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Reference

TikTok Transcript API

One POST turns a TikTok video URL into a transcript in the same JSON shape every platform returns. TikTok videos often carry a caption track, which is read first; a video without one is transcribed from its audio on the same request. Short-form video is held inline, so a TikTok transcript almost always comes back in the first response rather than as a job.

1 credit per caption transcript, audio billed by durationView pricing

A TikTok video without a caption track is transcribed from its audio and charged only on delivery: 1 credit per started 5 minutes of audio, minimum 1. Failed requests are free.

On this platform

  • Accepts tiktok.com/@user/video/<id> URLs, vm.tiktok.com and vt.tiktok.com short links, or a bare 19-digit TikTok video id.
  • TikTok and Instagram requests are held inline even when the media length cannot be read, so a 202 is rare.
  • language comes back as TikTok labels it, such as eng-US, and source says whether captions or audio served the text.
POST/api/v2/transcripts/videoidempotent

Fetch a transcript (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or file URL)

Returns a transcript - text plus timestamped segments. Accepts YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram URLs (or a bare TikTok video id), direct media file URLs. ..) identifying who is talking. Speaker ids are hints from voice separation, not named identification. When no captions exist the audio is transcribed automatically: when we can determine the media length, media under 20 minutes simply waits (the request is held open for up to 45 seconds) and returns the finished transcript, so no polling is needed; when the length cannot be determined, only short-form platforms (TikTok and Instagram) are held inline. Longer media, or a transcription still running when the 45-second hold expires, returns 202 with a job to poll instead - the work continues either way, so the same request is safe to retry and will hit the cache once it finishes. Supply callback_url to have the finished transcript POSTed to you instead of polling. Every failure carries an ai_fallback block saying whether captions were definitively unavailable and whether retrying would work.

Body parameters

videostringrequired
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/…). Videos without captions fall back to AI transcription.
Example
mode"captions" | "audio" | "auto"optional
Where the text may come from. "captions" reads an existing caption track and fails if there is none, which is the only way to avoid audio transcription. "audio" skips captions and transcribes the audio. "auto" (the default) tries captions first and transcribes the audio when there are none. 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. Audio is charged only on delivery: 1 credit per started 5 minutes of audio, minimum 1 (a 20-minute video is 4; the 4-hour cap is 48). Caption fetches are always 1 credit.
Example
timestampsbooleanoptional
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.
Example
callback_urlstring (https URL)optional
Where to POST the finished transcript when a request escalates to audio 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.
ai_fallbackbooleanoptional
Legacy alias for "mode", still supported. true is identical to "mode": "audio"; omitted or false is "mode": "auto". Send one or the other, not both. Note that false never disabled the fallback - audio was still transcribed when no captions existed - which is why the field was replaced.
Example

Request example

curl https://transcriptfetch.com/api/v2/transcripts/video \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTFETCH_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"video":"https://www.tiktok.com/@khanacademy/video/7690953765293231373"}'

Responses

SuccessExample response envelope
{
  "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
  }
}
Full endpoint referenceEvery URL format this platform accepts, with an example of eachProduct page

Every TikTok endpoint

TikTok product pageTikTok URL formatsEvery endpoint, all platforms

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 is every transcript transcribed from audio?
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, the audio is transcribed 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.