TikTok Official API: Scheduling, Access and Limits
Yes, TikTok has an official publishing API, but it has no endpoint that stores a post and publishes it later. TikTok’s Content Posting API lets approved apps publish videos and photo posts to an authorized creator’s account. To schedule, you build the queue yourself or use Postqued, which provides that layer from $9/month with unlimited posts, API and MCP access, and a 7-day free trial.
What does the TikTok API support?
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is there an official TikTok publishing API? | Yes, the Content Posting API |
| Can it publish videos? | Yes |
| Can it publish photo posts and carousels? | Yes, with 1 to 35 image URLs |
| Can it send drafts to TikTok? | Yes, through the Upload flow |
| Does it store a future publish time? | No public scheduling endpoint is documented |
| Is OAuth required? | Yes, for each creator’s account |
| Can an unaudited client publish publicly? | No; unaudited Direct Posts are private-only |
TikTok offers two flows. Direct Post publishes from your app. Upload to TikTok sends a draft the creator finishes in the TikTok app.
Does TikTok’s API schedule posts for the future?
No. The Direct Post endpoint starts publishing when you call it. A scheduling product needs its own layer:
- Accept the media, caption, options, and requested time.
- Store the media and post securely.
- Hold the post in a durable queue.
- Refresh authorization when needed.
- Call Direct Post at the scheduled time.
- Poll the
publish_iduntil TikTok reports a final status. - Surface errors and retry only the failures that can be retried.
That layer keeps running after launch, so treat it as an operations job, not a single API call.
What do you need to get TikTok API access?
1. Register and configure an app
Create an app in TikTok for Developers, add the Content Posting API, and enable Direct Post. Media pulled from a URL must sit on a domain or URL prefix you have verified, per the setup guide.
2. Request the publishing scope
Direct Post requires the video.publish scope, and each creator must authorize your app for it. You implement TikTok’s OAuth flow, store tokens securely, renew them, and handle disconnection.
3. Pass app review
TikTok’s App Review FAQ says review may take several days to two weeks. TikTok can request changes or reject the app, and later changes must be reviewed again.
4. Pass the Content Posting API audit
Until you pass an audit, posts from your client are limited to private viewing. TikTok may ask for the reason for the integration and UX mockups, so the review covers your interface and consent flow, not only your backend.
TikTok’s Direct Post guidelines also document these limits:
- Unaudited clients can let up to five users post in a 24-hour period.
- Unaudited Direct Posts are limited to
SELF_ONLYviewing. - Creator caps apply to each app based on its approved usage.
- A creator’s Direct Post cap varies and is typically around 15 posts per day, shared across apps.
These are TikTok’s controls. No third-party scheduler can remove them.
5. Run the production infrastructure
You still need token storage, creator-info checks, media hosting, a scheduler and worker queue, time-zone handling, status polling, retries with idempotency, and monitoring for API changes.
Should you build on TikTok directly or use the Postqued API?
| Requirement | Build directly with TikTok | Use Postqued |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok developer app, review, and audit | You submit and maintain them | Handled by Postqued’s integration |
| TikTok OAuth | You build it | Creators connect through Postqued |
| Future scheduling | You build the queue and workers | dispatchAt on the publish request |
| Status and failures | You implement them | Poll Postqued’s publish status |
| Price | Engineering and operating time | From $9/month |
Build directly when TikTok authorization is part of your own customer-facing product and your team can own review, compliance, and infrastructure. Use Postqued when TikTok publishing is one step in a backend job, automation, or AI-agent workflow.
How does the Postqued API schedule TikTok posts?
Authenticate with a Postqued API key, validate the request with dryRun, then submit it with an Idempotency-Key header, which prevents duplicate publishes when you retry, and a dispatchAt time. Postqued holds the post and sends it through TikTok’s official Content Posting API at that time. You can publish videos, photo posts of up to 35 images, or send the post to the creator’s TikTok drafts.
Every plan includes unlimited posts, all 10 platforms, the REST API, and a 62-tool MCP server. “Unlimited posts” means Postqued sets no monthly allowance; TikTok’s own caps and policies still apply. See the API documentation, the TikTok photo-post API guide, or how to schedule TikTok posts for the dashboard workflow.
Which option should you choose?
Apply to TikTok directly if you are building a full social app and need to own the authorization experience. Use Postqued if you want to schedule TikTok from a script, backend, no-code tool, or AI agent without waiting on your own app review, and if you also want a TikTok scheduler dashboard for your team.
Developers scheduling TikTok for their own accounts can start on Solo at $9/month (five accounts) and move to Pro at $49 for unlimited workspaces. Start a 7-day free trial.