Answers
Can the TikTok Display API read other people's videos or comments?
Short answer
No. TikTok's Display API only returns the profile and videos of users who log in and authorize your app, and it has no endpoint for comments. For public videos, comments and profiles of any account, okdata charges $0.002 per video, $0.002 per profile and $0.002 per page of about 50 comments, with no OAuth step.
A developer registers a TikTok app, gets Display API access approved, and tries to read the comments on a competitor's video. It does not work, and it was never meant to. The Display API exists so a person can sign in with TikTok and show their own profile and videos inside your product. Every call runs on that person's access token, so the data is theirs and nobody else's.
Display API versus public data
| You want | Display API | Here |
|---|---|---|
| Your signed-in user's profile and stats | Yes, with their consent | Account profile works too, by handle |
| That user's own videos with counts | Yes | One video at a time with video detail |
| Another account's profile | No | Yes, $0.002 |
| Any public video's stats | No | Yes, $0.002 |
| Comments on a video | No | Video comments, $0.002 per page |
| Keyword search | No | Video search, $0.002 per page |
Reading comments on someone else's video
curl -s -G "https://api.okdata.online/v1/tiktok/videos/comments/list" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $OKDATA_API_KEY" \
-d id=7305085486984858894 \
-d fields=text,likes,replies,published_at,author.username
The id is the long number in the video URL. If you only have a share link, pass it to video detail first; its response carries the ID. Then send page.next_cursor back as cursor for each further page. Fifty pages, about 2,500 comments, cost $0.10.
Limits to plan around
- Public data only. Videos you cannot see without logging in, and deleted posts, return
not_found, which is not charged. - Comments are the top level with a
repliescount. Reply threads are not returned. - There is no profile video list. To see what an account posts, search for its topics or collect links from its page.
- Nothing here acts on an account: no posting, no replies, no likes.
Which to use
Use the Display API when your users are TikTok creators who want to connect their accounts: a link-in-bio tool, a portfolio, a dashboard of their own posts. Consent comes built in, and the data comes straight from TikTok. Use public data endpoints when the accounts you study never heard of your app: competitors, creators you might hire, conversations about your category. If you are an academic, TikTok's Research API covers public data for approved projects.
Plugging the public endpoints into an AI assistant takes one config block; see MCP. For the comment side of brand research, see word of mouth.
Updated