tiktok-api

Unofficial TikTok API library: scrape video and user profile metadata, and optionally download videos, slides, and audio. No official API key required.

Install

pip install -e .

Or install dependencies only:

pip install requests beautifulsoup4 browser_cookie3

Then use the single module tiktok_api.py from this directory (e.g. add the directory to PYTHONPATH or copy the file).

Usage

from tiktok_api import TT_Content_Scraper

scraper = TT_Content_Scraper(
    wait_time=0.35,
    output_files_fp="data/",
    progress_file_fn="progress_tracking/scraping_progress.db",
    clear_console=False,
)

# Add video IDs (from TikTok URL) and/or usernames
scraper.add_objects(ids=["7398323154424171806"], title="batch1", type="content")
scraper.add_objects(ids=["tagesschau", "tiktok"], title="users", type="user")

# Scrape: metadata only, or with media (mp4/jpeg/mp3)
scraper.scrape_pending(scrape_files=False)   # metadata only
# scraper.scrape_pending(scrape_files=True)  # also download videos/slides/audio

• Content: use type="content" and video IDs from the video URL.
• Users: use type="user" and usernames (with or without @).

Output is written under output_files_fp:

• content_metadata/<video_id>.json – video/post metadata
• user_metadata/<username>.json – user profile metadata
• content_files/ – mp4, jpeg, mp3 when scrape_files=True

Progress is stored in the SQLite database at progress_file_fn (pending/completed/error per ID).

Run as script

python tiktok_api.py

Runs a one-off example: one video ID, metadata only, output in data/.