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traktok

Feature overview

Description Shorthand Research API Hidden API
search videos tt_search tt_search_api tt_search_hidden
get video detail (+file) tt_videos - tt_videos_hidden
get user videos tt_user_videos tt_user_videos_api tt_user_videos_hidden
get user info tt_user_info tt_user_info_api tt_user_info_hidden
get comments under a video tt_comments tt_comments_api -
get who follows a user tt_get_follower tt_user_follower_api tt_get_follower_hidden
get who a user is following tt_get_following tt_user_following_api tt_get_following_hidden
get videos a user liked tt_get_liked tt_user_liked_videos_api -
get videos a user reposted tt_get_reposted tt_user_reposted_api -
get pinned videos of users tt_get_pinned tt_user_pinned_videos_api -
get videos in a playlist tt_playlist tt_playlist_api -
build query objects query (query_and, query_or, query_not) -
get raw post data - - tt_request_hidden
retrieve last query/results last_query, last_comments - -
authenticate a session - auth_research auth_hidden

The goal of traktok is to provide easy access to TikTok data. This package once started as an R port of Deen Freelon’s Pyktok Python module (though it is a complete rewrite without Python dependencies). It now covers functions from the secret hidden API that TikTok is using to show/search/play videos on their Website and the official Research API. To learn about both access pathways, you should check out the Research API and Unofficial API vignettes. Since the Research API misses some important features (and since not everyone has access to it) it can often make sense to still use the hidden API that mocks requests from a browser. However, an important disclaimer for the hidden API applies:

This program may stop working suddenly if TikTok changes how it stores its data (see Freelon, 2018).

However, the last times, it was fixed rather quickly (e.g., #12).

Installation

You can install the development version of traktok from GitHub with:

# install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("JBGruber/traktok")

In Research

The research papers and projects below have used traktok to gather their data:

  1. Hohner, J., Kakavand, A., & Rothut, S. (2024). Analyzing Radical Visuals at Scale: How Far-Right Groups Mobilize on TikTok. Journal of Digital Social Research, 6(1), 10–30. https://doi.org/10.33621/jdsr.v6i1.200
  2. Wirz, D. S., Zai, F., Vogler, D., Urman, A., & Eisenegger, M. (2023). Die Qualität von Schweizer Medien auf Instagram und TikTok. https://doi.org/10.5167/UZH-238605
  3. Giglietto, F. (2024). Dashboard: TikTok Coordinated Sharing Network. https://fabiogiglietto.github.io/tiktok_csbn/tt_viz.html
  4. Widholm, A., Ekman, M., & Larsson, A. O. (2024). A Right-Wing Wave on TikTok? Ideological Orientations, Platform Features, and User Engagement During the Early 2022 Election Campaign in Sweden. Social Media + Society, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241269266
  5. Blakeman, J. R., Carpenter, N., & Calderon, S. J. (2025). Describing acute coronary syndrome symptom information on social media platforms. Heart & Lung, 70, 112–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrtlng.2024.11.021
  6. Donaldson, S. I., La Capria, K., DeJesus, A., Ganz, O., Delnevo, C. D., & Allem, J.-P. (2025). Describing ZYN-Related Content on TikTok: Content Analysis. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, ntaf016. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntaf016
  7. Peterson-Salahuddin, C. (2025). Teachable moments: TikTok social drama as a site of Black feminist intellectual production. Information, Communication & Society, 28(3), 417–434. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2388093
  8. Wirz, D. S., & Zai, F. (2025). Infotainment on Social Media: How News Companies Combine Information and Entertainment in News Stories on Instagram and TikTok. Digital Journalism, 13(7), 1249–1270. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2025.2464062

If you have used traktok in your research paper or project, please extend this list through a Pull Request or create an issue And ideally, also cite the package/paper:

To cite traktok in publications use:

  Gruber, Johannes B. (2025). traktok — Making TikTok Data
  Accessible for Research. SocArXiv.
  https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/xrgc6_v2

A BibTeX entry for LaTeX users is

  @Article{,
    title = {traktok — Making TikTok Data Accessible for Research},
    author = {Johannes B. Gruber},
    year = {2025},
    month = {jun},
    journal = {SocArXiv},
    doi = {10.31235/osf.io/xrgc6_v2},
    url = {https://osf.io/xrgc6_v2},
  }