Limits & Errors
What TikTok's API does not expose and the common errors when publishing.
What you cannot do
TikTok's API does not expose:
- TikTok's sound and music library for general search/browse (Zernio exposes trending Commercial Music Library tracks for Business app connections via
GET /v1/accounts/{accountId}/tiktok/commercial-music) - Creating duets or stitches
- Going live
- Effects or filters
- Editing posts after publishing
- For You Page analytics
- Playlists
- Starting a DM conversation (you can only reply)
- Text-only posts (media required)
Common errors
| Error | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| "You have created too many posts in the last 24 hours via the API." | TikTok's daily API posting limit for the account | Wait for the rolling 24-hour window or post in the TikTok app. |
| "TikTok direct posting is at capacity right now." / "Daily active user quota reached" | TikTok's app-wide cap on distinct posting accounts per rolling 24 hours, on developer app connections only | Retry a few hours later, send as a draft, or reconnect the account to TikTok's Business app, which is exempt. See Direct posting at capacity. |
| "Publishing failed during platform API call (timeout waiting for platform response)" | TikTok took too long to process the upload | Normal for large videos. Check the post status after a few minutes. |
| "Selected privacy level 'X' is not available for this creator. Available options: ..." | privacy_level is not in the creator's allowed values | Read creator info and use one of its privacyLevels. |
| "TikTok flagged this post as potentially risky (spam_risk)" | Content moderation flagged the post | Review the content. TikTok's API moderation is stricter than the app. |
| "Duplicate content detected." | The same content was posted recently | Change the caption or media before retrying. |
| "TikTok video upload failed: Your video URL returned an error (download failed)" | TikTok could not download the video from the URL | Use a direct download URL, not a cloud storage sharing page. |
| "Missing required TikTok permissions. Please reconnect with all required scopes." | The OAuth token lacks a required scope | Reconnect the TikTok account and grant every scope. An authorization that leaves one out returns missing_tiktok_permissions and changes nothing (connection lanes). |
A publishNow: true post that TikTok rejects returns 207 with post.status: "failed" and the message in platforms[].errorMessage:
{
"message": "Post created but publishing failed",
"error": "All platforms failed",
"post": {
"_id": "65f1c0a9e2b5af0012ab34cd",
"status": "failed",
"platforms": [
{
"platform": "tiktok",
"status": "failed",
"errorMessage": "TikTok direct posting is at capacity right now. Use tiktokSettings.draft: true to deliver via Creator Inbox, or try again in a few hours as capacity frees up."
}
]
}
}207 is a 2xx status, so fetch(...).ok is true; branch on the status code and on post.status. Error handling covers the envelope.
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