How to Post TikTok Videos via API — Developer Guide

TikTok's API landscape in 2026

TikTok launched its Content Posting API in late 2023, replacing the earlier Research API as the sanctioned way to publish content programmatically. Before the official API existed, every automation tool relied on browser automation scripts or reverse-engineered private endpoints — approaches that violated TikTok's Terms of Service and got accounts suspended without warning.

The Content Posting API supports two upload modes. Direct upload sends the video binary directly to TikTok's servers in chunks. URL-based upload tells TikTok to pull the video from a publicly accessible URL — CodivUpload uses this mode, serving your media from a CDN so TikTok's ingestion servers fetch it at maximum speed. Both modes support the full set of post parameters: privacy level, interaction toggles, brand content labels, and AI-generated content flags.

CodivUpload uses the official TikTok Content Posting API exclusively. No scraping, no headless browsers, no unofficial endpoints. Every video you publish through CodivUpload is sent through the same channel that TikTok designed and maintains for third-party developers.

Publishing via the CodivUpload SDK

The TypeScript SDK wraps the REST API in a typed client. Install it with npm install codivupload, initialize with your API key, and you can publish a TikTok video in a single function call. The SDK handles serialization, error parsing, and retry logic internally.

import { CodivUpload } from "codivupload";

const codiv = new CodivUpload("YOUR_API_KEY");

const video = await codiv.posts.create({
  platforms: ["tiktok"],
  description: "New dance trend! #fyp #trending",
  media_urls: ["https://cdn.example.com/dance.mp4"],
  profile_name: "my_brand",
  tiktok_privacy_level: "PUBLIC_TO_EVERYONE",
  tiktok_disable_comment: false,
  tiktok_disable_duet: false,
  tiktok_disable_stitch: false,
  tiktok_brand_content_toggle: false,
  tiktok_auto_add_music: true,
});

// video.id → "post_8f3a2b1c"
// video.status → "processing"

The SDK validates every TikTok-specific field before sending the request. If you pass an invalid privacy level or a conflicting parameter combination, it throws a typed error locally instead of burning an API call. The response includes a post ID you can use to poll status or listen for webhook updates.

REST API: curl example

If you prefer raw HTTP over an SDK, the REST endpoint accepts the same payload. This is the full curl command with every TikTok-specific parameter included.

# POST a TikTok video via CodivUpload REST API
curl -X POST \
  https://api.codivupload.com/v1/posts \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "profile_name": "my_brand",
    "platforms": ["tiktok"],
    "post_type": "video",
    "description": "New dance trend! #fyp #trending",
    "media_urls": ["https://cdn.example.com/dance.mp4"],
    "tiktok_privacy_level": "PUBLIC_TO_EVERYONE",
    "tiktok_disable_duet": false,
    "tiktok_disable_stitch": false,
    "tiktok_disable_comment": false,
    "tiktok_brand_content_toggle": false,
    "tiktok_auto_add_music": true,
    "tiktok_post_mode": "DIRECT_POST"  }'

The API returns a JSON response with the post ID, current status, and a per-platform breakdown. If TikTok's servers are slow to ingest the video, the status will show processing— CodivUpload will fire a webhook to your configured endpoint once the video is live, or you can poll the GET /v1/posts/:id endpoint.

Dashboard: TikTok post creator

Not every workflow needs code. CodivUpload's dashboard exposes every TikTok parameter through a visual composer — the same fields the API accepts, presented as toggles and dropdowns.

Every field in the mockup above maps directly to an API parameter. What you set in the dashboard is the same payload the API sends to TikTok — the dashboard is the visual equivalent of the curl command in the previous section.

TikTok video specifications

Before you upload, make sure your video meets TikTok's requirements. Videos that don't meet these specs will either be rejected by the API or re-encoded by TikTok — which can degrade quality and cause processing delays.

Privacy controls explained

TikTok's Content Posting API requires a privacy level on every upload — there is no default. CodivUpload passes the value you set directly to TikTok. Here's what each level means in practice.

TikTok-specific API parameters

These parameters are prefixed with tiktok_ in the API payload. They only apply when TikTok is included in the platforms array. When cross-posting to other platforms, these fields are silently ignored by non-TikTok targets.

Full parameter reference: docs.codivupload.com

Cross-post: TikTok + Instagram Reels in one call

Short-form vertical video works on both TikTok and Instagram Reels. Instead of making two separate API calls with two sets of media uploads, you can publish to both platforms in a single request. Each platform gets its own override parameters — TikTok gets the tiktok_ fields, Instagram gets the instagram_ fields.

const post = await codiv.posts.create({
  platforms: ["tiktok", "instagram"],
  description: "Morning routine #vlog #grwm",
  media_urls: ["https://cdn.example.com/routine.mp4"],
  profile_name: "my_brand",

  // TikTok-specific
  tiktok_privacy_level: "PUBLIC_TO_EVERYONE",
  tiktok_disable_duet: false,
  tiktok_auto_add_music: true,

  // Instagram-specific
  instagram_media_type: "REELS",
  instagram_share_to_feed: true,
});

// One video → two platforms, each with native settings

CodivUpload processes each platform independently. If TikTok succeeds but Instagram fails due to a rate limit, you get per-platform status in the response — TikTok shows published, Instagram shows failed with the error code. No all-or-nothing behavior.

Brand content and AI-generated content labels

TikTok requires creators to disclose paid partnerships and AI-generated content. Failing to label sponsored posts correctly can result in content removal or account restrictions. CodivUpload exposes both flags as first-class API parameters.

Both flags can be set together. An AI-generated video promoting a product should have both tiktok_brand_content_toggle: true and tiktok_is_aigc: true.

Scheduling TikTok posts

Add a scheduled_date field to your API payload and CodivUpload will queue the post for the exact timestamp you specify. The video is uploaded to CodivUpload's CDN immediately, then published to TikTok at the scheduled time. This means TikTok's processing happens in advance — the video goes live the moment the clock hits your scheduled time, not after a processing delay.

DIRECT_POST vs MEDIA_UPLOAD

The tiktok_post_mode parameter controls what happens after TikTok finishes processing your video.

Common errors and how to handle them

TikTok's API returns specific error codes when something goes wrong. CodivUpload surfaces these in the post status response so you can handle them programmatically.

Hashtag strategy for API-published content

Hashtags on TikTok work differently than on Instagram or Twitter. TikTok's algorithm uses hashtags as topic signals to categorize your video and match it with interested viewers. Including them in the description field is the only way to add them via the API — there is no separate hashtag parameter.

Example caption with hashtags: "This recipe took 45 minutes to develop and 3 seconds to eat #cooking #quickmeals #recipe #foodtok"

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