# TikTok Hook Finder: Viral Hooks for Any Niche (`rowfinch/tiktok-hook-finder`) Actor

Find the hooks of the most viewed TikTok videos for any niche, product, brand or competitor: the text on screen as each video opens and its first spoken sentence, with views, likes, saves, views per follower, sound, cover and video link. $5 per 1,000 videos.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/rowfinch/tiktok-hook-finder.md
- **Developed by:** [Rowfinch](https://apify.com/rowfinch) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Videos, Marketing
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 95.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 videos

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## TikTok Hook Finder

Find the hooks of the most viewed TikTok videos for any niche, product, brand or competitor: the text on screen as each video opens and its first spoken sentence, with views, likes, saves, views per follower, sound, cover and video link. No login or cookies.

**$5 per 1,000 videos.**

### What it's for

- **UGC and ad scripts**: the openings that already got millions of views in your niche, ready to remake.
- **Competitor research**: what a competitor's best videos open with, and which sounds they use.
- **Swipe files on a schedule**: every week's top hooks with *Posted within* set to the last 7 days.
- **Outliers**: *Most views per follower* finds small accounts whose video took off, the hooks that worked on their own.
- **AI agents**: clean hooks and numbers to write variations from.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| `searchQueries` | Niches, products or brands; each gives its most liked videos |
| `hashtags` | With or without `#`; each gives the videos TikTok ranks highest for it |
| `profiles` | Usernames or profile URLs; each gives its latest videos |
| `maxVideos` | Videos per search, hashtag or profile (default 50) |
| `postedWithin` | `1`, `7`, `30`, `90` (default) or `180` days, or `all` |
| `minViews` | Leave out videos with fewer views |
| `sortBy` | `views` (default), `viewsPerFollower` or `newest` |
| `region` | Searches rank videos as TikTok does for viewers in this country (default `US`) |
| `readCoverText` | Reads text burned into the cover with AI when TikTok doesn't list it (default on) |

### Output

One row per video, best first:

```json
{
  "id": "7686177197941329165",
  "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@duolingo/video/7686177197941329165",
  "screenText": "decided to take the high road 💅",
  "screenTextSource": "tiktok",
  "spokenHook": "Today. Oh, my god, what is that?",
  "caption": "when they go low i buy a plane 😛 @Brawl Stars",
  "views": 437604,
  "likes": 26185,
  "comments": 1661,
  "shares": 1298,
  "saves": 2930,
  "engagementRate": 0.0733,
  "viewsPerFollower": 0.02,
  "postedAt": "2026-09-16T16:53:13.000Z",
  "duration": 9.7,
  "isSlideshow": false,
  "creator": "duolingo",
  "creatorFollowers": 18323963,
  "sound": "OMG What Is That",
  "soundUrl": "https://www.tiktok.com/music/omg-what-is-that-7199364709136026373",
  "hashtags": [],
  "language": "en",
  "coverUrl": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn.com/...360p.webp?...",
  "videoUrl": "https://v19e.tiktokcdn.com/.../?mime_type=video_mp4&...",
  "screenTextTimeline": [{ "text": "decided to take the high road 💅", "start": 0, "end": 4.1 }],
  "input": "duolingo"
}
```

`screenText` is what's on screen in the first seconds, one line per text layer, top to bottom; `screenTextTimeline` is every text layer and when it shows. `screenTextSource` is `tiktok` when the text comes from the video's own text layers, `ai` when it was read off the cover. `spokenHook` is the first sentence spoken, from TikTok's captions. `engagementRate` is likes, comments, shares and saves over views; `viewsPerFollower` above 1 means the video reached past its creator's audience. Cover and video links expire within a day: download what you keep.

Inputs that can't be read get a row with the reason, free of charge:

```json
{ "input": "some_private_account", "error": "Private profile" }
```

### Price

- **$5 per 1,000 videos**, cover reading included
- Private, missing or invalid inputs: free

| Run | Cost |
|---|---|
| The top 50 videos of a niche | $0.25 |
| 20 niches, 50 videos each | $5 |
| A competitor's last 90 days, 100 videos | $0.50 |

A run stops at the maximum cost you set for it. On Apify's free plan, a run returns up to 100 videos.

### FAQ

**Where does the text on screen come from?**
Text added in TikTok's editor is saved with the video, with the time it shows: it's read from there, exactly. Text added in other editors is burned into the image, so AI reads it off the cover; subtitles of what's being said are left out.

**Why do some videos have no spoken hook?**
TikTok writes captions only for videos with speech it recognizes. Music-only videos have none, and when a song has words, its lyrics can come up.

**Why is `viewsPerFollower` empty for hashtag videos?**
TikTok leaves the follower count out of hashtag results. Searches and profiles have it.

**Can I get a competitor's best formats every week without running it?**
[Competitor UGC](https://competitorugc.com/) tracks the apps you compete with and sends, every Monday, the TikTok formats that keep working for their creators and the ads they've kept running longest.

**Do I need a TikTok account?**
No. It reads what TikTok shows anyone, with no login or cookies.

**Is it legal?**
It reads only public videos. Usernames are personal data under the GDPR and similar laws: use them for a legitimate purpose, and remake hooks rather than copying videos.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Niches, products or brands, one per line. Each gives its most liked videos.

## `hashtags` (type: `array`):

With or without #. Each gives the videos TikTok ranks highest for it.

## `profiles` (type: `array`):

Usernames or profile URLs, such as competitors. Each gives its latest videos.

## `maxVideos` (type: `integer`):

Searches give the most liked first, profiles the newest.

## `postedWithin` (type: `string`):

Hooks that work today come from recent videos.

## `minViews` (type: `integer`):

Empty keeps every video.

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

Views per follower finds videos that beat their creator's usual reach.

## `region` (type: `string`):

Two-letter code, like US or BR. Searches rank videos as TikTok does for viewers there.

## `readCoverText` (type: `boolean`):

For videos edited outside TikTok, whose text TikTok doesn't list, AI reads it off the cover.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "protein powder"
  ],
  "maxVideos": 20,
  "postedWithin": "90",
  "sortBy": "views",
  "region": "US",
  "readCoverText": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `hooks` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "protein powder"
    ],
    "maxVideos": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("rowfinch/tiktok-hook-finder").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchQueries": ["protein powder"],
    "maxVideos": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("rowfinch/tiktok-hook-finder").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQueries": [
    "protein powder"
  ],
  "maxVideos": 20
}' |
apify call rowfinch/tiktok-hook-finder --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,rowfinch/tiktok-hook-finder"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/E56zhKaJP6k8fFf6s/builds/isJ0HmyCzZkx9a3vD/openapi.json