TikTok API for Videos, Comments, and Trend Research
The SurfSense TikTok scraper extracts public videos by hashtag, creator profile, or URL, plus comment threads and trending feeds, without TikTok's approval-gated Research API. Give your AI agents a live feed of what people watch and share, so you catch a trend while it is still rising.
Prefer to look at the code first? Read the docs.
Find trending TikToks about meal prep this week
tiktok.scrape({ hashtags: ["mealprep"], max_items: 25 })- 5 high-protein lunches under 400 cals@fitmeals · 2.1M plays · 184K likesbreakout
- The $20 weekly meal prep everyone's copying@budgetbites · 980K plays · 72K likesrising
- POV: your fridge after Sunday meal prep@cleaneats · 640K plays · 51K likeshigh engagement
25 videos · 8.4M plays · surfaced in 3.2s
What you can extract from TikTok
Every TikTok scraper call returns structured items. Scrape videos from a hashtag, creator profile, or video URL, or switch verbs to pull a video's comments, discover accounts by keyword, or fetch the current trending feed.
Videos
Caption text, canonical web URL, duration, and cover image for each TikTok video.
Engagement
Play, like, comment, share, and save counts, the signal for what is breaking out.
Authors and profiles
Creator handle, nickname, follower and heart counts, and verified status.
Comments
Public comment threads on any video URL, so you can read audience reaction beyond vanity views.
Music
Track name, artist, and whether the sound is original, the seed of a trend.
Hashtags
Every hashtag on a video, so you can map a topic cluster or campaign.
What teams do with the TikTok scraper API
Trend and hashtag monitoring
Use the TikTok hashtag scraper to track a topic and feed the stream to an agent that flags breakout videos, rising sounds, and formats before they saturate. Catch the wave while it is still rising, not after.
Creator and influencer discovery
Scrape TikTok profiles and search users by keyword to surface the creators driving a topic, ranked by real engagement, so your team shortlists partners from data instead of a manager's pitch deck.
Competitor content analysis
Watch what your category posts and what actually lands. Turn a competitor's best-performing formats and hooks into your own content brief.
Campaign and comment sentiment
Measure how a launch or branded hashtag spreads across TikTok, then use the TikTok comments scraper on top videos to read how the audience actually reacts, not just a vanity view count.
Call it from your code or your agent
One typed endpoint, one API key. Or add the SurfSense MCP server and let your agent call tiktok.scrape as a native tool.
curl -X POST "$SURFSENSE_API_URL/workspaces/$WORKSPACE_ID/scrapers/tiktok/scrape" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SURFSENSE_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"hashtags": [
"mealprep"
],
"max_items": 25
}'TikTok API request and response schema
The exact contract behind POST /workspaces/{workspace_id}/scrapers/tiktok/scrape. The same fields power the tiktok.scrape MCP tool.
Request parameters
Provide at least one source: urls, profiles, or hashtags. Up to 20 sources per call. To find accounts by keyword, use the user search verb.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
urls | string[]default [] | TikTok URLs to scrape: a video, a profile (/@user), or a hashtag (/tag/name). Max 20. |
profiles | string[]default [] | Profile usernames to scrape, with or without a leading @. Max 20. |
hashtags | string[]default [] | Hashtag names to scrape, without the # prefix. Max 20. |
results_per_page | integerdefault 10 | Max videos to pull per profile or hashtag target. 1 to 100. |
max_items | integerdefault 10 | Max total videos to return across all sources. 1 to 100. |
Response fields
The response is { items: [...] } with one video item per result. One returned item is one billable unit.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
id / webVideoUrl | string | The TikTok video ID and its canonical web URL. |
text | string | The video caption, including inline hashtags and mentions. |
authorMeta | object | Creator handle, nickname, follower and heart counts, and verified flag. |
musicMeta | object | Track name, artist, and whether the sound is original. |
videoMeta | object | Duration, dimensions, and cover image for the video. |
playCount / diggCount | integer | Play count and like (digg) count, the core reach and engagement signals. |
commentCount / shareCount | integer | Comment and share counts for measuring conversation and spread. |
hashtags | object[] | The hashtags attached to the video, for topic and campaign mapping. |
createTimeISO / scrapedAt | string | ISO timestamps for when the video was posted and when it was scraped. |
A TikTok Research API alternative built for agents
TikTok's official Research API is approval-gated and largely limited to academic and nonprofit use. If you cannot get access or need commercial TikTok scraping, SurfSense is a TikTok API alternative. Here is how it compares.
| Feature | Official TikTok API | SurfSense |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Application and approval, often restricted to academic/nonprofit use | One API key, no approval process |
| Pricing | Free but gated, with usage quotas per approved project | Pay per item returned, with a free tier to start |
| Signing | You manage the client-side signature that TikTok rotates | Handled for you; a real browser signs each request |
| Setup | Register a developer app and await review | One API key, or add the MCP server to your agent |
| Agent-ready | No; you build the harness yourself | MCP server exposes scrape, comments, user search, and trending as native tools |
TikTok API: frequently asked questions
Is scraping TikTok legal?
SurfSense reads only public TikTok data, the same videos any logged-out visitor can see. It never logs in and cannot access private or deleted content. As always, review TikTok's terms and your own compliance needs before you run at scale.
Does this need the official TikTok Research API?
No. This TikTok scraper API is an independent alternative, not a wrapper on the Research API, so there is no application or approval process. You call SurfSense with one key, or add the MCP server to your agent, and get structured videos, comments, and profile data back.
What TikTok data can I scrape?
Four verbs: scrape (videos by hashtag, profile, or URL), comments (a video's public comment thread), user search (find accounts by keyword), and trending (the current Explore feed). Each returns structured items and is billed per item returned.
Can I scrape TikTok comments and hashtags?
Yes. Pass a video URL to the comments endpoint for the public comment thread. Pass hashtag names or /tag/ URLs to the TikTok hashtag scraper to pull videos under that tag. Keyword video search is login-walled on TikTok, so hashtags and direct URLs are the reliable discovery paths; to find accounts by keyword, use the user search verb.
What are the rate limits?
Each call caps at 100 returned videos across all sources, with up to 20 hashtags, profiles, or URLs per request. SurfSense manages the underlying request budget and request signing for you.
Can I scrape a specific creator's videos?
Pass a profile or profile URL and you always get the account's metadata: name, followers, bio, verification. TikTok often withholds the profile video list from automated clients, so that list can come back empty even for a public account. For reliable video results, scrape by hashtag or by a direct video URL.
Point your agents at TikTok
The TikTok connector is one of many in the SurfSense open web research platform. Start free, no credit card required.