    ID      Name


----    --      ----


file    974207525964    Audio.mp3

And now we just rename the file:

# get the first item of type file (there shoul dbe only 1 or none)


item = next((item for item in items if item.type == "file"), None)





# rename the file


if item is not None:


    item.update_info(data={"name": "Audio_renamed.mp3"})

And we can see the file renamed:

# list files in parent folder


items = client.folder(CFG.PARENT_FOLDER_ID).get_items()


print_items(items)





Type    ID      Name


----    --      ----


file    974207525964    Audio_renamed.mp3


...


file    974229112148    Single Page.docx


file    974225001875    ZIP.zip

Please note that the search engine does not index the file immediately, a new file takes a few minutes to show up on the search.

If you know the parent folder, you can implement a manual name match using the items() method on the folder.

# list files in parent folder


items = client.folder(CFG.PARENT_FOLDER_ID).get_items()





item = next((item for item in items if item.name == "ZIP.zip"), None)


if item is not None:


    item.update_info(data={"name": "ZIP_renamed.zip"})





# list items in parent folder


items = client.folder(CFG.PARENT_FOLDER_ID).get_items()


print_items(items)

Resulting in:

Type    ID      Name


----    --      ----


file    974207525964    Audio_renamed.mp3


...


file    974225084827    Preview SDK Sample Excel.xlsx


file    974229112148    Single Page.docx


file    974225001875    ZIP_renamed.zip