TikTok — how to connect

Before you start

• A TikTok developer app registered at developers.tiktok.com with the Content Posting API product added and the video.publish scope requested — this gives you the Client key and Client secret this integration needs.
• A personal TikTok account to connect (this integration posts to a personal profile, not a Business/Creator Center page) — during development, your account must be added as a sandbox target user or the app must be live, or OAuth connect will fail.
• If you want the video URL used for publishing (PULL_FROM_URL) to work, verify ownership of that exact media/CDN domain in the TikTok Developer Portal (meta tag or DNS record) before connecting — otherwise every publish attempt is rejected.
• Accept that until your app passes TikTok's Content Posting API audit, every post is forced to Self only (private) visibility, capped at 5 posting users per 24 hours — decide up front whether that's acceptable or whether you need to submit for audit first.

Step by step

1. 1
   Create a TikTok developer account and app

   Sign up at the TikTok for Developers portal, create/join an organization, then click Connect an app to register a new app.

   Open
2. 2
   Add the Content Posting API product

   In the app's product list add Content Posting API (and Login Kit) and enable Direct Post, since this integration only publishes video posts.

3. 3
   Set the Login Kit redirect URI

   Under Login Kit, add this app's OAuth redirect URI (the callback URL this tool shows on the TikTok connect screen) for the Web/Desktop platform.

4. 4
   Copy the Client key and Client secret

   Open the app's Credentials section and copy the Client key and Client secret into this tool's TikTok Client key / Client secret fields.

5. 5
   Verify your posting domain and submit for review

   Verify the URL properties for the domain that will host uploaded video URLs, then submit the app for TikTok's review since unaudited apps can only post privately (Self only).

6. 6
   Set a default privacy level and click Connect

   Choose Self only (private) as the Default post privacy unless the app has passed audit, then use the Connect button to run the OAuth flow and link the TikTok account.

App keys (set once in Settings)

• Client key (client ID)

  developers.tiktok.com → your app → Credentials → "Client key". Add the Content Posting API product (Direct Post) + Login Kit and register this tool's redirect URI first.

• Client secretsecret

  Same Credentials panel → "Client secret". Keep server-side only. Until the app passes TikTok's audit, posts are forced to Self only (private).

• Default post privacy

  Unaudited apps can only use Self only (private).

Troubleshooting

Publish fails with an error like unaudited_client_can_only_post_to_private_accounts, or posts silently land as private even though you selected Public/Friends/Followers.

Unaudited apps can only publish with privacy_level SELF_ONLY — this is a TikTok platform restriction, not a bug. Keep 'Default post privacy' set to Self only until you submit your app for TikTok's Content Posting API audit (roughly 5-10 business days); only after approval will Public/Friends/Followers actually take effect.

Init call fails with url_ownership_unverified as soon as you try to publish.

TikTok requires the exact host serving your video file (including any CDN/bucket subdomain, e.g. video.static.example.com) to be verified in the Developer Portal via a meta tag or DNS TXT record. Verifying the root domain does not cover a different CDN subdomain — verify the precise prefix the video URLs actually use, or proxy videos through a domain you've already verified.

Publish fails immediately with 'no video attached' / TikTok requires a video URL error, even though a caption or image was posted.

TikTok's Content Posting API is video-only — there is no text-only or image-only post type here. Every post must include exactly one video; attach a video before publishing.

OAuth connect redirects back with an error, or the account never appears after authorizing (common in development/testing).

Until your app is fully approved, TikTok only allows sign-in from accounts explicitly added as sandbox target users for that app, and access tokens are short-lived (refresh_token must be used to renew, typically within ~24h for the access token). Add the connecting TikTok account as a sandbox tester in the Developer Portal, or reconnect via OAuth to refresh an expired token — long-lived automated posting needs the refresh flow, not just the initial code exchange.