TikTok's rules for posting from a scheduling tool (2026)
What TikTok requires when a business posts through an app: who can watch, interaction settings, commercial disclosure, and private posting until audit.
By Indably, . 2 minute read. Read as Markdown
TikTok lets businesses publish through scheduling tools with its Content Posting API, but it sets out exactly how those tools must behave. If you're choosing a tool, or wondering why yours asks so many questions, this is what TikTok requires. Checked against TikTok's developer documentation on 19 October 2026.
Every post asks who can watch it
Before each post, the tool has to ask TikTok what this particular account can do right now: the account's name, which audiences are allowed, whether comments, Duet and Stitch are available, and the longest video it may post. The tool must then show you the account's name and a choice of audience, with no option chosen for you:
- Everyone
- Friends (followers you follow back)
- Followers (for private accounts)
- Only me
A tool that quietly posts everything publicly isn't following TikTok's rules.
Interactions start switched off
Comments, Duet and Stitch each have a tick box, and all three start unticked. You switch on what you want. If TikTok says the account has one of them disabled, it stays greyed out. Photo posts only offer comments.
Brand promotion has to be declared
There's a switch for “this post promotes a brand, product or service”. Turn it on and you must say which:
- Your brand: you're promoting yourself or your own business. TikTok labels the post “Promotional content”.
- Branded content: a paid partnership with another brand. TikTok labels it “Paid partnership”, and it can't be set to “Only me”.
Before you post, the tool must show that by posting you agree to TikTok's Music Usage Confirmation, and to its Branded Content Policy when that's ticked.
New apps can only post privately
Until TikTok audits a tool's app, everything it posts is private (“Only me”), it can only post to private accounts, and only five accounts a day can use it. TikTok lifts these limits once the audit is passed. Ask your tool whether it has been audited.
What you can post
- One video in MP4, MOV or WebM, up to 4 GB. Every creator can post three minutes; some can post five or ten.
- A photo post of up to 35 JPEG or WebP photos.
- A caption of up to 2,200 characters for video (up to 4,000 in a photo post's description).
Links in TikTok captions aren't clickable, and TikTok doesn't take a first comment from apps.
What comes back
Once a post is public and through TikTok's moderation (usually about a minute, sometimes hours), a tool can read its views, likes, comments and shares, and the account's follower count. TikTok only lists public posts to apps, so a private post can't be checked from outside. A careful tool won't guess whether a private post went out.
Daily limits
TikTok limits how many posts a creator can make in a day through apps (around 15, shared across every app), and how many accounts each app can serve in a day. A tool should wait and try again the next day, not keep retrying.