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’sPyktok 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 officialResearch API. To learn about both access pathways, you should check out theResearch API andUnofficial 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 package from CRAN:
install.packages("traktok")Or install the development version of traktok fromGitHub with:
# install.packages("remotes")remotes::install_github("JBGruber/traktok")In Research
The research papers and projects below have used traktok to gather their data:
- 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
- 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
- Giglietto, F. (2024). Dashboard: TikTok Coordinated Sharing Network.https://fabiogiglietto.github.io/tiktok_csbn/tt_viz.html
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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_v2A 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}, }
