TikTok Short Drama Series & Episode Scraper

The TikTok Short Drama Scraper extracts public series and episode data from TikTok Short Dramas — TikTok’s serialized mini-drama catalog. Paste an episode URL or the catalog page and export structured rows: titles, synopses, episode numbers, views, likes, covers, and creator metadata. No TikTok login required.

Short Dramas play like TikToks but belong to a series. This Actor is built for that surface. It does not scrape the For You feed, hashtags, or classic /@user/video/ posts — use a general TikTok Scraper for those.

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What does TikTok Short Drama Scraper do?

• Reads public Short Drama episode pages and the catalog at tiktok.com/shortdrama
• Returns one dataset row per episode, with familiar TikTok video fields plus shortDramaSeriesInfo
• Caps results with maxItems per start URL (a series URL caps that series; the catalog caps episodes across listed series)
• Optionally follows related dramas from a series, still limited by maxItems
• Metadata only in this version — episode files are not downloaded yet (see Roadmap)
• Exports JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML and runs on a schedule via the Apify API

You can scrape TikTok Short Drama data without coding: paste URLs in Console, click Start, and download the dataset.

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What data can you extract from TikTok Short Dramas?

Field	Description
id	Episode video id
text	Episode / series title shown as the caption
webVideoUrl	Public Short Drama episode URL
playCount / diggCount / shareCount / commentCount / collectCount	Engagement
authorMeta	Creator handle, nickname, avatar, fans
videoMeta	Duration and cover URLs
shortDramaSeriesInfo	Series id, title, synopsis, episode number, episode count, genres, preview/free flags, watches
imageUrl	Primary cover for Console thumbnails
createTimeISO	Episode publish time

Covers, stats, and series fields are included. Episode MP4s are not downloaded in this version — see Roadmap.

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Why scrape TikTok Short Dramas?

TikTok rolled Short Dramas out as a first-party catalog of vertical series. Typical TikTok scrapers stop at /@user/video/ URLs and leave series metadata empty. This Actor fills that gap for:

1. Catalog monitoring — track new and hot series on the public Short Drama shelf
2. Competitive intelligence — compare episode counts, watches, and genres across studios
3. Creator analytics — follow Short Drama accounts and their serialized catalogs
4. Content research — tropes, titles, and synopses for vertical-drama trends
5. Dataset joins — keep Clockworks-like field names so you can merge with other TikTok video exports
6. Media libraries — cover images and episode lists without opening the app
7. Lead lists — public creator handles and profile URLs on series pages
8. Automation — schedule runs and push rows to sheets, warehouses, or webhooks
9. Localization checks — run the catalog with a different region to see which series surface in US vs UK vs other stores
10. Release tracking — re-run a series URL to see if episodeCount grew since yesterday

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How to scrape TikTok Short Dramas

1. Open the Actor in Apify Console
2. Paste a Short Drama episode URL (for example https://www.tiktok.com/shortdrama/episode/7677865695564436501/1) or https://www.tiktok.com/shortdrama
3. Set Maximum items (episodes per start URL; keep it small for a test run)
4. Click Start
5. Download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, or via the Apify API

For all input options, see the Input tab in Console.

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Input

Field	Type	Description
startUrls	array	Episode URLs and/or the catalog URL
postURLs	string list	Optional alias of startUrls (plain URL strings)
maxItems	integer	Max episodes per start URL (default 5)
scrapeRelatedDramas	boolean	Also enqueue related series (still limited by maxItems)
region	string	Catalog region (ISO country code, default US)
proxyConfiguration	object	Optional. Enable a proxy if your network is blocked

Example:

{
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/shortdrama/episode/7677865695564436501/1" }
  ],
  "maxItems": 5
}

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Output example

{
  "id": "7677867720364264718",
  "text": "Mighty Tyrant, Tender Love",
  "textLanguage": "en",
  "webVideoUrl": "https://www.tiktok.com/shortdrama/episode/7677865695564436501/1",
  "playCount": 233200,
  "diggCount": 10100,
  "authorMeta": {
    "name": "mialopez2249",
    "nickName": "Prime.Episodes",
    "profileUrl": "https://www.tiktok.com/@mialopez2249",
    "fans": 1300000
  },
  "videoMeta": {
    "duration": 77,
    "coverUrl": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-eu.com/tos-useast5-p-0068-tx/cover.jpeg"
  },
  "shortDramaSeriesInfo": {
    "seriesId": "7677865695564436501",
    "seriesTitle": "Mighty Tyrant, Tender Love",
    "episodeNumber": 1,
    "episodeCount": 30,
    "genres": ["Forced Love"],
    "isPreview": true
  },
  "imageUrl": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-eu.com/tos-useast5-p-0068-tx/cover.jpeg"
}

You can download the dataset extracted by TikTok Short Drama Scraper in JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel.

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Roadmap

This release is metadata only: series info, episode lists, engagement, covers, and creator fields. videoMeta.downloadAddr is not populated, and the Actor does not save MP4s.

A paid video-download add-on is planned next — the same pattern as Clockworks’ shouldDownloadVideos (opt-in, extra PPE, files in a key-value store). No TikTok login or session cookies will be required from you. Until that ships, use the dataset for catalogs, analytics, and joins; do not expect episode video files.

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How much does it cost to scrape TikTok Short Dramas?

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing. You pay a tiny start fee plus 1.99 USD per 1,000 episode rows on the free Apify plan (about 0.002 USD per episode). Paid Store plans are cheaper — see the pricing tab.

A test run of a few episodes costs well under a cent. Larger catalog crawls scale with maxItems. Platform compute is included in the event price on the default no-proxy path. Enable a residential proxy only if you see empty results — that can add extra platform usage.

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Is it legal to scrape TikTok Short Dramas?

Our scrapers are ethical and do not extract private user data such as emails, gender, or precise location. They only extract what is shared publicly on Short Drama pages. Results can still contain personal data (for example a creator display name). Personal data is protected by the GDPR in the European Union and by other regulations around the world. You should not scrape personal data unless you have a legitimate reason to do so. If you are unsure, consult your lawyers. You can also read our blog post on the legality of web scraping.

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FAQ

Can I scrape a full series?

Yes. Start from any episode URL in that series and raise maxItems to the episode count (or higher). The Actor walks the public episode list.

Does this replace a general TikTok video scraper?

No. It only covers tiktok.com/shortdrama. Hashtags, profiles, search, and /video/ URLs belong on a general TikTok scraper.

Why is the video download URL empty?

This version is metadata only. A paid download add-on is on the roadmap. Covers, stats, and series fields are available now. The Actor does not accept login cookies.

Do I need a proxy?

Not by default. If runs return empty pages or HTTP errors from your region, turn on Apify Proxy (residential often works best for TikTok).

Related Actors

• TikTok Promo Code Finder
• TikTok Video Text Extractor

Open the Issues tab if something breaks — Short Drama is a new TikTok surface and layouts can change.

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Image Credit

Image credit: TikTok