Docs / Publish
TikTok
Connecting a TikTok account, making each post on the episode's TikTok screen with the privacy, interactions and disclosure TikTok asks for, and what waits on TikTok's audit of our app.
ChannelForge posts episodes to TikTok one at a time, each from its own posting screen, where you choose who sees it and agree to TikTok's terms — TikTok's rules for apps that post for their users. TikTok is never posted on a channel's slots. It is in every paid plan.
Before you connect#
- You need a TikTok account, and — until the audit passes — it must be private.
- Connecting needs the editor role or above; so does posting. Disconnecting needs an admin or owner.
Connect#
- Open Settings → Connections and press Connect on the TikTok card.
- TikTok shows its own consent page — always, even when your browser is signed in to TikTok, so the account connected is the one on the screen. Sign in there, if asked, as the account to use.
- TikTok asks to read your basic profile and to post videos. Allow both: a connection without posting is refused ("TikTok connected the account without the permission to post — connect again and leave posting allowed").
- Back on Connections, the account shows with its name and @username. Link it to a channel under Which account each channel posts as.
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
user.info.basic | To know which account connected, and to show its name on the posting screen |
video.publish | To post the videos you choose, as you set them up |
Nothing more is asked: no reading of your videos' numbers, no messages.
Post an episode#
- Open the episode. On its Publishing card, the TikTok row has Post….
- The Post to TikTok screen reads the account's settings fresh from TikTok while a placeholder shows. If TikTok says the account cannot post right now, the screen says why and nothing is sent.
- Set up the post:
| On the screen | What it is |
|---|---|
| Posting to TikTok as | The account's TikTok nickname, read just now |
| Who can see this post | Chosen by you every time, from the options this account allows: Everyone, Friends (followers you follow back), Followers or Only me. Nothing is chosen for you. |
| Let viewers — Comment, Duet, Stitch | Off unless you switch them on; greyed out where the account's own settings turned them off |
| Disclose commercial content | Off by default. On, choose Your brand (you promote yourself or your business — labelled "Promotional content") and/or Branded content (you promote another brand — labelled "Paid partnership"). At least one must be chosen, and branded content cannot be private. |
| Caption | Starts from the episode's title, hook line and up to five hashtags; edit it freely within TikTok's 2,200 characters |
| The declaration and I agree, for this post | TikTok's Music Usage Confirmation (and its Branded Content Policy for a paid partnership), agreed to for each post |
- Press Post to TikTok now, or Post at the channel's next posting time. The button stays inactive, with the reason beside it, until the post is one TikTok would take.
- TikTok may take a few minutes to process the video before it shows on the profile. The episode page follows the post; a scheduled one shows when it goes out.
A post made for a time is sent within an hour of that time or not at all. It is sent once, exactly as you set it up: Retry, Run again and the API never send a TikTok post again — make it again on its screen.
What is posted#
- The episode as it is — nothing is added to it, no logo and no watermark. When the account may not post videos as long as the episode, its Facebook edit (under 90 seconds) is sent instead; when neither fits, the screen says the episode is too long for this account.
- The caption you approved. The starting caption never carries a link, an @mention that would tag a stranger, #shorts or #reels.
Never twice#
Before the first byte goes up, the attempt's TikTok reference is kept. If an attempt may have gone out, every next try asks TikTok about that very attempt first:
- it went out: recorded, nothing sent again;
- it did not: you make the post again on its screen;
- TikTok cannot tell yet: nothing is sent and no try is used. Look for it on the episode page asks again; or check the profile yourself and, on the posting screen, tick I checked my TikTok profile: the earlier attempt is not there.
A posted TikTok has its address once TikTok has moderated a public post; a post seen by Only me has none.
When TikTok asks the account to wait#
TikTok's limits pause the account without using a try; the episode's TikTok screen, and the post's line on the episode page, say why and until when.
| TikTok's limit | The account waits |
|---|---|
| Too many requests | About 10 minutes |
| The account's posts through apps in 24 hours (about 15, shared by every app it uses) | About 6 hours |
| The account is barred from posting for now | A day; look at it in the TikTok app |
| The app is not audited yet (a public post, or a public account) | About 6 hours |
| The app's daily number of posting accounts is reached | Every workspace's TikTok posts wait, about 6 hours |
Reconnecting#
The sign-in renews itself whenever it is used. TikTok's permission lasts 365 days; after that, or if TikTok refuses it, the account is marked for reconnecting: press Add on the TikTok card and sign in again. The same account is updated, and its channel link stays.
To remove ChannelForge's access at TikTok, use the TikTok app's Settings → Security → Apps.
Good to know#
- TikTok posts are counted, but their views are not read: the Analytics page shows "no metrics yet" for them.
- Photo carousels on TikTok wait for a check of ChannelForge's domain by TikTok; see Carousels.
- TikTok never holds an episode's published state back: it counts only the platforms a channel posts to on its slots.
Troubleshooting#
"TikTok says this account cannot post right now." TikTok's reason follows the title. Wait, then open the screen again.
The post was refused as public. Until the audit passes, only Only me from a private account is taken. Make the account private and post again from the screen.
"This TikTok connection needs reconnecting." Press Reconnect on the screen (it opens Settings → Connections), then Add on the TikTok card.
"TikTok posts are made on the episode's TikTok screen." A TikTok post cannot be retried or sent from elsewhere. Open the episode's TikTok screen and make it there.
Related#
- Schedules and autopilot — why TikTok is not on the slots
- Ready-to-post packs
- Platform policies we follow
Something missing or unclear? Tell us and we will improve this page.