# TikTok Transcript (Captions to JSON) (`skilled_glee/tiktok-transcript`) Actor

TikTok video URLs or IDs in, the video's existing captions out as JSON: full transcript text, timed segments, language, and whether TikTok auto-generated them. Reads captions TikTok already publishes; no speech-to-text, no login, no proxy.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/skilled_glee/tiktok-transcript.md
- **Developed by:** [EchoEmpire Machine Foundry (EchoEmpire LLC)](https://apify.com/skilled_glee) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, AI, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 transcript extracteds

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 Transcript (Captions to JSON)

TikTok video URLs in, the video's **existing captions** out as clean JSON: full transcript text, timed segments, language, and whether TikTok auto-generated them.

### What it does, and what it doesn't

- It reads the caption tracks TikTok already publishes for a video (TikTok's own auto-captions or captions the creator added) and converts the WebVTT file into text and segments.
- It does **not** do speech-to-text. If a video has no captions on TikTok, you get a row with `status: "no_captions"`. That row is not billed. Many TikToks have no captions: music-only clips, very short clips, some non-English videos, and videos where the creator turned auto-captions off. Expect some `no_captions` rows in every batch.
- It does not download video or audio, and it does not log in.
- Public videos only. Private, deleted, or region-blocked videos return `status: "error"` and are not billed.

| | |
|---|---|
| Input | `videos[]`: TikTok video URLs, `vm.tiktok.com` short links, or numeric video IDs (1–200 per run) |
| Output per video | `videoId`, `url`, `author`, `description`, `createdAt`, `durationSec`, `language`, `languageCode`, `captionSource` (`auto-generated` / `creator` / `translated`), `isOriginalLanguage`, `transcript`, `segmentCount`, `segments[]`, `availableLanguages[]`, `status` |
| Access | Public TikTok video pages and TikTok's caption CDN. No login, no browser, no proxy. |
| Call it | REST `skilled_glee~tiktok-transcript` · MCP `https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=skilled_glee/tiktok-transcript` |

Pipeline role (n8n / agents): **Content → Extract**. Get video URLs from [TikTok User Videos](https://apify.com/skilled_glee/tiktok-user-videos), then pass transcripts to a chunker or LLM step. Full catalog: [EchoEmpire Machine Foundry llms.txt](https://foundry.echoempire.org/llms.txt).

### Input

```json
{
  "videos": ["https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktok/video/7692114317151423775", "7700680369246358815"],
  "languages": ["en"],
  "includeSegments": true
}
```

- `videos` (required, 1–200).
- `languages` (optional, in priority order, e.g. `en`, `eng-US`): empty = the video's original-language track. If none of the listed languages exists, the row is `no_captions`.
- `allowTranslated` (default `false`): also accept machine-translated tracks TikTok sometimes publishes.
- `includeSegments` (default `true`): timed `segments` `[{start, end, text}]` in seconds.
- `includeVtt` (default `false`): the raw WebVTT file as `vtt`.

### Output

One row per input video. Example from a real run (2026-10-30), shortened:

```json
{"videoId": "7692114317151423775", "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktok/video/7692114317151423775", "author": "tiktok", "createdAt": "2026-10-02T16:52:37Z", "durationSec": 65, "language": "eng-US", "languageCode": "en", "captionSource": "auto-generated", "isOriginalLanguage": true, "transcript": "girl you look like you must be a K pop fan wow how'd you know if I give you this digi cam ...", "segmentCount": 21, "segments": [{"start": 0.3, "end": 4.38, "text": "girl you look like you must be a K pop fan wow how'd you know"}], "availableLanguages": [{"language": "eng-US", "languageCode": "en", "source": "auto-generated"}], "status": "ok"}
```

Auto-generated captions are TikTok's own speech recognition. They can contain mistakes, and this Actor passes them through unchanged. A run summary (ok / no_captions / error counts, whether a spending limit or blocking stopped the run) is saved as `SUMMARY` in the default key-value store.

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.001 per transcript** (`transcript-extracted`), i.e. $1 per 1,000 videos with captions.

- You are charged only for rows with `status: "ok"` (a transcript was saved).
- `no_captions` and `error` rows are free.
- Set a maximum charge per run and the Actor stops saving transcripts once that limit is reached, so you never get transcripts you were not billed for or bills above your limit.
- Apify platform usage (compute) is included in the event price.

### Limits

- Requests are paced at about one video per second. If TikTok blocks 3 requests in a row, the run stops early instead of retrying forever.
- TikTok changes its web page format from time to time. If that happens, rows fail with `status: "error"` (not billed) until the Actor is updated.
- Photo/slideshow posts usually have no captions.

# Actor input Schema

## `videos` (type: `array`):

1-200 TikTok video URLs (https://www.tiktok.com/@user/video/123..., vm.tiktok.com short links) or numeric video IDs.

## `languages` (type: `array`):

Optional, in priority order, e.g. 'en' or 'eng-US'. Empty = the video's original-language caption. If none of the listed languages exists the video returns status 'no_captions' (not billed).

## `allowTranslated` (type: `boolean`):

TikTok sometimes publishes machine-translated caption tracks. Off = only original-language tracks (auto-generated or creator-added).

## `includeSegments` (type: `boolean`):

Add 'segments' \[{start, end, text}] in seconds.

## `includeVtt` (type: `boolean`):

Add the original caption file as 'vtt'.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktok/video/7692114317151423775"
  ],
  "allowTranslated": false,
  "includeSegments": true,
  "includeVtt": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `transcripts` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (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 = {
    "videos": [
        "https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktok/video/7692114317151423775"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("skilled_glee/tiktok-transcript").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 = { "videos": ["https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktok/video/7692114317151423775"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("skilled_glee/tiktok-transcript").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 '{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktok/video/7692114317151423775"
  ]
}' |
apify call skilled_glee/tiktok-transcript --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/ZLNmUTBGYMSrUrbuP/builds/fDqHwXhwG5jei5hAn/openapi.json