TikTok Video Screen Text API
Returns the text shown on the video itself: native text stickers plus AI OCR of the cover frame, so burned-in editor captions are caught too.
GET /v1/tiktok/video/screen-textLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the TikTok Video Screen Text API
Use it for the on-screen overlay text; the caption lives on post and the spoken words on post/transcript.
From the API reference
Extracts the text shown ON a TikTok post itself: the overlay captions creators put on screen, which the regular caption and transcript never carry. Two layers are merged: native text-sticker data (present when the creator used TikTok's built-in text tool) and AI OCR of the post's images, which also catches text burned in with editors like CapCut that no data provider returns. What the OCR layer reads depends on the post. On a video, the cover frame by default, so text that appears later in the video is not read; with frames=all the whole video is read instead, up to 3 minutes (180 seconds), and the response adds subtitles (on-screen captions of the speech, kept apart from texts), a timeline of every text block with at_seconds, the second it first appears, and kind (text or subtitle), and duration_seconds. On a photo post (pass its /photo/ link), every slide in order, 10 slides a call: the first 10 by default, and the next 10 with slide_offset=10; a longer photo post's response carries a warning giving its full slide count, and slide_offset and next_slide_offset say where this call started and which offset reads the rest (null when every slide has been read). texts is the deduplicated union in reading order; native_texts and ocr_texts expose each layer separately and source says which layers produced data. On a photo post, images lists each slide read with its own texts and its 0-based index, so you know which slide said what. A post with no on-screen text returns an empty texts array (that is a real answer, not an error). Costs 5 credits for a video's cover or for each call on a photo post (10 slides), and 10 credits for a whole video with frames=all; auto-refunds when the post lookup or the whole extraction fails, or when a parameter does not fit the post.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Video Screen Text API?
The Video Screen Text 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/video/screen-text: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. 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 15: 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 15 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/video/screen-text?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40stoolpresidente%2Fvideo%2F7499229683859426602" && cat response.json# GET /v1/tiktok/video/screen-text: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. 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 = 15 # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/video/screen-text"
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/video/screen-text: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. 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 = 15_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/video/screen-text");
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 or photo post (a `/video/` or `/photo/` link) |
| frames | No | What to read on a video. `cover` (the default) reads the cover frame for 5 credits. `all` reads the whole video, up to 180 seconds, for 10 credits, and adds `subtitles`, `timeline` and `duration_seconds`. Has no effect on photo posts, which are read as usual for 5 credits. (cover | all) |
| slide_offset | No | Photo posts only: the 0-based index of the first slide to read, 10 slides a call. Default 0. `slide_offset=10` reads slides 11 to 20. Each slide in `images` keeps its index in the whole post, and `next_slide_offset` gives the value for the next call. |
What does the TikTok Video Screen Text API return?
This example shows the endpoint's response shape and fields. Values are illustrative; this is not a live capture.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"endpoint": "/v1/tiktok/video/screen-text",
"data": {
"video_id": "7660536627479022870",
"url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@disneymusic/video/7660536627479022870",
"texts": [
"Enjoy 57 minutes of Nostalgic \nDISNEY Songs"
],
"native_texts": [
"Enjoy 57 minutes of Nostalgic \nDISNEY Songs"
],
"ocr_texts": [
"Enjoy 57 minutes of Nostalgic DISNEY Songs"
],
"source": "native+ocr",
"media_type": "video",
"frame": "cover"
},
"credits_used": 5,
"credits_remaining": 95,
"request_id": "req-a1b2c3d4e5f6",
"cached": false
}Illustrative fixture for the documented response shape. Values are examples, not a production capture.
How does the TikTok Video Screen Text 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?
The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 69 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.
One schema, every platform
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
Visual Data Explorer. Paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.
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 usWhat does the TikTok Video Screen Text API return?
When should I use the TikTok Video Screen Text endpoint?
How much does the TikTok Video Screen Text API cost?
What parameters does the TikTok Video Screen Text API need?
How do I call the TikTok Video Screen Text API?
Ask AI about SocialCrawl
Ready to scrape TikTok Video Screen Text data?
Get your API key and start pulling TikTok data in under 60 seconds.
