How to Get TikTok API Access (Step by Step)
To get TikTok API access, pick a portal (TikTok for Developers or TikTok API for Business), register as a developer, create an app, add the products and scopes you need, record a demo video, and submit for app review. Public posting through the Content Posting API needs a second audit after that. Adeli maintains its own TikTok developer app and goes through TikTok's review, so you can publish through one API instead.
You get TikTok API access by registering an app in one of TikTok's two developer portals, getting each scope approved in app review, and, if you want public posts, passing a separate Content Posting API audit. Signing up takes minutes. The reviews take days to weeks each.
Does TikTok have an API?#
Yes. TikTok has several official APIs, split across two developer portals. TikTok for Developers has Login Kit and the Content Posting API. TikTok API for Business has the Accounts API, Marketing API, and Business Messaging API.
Each portal has its own developer accounts, apps, and reviews. Access in one doesn't carry over to the other.
| TikTok for Developers | TikTok API for Business | |
|---|---|---|
| Portal | developers.tiktok.com | business-api.tiktok.com |
| Posting product | Content Posting API | Accounts API |
| Who can register | Anyone with an email | Companies only, with a company email and website |
| Gates before public posting | App review, then the Content Posting API audit | Developer profile review, Accounts API Access Application Form, then app review |
| Can you build before approval? | Yes, in sandbox and as an unaudited client | No |
What do you need before you start?#
TikTok reviews your business as well as your code. Have these ready before you register:
- A real company website. TikTok's app review guidelines reject landing pages and login pages. The site needs to describe your product and company.
- Visible legal pages. Put working links to your privacy policy and terms of service where visitors can see them without opening a menu.
- A company email on that domain. The business portal rejects personal and temporary email addresses.
- A working product. TikTok won't approve apps that are still in development or testing, or that are only for private or personal use.
- A redirect URI. Web apps that use Login Kit must provide a valid one.
Step 1: Pick your portal#
Choose the portal by what your product does with the accounts it connects. If users sign in with TikTok and post their own content, use TikTok for Developers. If you manage accounts for brands or clients, use TikTok API for Business.
We compared the two in detail, including what each API can and can't do, in TikTok API for Business vs TikTok for Developers. The steps below cover both.
Step 2: Register as a developer#
On TikTok for Developers, you sign up with an email and can create an app right away. TikTok recommends creating or joining an organization to own the app, though it isn't required.
On TikTok API for Business, registration is reviewed. The registration guide asks for:
- A verified company email. TikTok suggests a shared alias such as developers+tiktok@yourcompany.com, so your whole team can get into the account.
- A user type. Technology Company, Direct Advertiser, or Agency. It has to match the rest of your profile.
- Your company name and website. The website must be public, fully built, owned by your company, and on the same domain as your email. TikTok can't onboard personal websites or individual developers.
- A detailed use case. Explain how you plan to use TikTok data and the API. Vague answers get profiles rejected.
TikTok says you'll hear back within three business days. When we went through it, the profile review was also where domain checks came in, before anyone looked at an app. We covered why business developer profiles get rejected and how to fix it.
Step 3: Create a developer app#
The app is what TikTok reviews. It holds your client key and secret, and its name is what users see on the authorization screen.
On TikTok for Developers (create an app), you fill in:
- App icon. 1024 × 1024 px, JPEG or PNG, up to 5 MB.
- Name, category, and description. The name must be your product's name. It can't reference a social media company, so "TikTok scheduler" fails.
- Terms of service and privacy policy URLs. You verify them under URL properties before submitting.
- Platforms. Web, desktop, Android, or iOS. Mobile apps must already be live in the App Store or Google Play.
On TikTok API for Business (create a developer app), you give the app a name, a description of its intended uses and who can access it, up to 10 redirect URLs, and the permission scopes it needs. Each developer can have up to five apps.
Step 4: Add products and scopes#
Request only the scopes your app uses, because every one of them has to appear in your demo video. TikTok asks you to remove any scope you don't use before you submit.
These are the TikTok for Developers scopes that matter for posting and analytics, from TikTok's scopes reference:
| Scope | What it allows | Needs review? |
|---|---|---|
user.info.basic |
Open ID, avatar, display name | No, granted by default |
user.info.profile |
Bio, verification status, profile links | Yes |
user.info.stats |
Follower, following, like, and video counts | Yes |
video.list |
The user's public videos | Yes |
video.publish |
Post directly to the user's profile | Yes |
video.upload |
Send content to the user's drafts | Yes |
To post, add the Content Posting API product and turn on its Direct Post configuration, as TikTok's Content Posting API guide describes. If TikTok will pull videos from your URLs, verify that domain or URL prefix too.
