TikTok Post Transcript API
Returns the spoken text of a TikTok video from its captions, with an option to fall back to AI transcription when no captions exist.
GET /v1/tiktok/post/transcriptLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the TikTok Post Transcript API
Use it when you need what was said rather than the numbers; post gives you the video's caption and metrics but no transcript.
From the API reference
Returns the transcript of a TikTok video. Supports auto-generated captions and AI-powered transcription as fallback. transcript is one string in one of two forms, and transcript_format names it: webvtt (WebVTT cues with timestamps) when it comes from the video's caption track or from AI transcription of a longer video, text (plain text, with duration_seconds and duration_minutes) when it comes from AI transcription of a shorter one. Read transcript_format rather than guessing from the video's length. A video over 2 minutes is transcribed on demand and can take a minute or more, so allow up to 300 seconds before your HTTP client times out.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Post Transcript API?
The Post Transcript endpoint gives you structured TikTok data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# GET /v1/tiktok/post/transcript: 10 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 60: this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 60 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/post/transcript?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40stoolpresidente%2Fvideo%2F7499229683859426602" && cat response.json# GET /v1/tiktok/post/transcript: 10 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 60 # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/post/transcript"
def backoff(attempt):
# Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)
def socialcrawl(params):
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
try:
res = requests.get(
URL,
params=params,
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
)
body = res.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
# A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise
time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
continue
if body["success"]:
return body
error = body["error"]
# Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
return None # refunded: nothing to read
retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
# SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
# Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))
params = {
"url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@stoolpresidente/video/7499229683859426602",
}
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is not None:
print(body["data"])// GET /v1/tiktok/post/transcript: 10 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 60_000; // this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
| { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
| { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };
const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);
async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
// One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
let res: Response;
let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
try {
res = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
},
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
});
body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
} catch (error) {
// A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
continue;
}
if (body.success) return body;
// Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
// SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/post/transcript");
url.searchParams.set("url", "https://www.tiktok.com/@stoolpresidente/video/7499229683859426602");
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (body) console.log(body.data);Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| url | Yes | Full URL of the TikTok video |
| language | No | Language of the transcript. 2 letter language code, ie 'en', 'es', 'fr', 'de', 'it', 'ja', 'ko', 'zh'. Selects the caption track, and is passed to AI transcription of a longer video as the spoken language. Without it, AI transcription detects the language itself and can mistake a less common one for English, so set it when you know the language. If AI transcription of a longer video cannot transcribe the language you set, the request returns 404 RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND with `error.details.reason: language_unsupported` at 0 credits rather than a transcript in another language; retrying returns the same result. |
| use_ai_as_fallback | No | Set to 'true' to fall back to AI transcription when the video has no captions. Included in the endpoint's 10 credits (no surcharge). AI transcription covers videos up to 10 minutes (600 seconds): a longer video with no captions returns 400 INVALID_REQUEST with `error.details.reason: video_too_long`, `duration_seconds` and `max_seconds`, free and deterministic, so retrying returns the same answer. |
| moments | No | Optional CSV of moment kinds to find: brand, sponsor_read, product_demo, call_to_action. Returns data.moments = [{ kind, start_ms, end_ms, quote }] when the transcript has timestamps. Price of the extra step is an owner decision; today it does not add credits. |
