Connecting Egnyte

Last updated: February 20, 2026

Metal integrates with Egnyte to let you browse, import, and sync files directly from your Egnyte account. Once connected, you can bring individual files into Metal as a one-time import, or sync entire folders for continuous, automatic tracking of changes.

Setting Up the Connection

Prerequisites

  • Your organization must have the Egnyte integration enabled by a Metal administrator.

  • You will need to provide metal with an Egnyte admin account that can view all folders and permissions for the folders you want to sync.

Connecting Your Account

  1. Navigate to the Connections page from the sidebar.

  2. Find the Egnyte card and click Connect.

  3. You will be redirected to Egnyte to authorize Metal. Sign in and approve the requested permissions.

  4. After authorization, you are redirected back to Metal. A success message confirms the connection.

The first administrator to connect establishes the organization-wide connection, which is used for background sync and webhook processing. Individual users can then connect their own accounts to browse and import files using their personal Egnyte permissions.

Connection Status

Once connected, the Egnyte card on the Connections page shows:

  • A Connected badge (green)

  • Your Egnyte base URL

  • Your Egnyte user ID

Browsing Egnyte Files

You can browse your Egnyte files in two ways:

Dedicated Egnyte Page

Navigate to the Egnyte section in the sidebar to open the full Egnyte file browser. This page provides:

  • Breadcrumb navigation showing your current path in Egnyte

  • A file and folder table with sync status indicators for each item

  • Search to find files by name

  • Click on folders to navigate deeper; click on synced files to preview them in Metal

File Importer Dialog

When uploading files anywhere in Metal, the File Importer dialog includes an Egnyte tab that offers:

  • A tree view of your Egnyte folder structure

  • Search to find files across Egnyte

  • Document type filter to narrow results

  • Multi-select to choose multiple files at once

Import vs. Sync

There are two ways to bring Egnyte content into Metal, and understanding the difference is important:

  • Importing a file downloads a single file into Metal. Metal will still detect if the file is deleted or moved in Egnyte, but it will not detect content changes to the file, and new files added to the same folder will not appear in Metal automatically.

  • Syncing a folder imports all of its files and subfolders and enables full continuous tracking. After a folder is synced, Metal automatically detects when files are added, deleted, moved, or modified in Egnyte and reflects those changes in near real-time.

When to Import vs. Sync

  • Import individual files when you need a specific document in Metal but do not need ongoing updates for the rest of the folder.

  • Sync a folder when you want Metal to stay up to date with everything in that folder -- new files, deletions, moves, and content changes will all be reflected automatically.

Importing Individual Files

To import a single file from the Egnyte file browser, click the sync button next to the file. Metal downloads the file and makes it available for search and analysis.

What happens behind the scenes:

  • The file is downloaded from Egnyte and stored in Metal.

  • Parent folders along the path are created in Metal as structural placeholders (shown as "Partial" in sync status). These placeholders maintain the folder hierarchy for navigation but are not tracked for new file additions.

  • If the same file has already been imported, Metal skips the download to avoid duplicates.

What is tracked for individually imported files

Even without syncing the parent folder, Metal still detects some changes to individually imported files:

  • File deleted in Egnyte -- the file is automatically removed from Metal.

  • File moved in Egnyte -- the file's location is updated in Metal if the destination folder exists, or the file is removed from Metal if it is moved to an area not tracked by Metal.

However, the following changes are not tracked for individually imported files:

  • File content updated in Egnyte -- Metal does not re-import the file when its content changes. The version in Metal remains as it was at the time of import.

  • New files added to the same folder -- since the parent folder is Partial, new sibling files are not automatically imported.

To get full tracking of all changes -- including content updates and new files -- sync the parent folder instead.

Syncing a Folder

To sync an entire folder, click the sync button next to the folder in the Egnyte file browser. A confirmation dialog appears -- click Confirm to proceed.

What happens behind the scenes:

  • Metal imports all files and subfolders within the folder recursively.

  • The folder is marked as Synced, enabling continuous tracking of changes.

  • Imported files appear in the Egnyte folder in Metal, preserving the original folder hierarchy.

  • Egnyte folder permissions are fetched and mapped to Metal team permissions.

After syncing, Metal monitors the folder in near real-time via webhooks. You do not need to manually re-import -- changes are detected and applied automatically.

What Changes Are Tracked After Syncing

Once a folder is synced, the following changes in Egnyte are automatically reflected in Metal:

  • New files added to the synced folder (or any subfolder within it) are automatically imported.

  • Deleted files are removed from Metal.

  • Moved files are updated to reflect their new location. If a file is moved out of any synced folder into an unsynced location, it is removed from Metal.

  • File content changes are detected via checksum. If a file's content has changed, Metal re-imports the updated version.

  • Renamed files have their display name updated.

  • New subfolders created inside a synced folder are automatically imported along with their contents.

  • Deleted subfolders are removed along with all of their contents.

  • Moved subfolders are updated to reflect their new location, or removed if moved to an unsynced area.

  • Permission changes on Egnyte folders are reflected in Metal's sharing settings.

  • Group membership changes (members added/removed, groups created/deleted/renamed) are synced to Metal teams.

These updates happen in near real-time as changes occur in Egnyte.

Sync States Explained

Each file and folder in the Egnyte browser shows one of the following sync states:

Not Synced

The file or folder has not been brought into Metal. It exists only in Egnyte.

  • Shown as a gray cloud icon in the file browser.

  • No data is stored in Metal for this item.

Partial

The folder exists in Metal as a structural placeholder, but its contents are not being tracked.

  • Created automatically when you import an individual file -- the parent folders along the path become Partial to maintain the folder hierarchy.

  • New files added to a Partial folder in Egnyte are not imported into Metal.

  • New subfolders created in a Partial folder in Egnyte are not imported into Metal.

  • File deletions within a Partial folder are still detected and reflected.

  • You can upgrade a Partial folder to Synced at any time by clicking its sync button.

Synced

The folder is fully imported and actively tracked. All changes are detected and reflected automatically.

  • Shown as a green checkmark in the file browser.

  • New files, deletions, moves, content changes, and permission changes are all tracked.

  • Once a folder is Synced, it stays Synced -- it does not revert to Partial.

Egnyte Permissions

Metal respects the permissions set in Egnyte:

  • If you do not have access to a folder in Egnyte, you will not be able to browse or import it in Metal.

  • When a folder is synced, its Egnyte group permissions are mapped to Metal teams.

  • Permission changes made in Egnyte are detected and reflected in Metal.

  • Group membership changes (members added/removed, groups created/deleted) are synced to Metal teams.

Webhook Management (Administrators)

Organization administrators can manage Egnyte webhooks from the Egnyte connection page:

  • Register new webhooks to monitor specific Egnyte paths

  • View existing webhooks with their status (active/inactive), path, and event types

  • Delete webhooks that are no longer needed

Webhooks are typically registered on the /Shared folder to capture all relevant file and folder events across the organization.

Restrictions

  • ZIP files cannot be imported through Egnyte. To upload ZIP archives, use the direct upload feature instead.

  • All standard file type and file size limits apply to Egnyte imports.

  • Files that fail validation (unsupported type, exceeds size limit) are marked with an error status.

Disconnecting

If you need to disconnect your Egnyte account, visit the Connections page and manage your connection from the Egnyte card. Disconnecting your personal account does not remove already-synced files from Metal.