On TikTok API for Business, posting, comments, and insights all sit under one scope, TikTok Accounts. Since March 20, 2026, you have to complete the Accounts API Access Application Form, linked from the Accounts API overview, before you submit an app or request a scope increase that includes it.
Step 5: Build in sandbox and record your demo#
TikTok for Developers requires a sandbox demo if your app has never been approved. Sandbox mode lets you test without review: up to 5 sandboxes per app and 10 target users per sandbox. It doesn't support public posting through the Content Posting API.
Reviewers grade the demo video. TikTok's guidelines ask for:
- The full flow. At least one video, up to 5, each under 50 MB, showing the integration end to end.
- Every scope in use. Each product and scope you selected has to appear on screen.
- Your real domain. The website in the video has to match the URL you submitted.
- The app opening. Mobile apps show it launching.
What helped when we recorded TikTok demos: show TikTok's real authorization screen with your app's name on it, use a connected account with real data instead of empty states, and keep the video to what your written use case claims.
Step 6: Submit for app review#
Submit once the app details, scopes, and demo are in place, then wait. TikTok for Developers says app review may take several days to two weeks. TikTok API for Business says its app review may take 2 to 3 business days.
If TikTok for Developers rejects the app, the reviewer's comments show up in the app's History section. On TikTok API for Business, the result shows under Verification Status in My Apps, and you can edit the request and submit it again.
For what review took in practice, and what happened when we added APIs later, see how long TikTok app review takes.
Step 7: Pass the Content Posting API audit for public posts#
App approval on TikTok for Developers doesn't make your posts public. Until your app passes a separate audit, TikTok's Content Sharing Guidelines limit it to:
- 5 posting users per 24 hours.
- Private accounts only. Every account posting through your app has to be set to private.
SELF_ONLYposts. Only the creator can see what you publish.
You apply through the audit application. The audit checks that your posting screen meets the guidelines: the creator's nickname, a privacy selector with no default, unchecked comment, Duet, and Stitch toggles, a commercial content disclosure option, the Music Usage Confirmation line, a content preview, and a notice that the post may take a few minutes to appear.
Passing doesn't remove every limit. TikTok sets a daily cap on active creators for each app based on the usage estimates in your audit application, and each creator account can post around 15 times a day through Direct Post.
The Accounts API on the business side has no separate posting audit, but it only publishes videos as public. How to make the actual calls once you're approved is in how to post to TikTok via API.
How long does it take to get TikTok API access?#
If you need public posting, plan for several weeks. Each gate has its own wait, and a rejection at any of them sends you back to the queue.
| Gate | Portal | TikTok's stated wait |
|---|---|---|
| Developer registration | TikTok for Developers | None, immediate |
| Developer profile review | TikTok API for Business | Within 3 business days |
| Accounts API Access Application Form | TikTok API for Business | Not stated |
| App review | TikTok for Developers | Several days to two weeks |
| App review | TikTok API for Business | 2 to 3 business days |
| Content Posting API audit | TikTok for Developers | Not stated |
Why do TikTok API applications get rejected?#
Most of the rejection reasons in TikTok's docs are about your company and website. These are the ones TikTok names:
- Personal or unfinished apps. Apps for private use, or still in development or testing.
- A thin website. A landing page, a login page, or legal links hidden in a menu.
- A name that references TikTok or another social media company.
- Scope mismatch. Scopes you requested but don't show in the demo.
- Profile mismatch. On the business portal, a personal email, a website that doesn't match your email domain, or a vague use case.
Is there a faster way to get TikTok API access?#
Yes, if you build on an API that already has TikTok access. Adeli maintains the TikTok developer app, goes through TikTok's review process, and handles token refresh for every connected account. Your team doesn't register an app on either portal.
- Your users' own accounts. Each user connects their own TikTok account, isolated from everyone else's.
- One endpoint for every network. TikTok posts go through the same posting API as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and X.
- Clear failures. Every publish returns a per-platform status plus a webhook when anything changes.
Your first 3 connected accounts are free. See the TikTok API page for what's supported.