| brand | No | Optional, with moments=. The company or product to look for, so a namesake is not counted. |
| q | No | Optional question about the video, up to 300 characters, for example q=what discount code do they give. Returns data.moments = [{ kind: "answers_query", start_ms, end_ms, quote }] for each stretch of about six transcript lines that states the answer: a stretch that only shares the topic is left out, and a question the video never answers returns an empty list. The quote is one line copied from the transcript and the times come from the segments. Send moments= or q=, not both. If the step cannot run, the transcript is returned without data.moments and data._warnings carries moments_unavailable. Today it does not add credits. |
What does the TikTok Post Transcript API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"endpoint": "/v1/tiktok/post/transcript",
"data": {
"id": "7499229683859426602",
"url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@stoolpresidente/video/7499229683859426602",
"transcript": "WEBVTT\n\n\n00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:01.740\nAlright, pizza review time.\n\n00:00:01.741 --> 00:00:03.701\nSal's Pizza Factory. Oh,\n\n00:00:03.702 --> 00:00:05.701\nit's fucking pouring. We're in Charlotte.\n\n00:00:05.702 --> 00:00:07.781\nAlright man, any chance I get a real quick picture?\n\n00:00:07.782 --> 00:00:09.901\nJack or Dwight Howard? I gotta pick one.\n\n00:00:09.902 --> 00:00:10.861\nYeah, Jack.\n\n00:00:10.862 --> 00:00:12.301\nYeah, easy, right?\n\n00:00:12.302 --> 00:00:13.981\nWe're still Jason Williams still with us?\n\n00:00:13.982 --> 00:00:16.381\nYeah, he on the plane right over,\n\n00:00:16.382 --> 00:00:18.261\nout of the blue. Said the following.\n\n00:00:18.262 --> 00:00:21.141\nHe would take Dwight Howard over Shaq at center.\n\n00:00:21.142 --> 00:00:23.461\nAnd says he lie about it for the rest of his life\n\n00:00:23.462 --> 00:00:25.341\nand would never admit to saying that.\n\n00:00:25.342 --> 00:00:28.441\nListen, y'all seen him on his camera more more times than me.\n\n00:00:28.500 --> 00:00:31.980\nHe's lying. This is an outrageous pizza.\n\n00:00:31.981 --> 00:00:33.601\nI don't even know that they cut it.\n\n00:00:35.340 --> 00:00:36.620\nWow, very hot.\n\n00:00:36.621 --> 00:00:37.701\nAll right, it is cut.\n\n00:00:37.702 --> 00:00:39.821\nThat's a lava soup in the middle.\n\n00:00:39.822 --> 00:00:42.621\nIt is going back and forth like crazy.\n\n00:00:42.622 --> 00:00:45.301\nYou need some silverware. I really do want to let this cool\n\n00:00:45.302 --> 00:00:46.821\nso we can talk about you to White House.\n\n00:00:46.822 --> 00:00:48.361\nNo, it's shut up.\n\n00:00:49.580 --> 00:00:51.200\nAnd. But then he said if.\n\n00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:53.620\nIf. If he was starting five,\n\n00:00:53.621 --> 00:00:54.981\nyou would take Shaq? Yes,\n\n00:00:54.982 --> 00:00:56.541\nbut Dwight Howard's the best center.\n\n00:00:56.542 --> 00:01:00.241\nShaq is the most dominant center ever to play the game of basketball.\n\n00:01:01.140 --> 00:01:02.520\nWhy would you take Drake out?\n\n00:01:02.620 --> 00:01:05.460\nDefensive purpose. So you're like math GM?\n\n00:01:05.461 --> 00:01:08.161\nGet rid of Luca and get a defensive guy in there.\n\n00:01:08.260 --> 00:01:09.660\nListen, I'm nothing like Nico\n\n00:01:09.661 --> 00:01:11.341\nand I've never GM the team in my life\n\n00:01:11.342 --> 00:01:12.621\nand I'm guarantee I'm better.\n\n00:01:12.622 --> 00:01:14.901\nI'd never make that deal. That was the dumbest deal ever.\n\n00:01:14.902 --> 00:01:18.221\nTo be made. This tastes better than how sloppy it is.\n\n00:01:18.222 --> 00:01:19.821\n7 3. It's not bad at all,\n\n00:01:19.822 --> 00:01:20.741\nthis. Actually,\n\n00:01:20.742 --> 00:01:23.541\nI'm not just saying it. This eats way better than it looks.\n\n00:01:23.542 --> 00:01:24.821\nI don't know whether it is.\n\n00:01:24.822 --> 00:01:25.981\nHustle this out of the oven.\n\n00:01:25.982 --> 00:01:26.821\nAll right. Do you want some?\n\n00:01:26.822 --> 00:01:27.341\nNo, sir.\n\n00:01:27.342 --> 00:01:28.741\nAll right. I don't wanna burn the river in my mouth.\n\n00:01:28.742 --> 00:01:29.995\nAll right. That's gonna be a pro.\n"
},
"credits_used": 0,
"request_id": "req_example000000",
"cached": true,
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"source": "captured",
"captured_at": "2026-10-02T12:51:28.487Z",
"redacted": true
}Live sample illustrating the unified response shape. Field values reflect the record you query.
How does the TikTok Post Transcript API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
How do you scrape social media data in seconds?
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Query 69 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.
Computed fields, not just scraped
When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language. Ready to use.
See your data before you code
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import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.
Contact usHow do I get a TikTok video transcript with an API?
Which languages does the TikTok Transcript API support?
What if the TikTok video has no native transcript?
Can I pull a TikTok transcript without a second API call?
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