How a request resolves
- Caption track foundThe video's caption track is read and returned.200
- No captionsAI Fallback Transcription runs while the request is held open for up to 45 seconds. No polling.200
- Still running after 45 sAnswers with a job to poll, or POSTs the result to your callback_url. Retrying is safe and hits the cache once it is done.202
Body parameters
A video URL or 11-character YouTube video ID. Accepts YouTube (watch, youtu.be, /shorts/), TikTok, and Instagram URLs, plus direct media file URLs (mp4/mp3/wav/…). Under the default mode, a video without captions is transcribed by AI Fallback Transcription (see mode).
Where the text may come from. "auto" (the default) reads the caption track, and when there is none transcribes the audio with AI Fallback Transcription, charged on delivery at 1 credit per started 5 minutes of audio, minimum 1 (a 20-minute video is 4; the 4-hour cap is 48). "captions" reads an existing caption track only and answers 422 no_captions when there is none: the one mode that never charges for audio. "audio" skips captions and always uses AI Fallback Transcription, at the same rate. A caption fetch is always 1 credit. AI Fallback Transcription on short media may finish inline after a wait of up to 45 seconds; longer work returns 202 with a job to poll or deliver by callback.
Which form the transcript comes back in. true (the default) returns the `segments` array, each with start, duration and text. false returns a single joined `text` string instead. On the single-transcript 200 exactly one of the two is present, never both, since segments already contain every word the joined text does; job results and batch entries carry both text and segments. The older strings "segment" and "none" mean the same two things and are still accepted.
Where to POST the finished transcript when a request escalates to AI Fallback Transcription, instead of polling the job. The delivery body is a trimmed envelope - {ok, status, job_id, data} on success, {ok, status, job_id, error} on failure - without the usage and request_id the poll URL adds. When a signing secret is configured on our side, the body is signed with HMAC-SHA256 over the exact bytes and sent as an X-TranscriptFetch-Signature: sha256=<hex> header so you can verify it came from us. Must be a public https URL on the standard port; the URL is checked again at delivery time, so an unreachable or private address still gets a 202 but never receives a delivery. The job stays pollable either way, so a missed delivery is never a lost transcript.
Legacy alias for "mode", still supported. true is identical to "mode": "audio" (always AI Fallback Transcription); omitted or false is "mode": "auto", the default, which still uses AI Fallback Transcription when a video has no captions. Send one or the other, not both. false never turned the fallback off, which is why the field was replaced: send "mode": "captions" for that.
{
"ok": true,
"request_id": "req_…",
"data": {
"kind": "transcript",
"video_id": "7690953765293231373",
"url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@khanacademy/video/7690953765293231373",
"platform": "tiktok",
"title": "Lower Car Payment? Check the Loan First! The best deal isn’t always the one with the lowest monthly payment. Learn more in Khan Academy’s Monthly payment versus total cost lesson! Link in bio",
"channel": "khanacademy",
"duration": 35,
"language": "eng-US",
"thumbnail_url": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-useast5-p-0068-tx/ogAAeIAg75qA92HwwcidCiuCVDcBDgDS5EfCnn~tplv-tiktokx-origin.image",
"source": "captions",
"segments": [
{
"start": 0.5,
"duration": 3.98,
"text": "Wait, this payment for my new car is way lower?"
},
{
"start": 4.78,
"duration": 2,
"text": "Yeah, I'm going with this payment."
},
{
"start": 6.781,
"duration": 2.86,
"text": "Okay, but look at that loan closely."
}
]
},
"usage": {
"credits_spent": 1,
"balance": 656,
"bytes": 1893
}
}Every TikTok endpoint
- POSTTranscriptFetch a TikTok video's transcript over REST: the request, every parameter, a real TikTok response with timestamped segments, and curl, Python and Node examples.
- POSTSearchSearch TikTok videos by keyword over REST: the request, the platform parameter, a real TikTok response with view counts and durations, and curl, Python and Node examples.
- POSTProfile VideosList a TikTok creator's videos over REST: the request with a profile URL, since_video_id polling, a real TikTok response with play counts, and curl, Python and Node examples.
- POSTProfile MonitorWatch a TikTok creator for new videos over REST: create a monitor on a profile URL, receive each new video by signed webhook or from the events list, optionally with its transcript, with curl, Python and Node examples.
Same call, other platforms:YouTube Transcript APIInstagram Transcript API
Frequently asked questions
Which TikTok URLs are accepted?
Full video URLs (tiktok.com/@user/video/<id>), the vm.tiktok.com and vt.tiktok.com short links TikTok's share sheet produces, and the bare numeric video id. The URL formats page lists each with an example.
Does TikTok have captions, or does every transcript need AI Fallback Transcription?
Many TikTok videos carry a caption track, and the endpoint reads it first: the response says source captions and costs 1 credit. When there is none, AI Fallback Transcription transcribes the audio on the same request and source says audio.
Will a TikTok request answer 202 and make me poll?
Rarely. TikTok is short-form, so the request is held open and the finished transcript is returned inline whether or not the media length could be read. Only a transcription that outlasts the hold answers 202 with a job to poll.
Can I transcribe a private TikTok, or one behind an age gate?
No. Only public videos are reachable. A private, removed or region-locked video fails with a clear error and costs nothing.