TikTok Content Posting API: publishing videos and photos

Direct Post or Upload: which one do you need?

Direct Post vs Upload compared

How to publish a video with Direct Post

Order matters: TikTok's guidelines require the creator info query and a specific posting UI before the init call.

1. 1

   Get video.publish authorization

   The creator must have authorized your app for video.publish through Login Kit. Keep the access token fresh — it lives 24 hours.

2. 2

   Query creator info

   POST /v2/post/publish/creator_info/query/ returns the creator's nickname and avatar, privacy_level_options, comment_disabled, duet_disabled, stitch_disabled and max_video_post_duration_sec. Errors such as spam_risk_too_many_posts or reached_active_user_cap mean you should not offer posting right now.

3. 3

   Show a compliant posting screen

   Display the creator's nickname, a privacy dropdown with no default value, interaction toggles that are off by default (greyed out if the creator disabled them), a commercial content disclosure switch, a preview and the Music Usage Confirmation consent. Tell users processing can take a few minutes.

4. 4

   Initialize the post

   Send post_info (title, privacy_level, disable_comment, disable_duet, disable_stitch, branded content toggles) and source_info with FILE_UPLOAD or PULL_FROM_URL. The response contains publish_id and, for file uploads, upload_url.

5. 5

   Transfer the media

   For FILE_UPLOAD, PUT the chunks to upload_url within one hour. For PULL_FROM_URL, TikTok downloads the file from your verified URL itself.

6. 6

   Track the result

   Poll /v2/post/publish/status/fetch/ with the publish_id or subscribe to Content Posting webhooks, and show the final outcome to the user.

privacy_level values

Send only a value that creator info returned for this creator — anything else is rejected with privacy_level_option_mismatch.

The list depends on the creator's account settings, so never hard-code it.

Direct Post in Python

The SDK sends the init request, uploads file chunks and, with wait=True, polls the status until the post is published or fails.

from socialift import TikTok

async def post_video(token: str, privacy: str, caption: str) -> dict:
    async with TikTok.from_env() as tt:
        info = await tt.creator_info(token)
        if privacy not in info["privacy_level_options"]:
            raise ValueError(f"{privacy} is not allowed for this creator")

        return await tt.publish_video(
            token,
            video="renders/launch.mp4",      # FILE_UPLOAD, chunked by the SDK
            title=caption,
            privacy_level=privacy,           # SELF_ONLY until the app is audited
            disable_comment=info.get("comment_disabled", False),
            disable_duet=info.get("duet_disabled", False),
            disable_stitch=info.get("stitch_disabled", False),
            wait=True,
        )

What unaudited apps can and cannot do

PULL_FROM_URL vs FILE_UPLOAD

Both sources work for Direct Post and Upload videos. Photo posts only support PULL_FROM_URL.

Media requirements

Photo posts, drafts and status checks

Photos always come from verified URLs. Inbox uploads end in SEND_TO_USER_INBOX, so check them with publish_status instead of waiting for publication.

from socialift import TikTok

async def carousel_and_draft(token: str) -> None:
    async with TikTok.from_env() as tt:
        # creator_info() before Direct Post, as in the video example
        carousel = await tt.publish_photos(
            token,
            photo_urls=[
                "https://media.example.com/tiktok/look-1.jpg",
                "https://media.example.com/tiktok/look-2.jpg",
            ],
            title="Autumn lookbook",
            description="Two looks from the new collection",
            privacy_level="SELF_ONLY",
            cover_index=0,
            wait=True,
        )
        print(carousel["status"]["status"])   # PUBLISH_COMPLETE

        draft = await tt.upload_video(token, video="renders/raw-cut.mp4")
        state = await tt.publish_status(draft["publish_id"], token)
        print(state["status"])                # PROCESSING_UPLOAD or SEND_TO_USER_INBOX

Post status values

publicaly_available_post_id (spelled that way in the API) is returned only once the post is public and approved; private posts have no public ID.

Production checklist for TikTok posting

• ▸Query creator info before every Direct Post and build the privacy dropdown from privacy_level_options.
• ▸Leave privacy and interaction settings without defaults; grey out whatever the creator disabled.
• ▸Stay under 6 init requests and 30 status requests per minute per user token.
• ▸Treat spam_risk_too_many_posts and spam_risk_too_many_pending_share as a pause, not a retry loop.
• ▸Never superimpose logos, watermarks, links or promotional text on content shared to TikTok.
• ▸Keep media URLs on a verified HTTPS prefix without redirects.
• ▸Log the log_id from every error response for TikTok support.