**Tiktok Search Prompt**

What does TikTok Search Prompt do?

TikTok Search Prompt lets you scrape TikTok videos from a plain-English prompt — no URL building required. Describe what you're looking for (for example, "trending cooking recipe videos"), and the Actor uses AI to turn your prompt into multiple targeted TikTok hashtag and search URLs, scrapes the matching videos, and stores them as a structured dataset.

Under the hood, it chains two Actors together:

1. AI Scraper Input Generator converts your prompt into TikTok hashtag and search URLs.
2. TikTok Hashtag, Search & Profile Scraper crawls those URLs and extracts the videos with full metadata — captions, authors, play counts, likes, shares, and direct video URLs.

Because it runs on the Apify platform, you get API access, scheduling, monitoring, and integrations (Make, Zapier, webhooks, Google Drive, and more) out of the box.

Why use TikTok Search Prompt?

• No manual URL construction — describe your intent in natural language, and the AI handles TikTok's hashtag and search URL formats and query variations.
• Better coverage — one prompt becomes several targeted hashtag/search URL variations, surfacing videos a single query would miss.
• Trend discovery made simple — schedule a daily run of "viral fitness challenges" and watch which videos and creators are gaining traction.
• Creator and competitor research — track which creators dominate a niche, what they post, and how engagement scales across an entire topic.
• Automation-ready — predictable JSON output that plugs straight into data pipelines and integrations.

How to use TikTok Search Prompt

1. Open the Actor in Apify Console.
2. In the Input tab, enter your search prompt in plain English.
3. Optionally adjust Max items to limit how many videos are scraped per generated URL.
4. Set the Actor's memory to 128 MB or less in the run options (the Actor enforces this limit, since the heavy lifting happens in the chained Actors).
5. Click Start and wait for the run to finish.
6. Open the Output tab or the dataset API URL to view and export your results.

Input

Set the input in the Actor's Input tab. Only the prompt is required.

{
    "prompt": "trending cooking recipe videos",
    "maxItems": 50
}

Field	Type	Required	Description
prompt	string	Yes	Plain-English description of what to find on TikTok. Topics, niches, and trends all work — be specific for best results.
maxItems	integer	No	Maximum number of videos to scrape per generated URL (default 10, maximum 500).
numberOfUrls	integer	No	How many TikTok hashtag/search URLs to generate from the prompt (default 3).

Note: maxItems applies per generated URL, so with the default numberOfUrls of 3 a run can return up to 3× maxItems videos.

Output

Each scraped TikTok video is stored as one item in the default dataset. You can download the dataset in various formats such as JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel.

Example dataset item (shortened):

{
    "sourceType": "hashtag",
    "sourceUrl": "https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cooking",
    "id": "7596344392374455570",
    "caption": "5-minute pasta hack you need to try #cooking #recipe #foodtok",
    "createTime": 1768661758,
    "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@examplechef/video/7596344392374455570",
    "author": {
        "uniqueId": "examplechef",
        "nickname": "Example Chef",
        "verified": false
    },
    "stats": {
        "playCount": 23100000,
        "diggCount": 3200000,
        "commentCount": 4852,
        "shareCount": 606600
    },
    "video": {
        "duration": 65,
        "cover": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn.com/...",
        "playUrl": "https://v16-webapp-prime.tiktok.com/video/..."
    }
}

Data table

Field	Type	Description
sourceType / sourceUrl	string	Which generated hashtag or search URL the video came from
id	string	TikTok video ID
caption	string	Video caption including hashtags
createTime	number	Video publish time (Unix timestamp)
url	string	Direct link to the video
author	object	Creator handle, display name, avatar, and verified status
stats	object	Play, like (digg), comment, share, and collect counts
video	object	Duration, resolution, cover image, and direct play/download URLs

Exact fields may vary slightly by video, since not all TikTok videos expose the same attributes.

How much does it cost to scrape TikTok with a prompt?

A run consists of three parts: this orchestrator Actor (very light — it runs at 128 MB and mostly waits), one short AI Scraper Input Generator run, and the TikTok scraper run whose cost scales with the number of videos collected. For small runs (tens of videos) the total cost is typically well under a dollar. Use Max items and Number of URLs to cap the scraping cost of each run. If you are on the Apify free tier, start with small values to see actual consumption before scaling up.

Tips

• Be specific in your prompt. "Air fryer chicken recipes" produces much better hashtag and search URLs than "food".
• Start small. Run with a low maxItems first to check that the generated URLs match your intent, then scale up (maximum 500 per URL).
• Schedule it. Add the Actor to a Schedule to monitor a trend or niche daily, and connect a webhook or integration to act on the results.
• Keep memory at 128 MB. The Actor intentionally refuses to run with more, because the chained Actors do the actual work — extra memory would only add cost.

FAQ, disclaimers, and support

Is it legal to scrape TikTok? This Actor extracts publicly available video data. You are responsible for reviewing and complying with TikTok's Terms of Service and applicable laws (including data protection regulations) before using the results, especially in automated or commercial workflows. Do not collect or misuse personal data.

Why did my run fail with a memory error? This Actor requires memory of 128 MB or less. Lower the memory setting in the run options and start it again.

Why are there no results? If the AI could not generate valid hashtag or search URLs from your prompt, the run fails with a clear error — rephrase the prompt with more specific topic terms and try again.

Found a bug or need a custom feature? Open an issue in the Actor's Issues tab — custom solutions and tailored versions are available on request.