Use TikTok Video Subtitle & Transcript Extractor with Python
Pull every subtitle track off a TikTok video - auto speech recognition plus any machine-translated languages - as timestamped segments and a plain-text transcript.
1. Choose the data you need
Review the published README for supported collection modes, examples, and limits. The recipe below uses the current published input definition.
2. Prepare a source-based input
This JSON contains published prefills and required-field defaults. Review every value for your task before running it; it is not a promise of successful collection.
{
"includeAllTranslations": false,
"includeSrt": false,
"includeVtt": false,
"languages": [],
"postUrls": [
"https://www.tiktok.com/@asapscience/video/7642449638045256978"
],
"useWhisperFallback": false
}
Download input.example.json and save your reviewed copy as input.json.
| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
postUrls | array | optional | TikTok video URLs to process. Full video URLs, @user/photo URLs, short share links, and bare numeric IDs are accepted. Duplicate IDs are processed once. |
postIds | array | optional | Numeric TikTok video IDs as strings, as an alternative to postUrls. |
languages | array | optional | Optional language filter. Accepts TikTok codes (eng-US, spa-ES) and ISO/English aliases (en, English, es, Spanish). Listed languages missing from the video are requested as best-effort TikTok translations. Leave empty for every track on the default page. |
includeAllTranslations | boolean | optional | Best-effort: request TikTok's machine translation for every supported target language. Coverage varies by video and this adds up to 20 extra requests per video. |
includeVtt | boolean | optional | Include the original or generated WebVTT text in each transcript row. |
includeSrt | boolean | optional | Include generated SRT subtitles in each transcript row. |
useWhisperFallback | boolean | optional | Transcribe videos with no native captions using local Whisper. Slower and opt-in; detected language is best-effort, especially on short clips. |
3. Start an Actor run
Set APIFY_TOKEN in your environment. Python 3.10 or newer is sufficient; this recipe uses no third-party packages.
Execution may incur charges. Review current pricing on Apify. The request asks for a 120-second timeout and a charge limit; these settings are subject to Apify’s pricing and do not guarantee an all-inclusive spending cap.
import json
import os
import urllib.request
# Save the schema-derived example as input.json; review and edit it first.
with open("input.json", encoding="utf-8") as stream:
actor_input = json.load(stream)
token = os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"]
request = urllib.request.Request(
"https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/6pQ65KR9K8cz8V4OA/runs?timeout=120&maxTotalChargeUsd=0.50",
data=json.dumps(actor_input).encode("utf-8"),
headers={"Authorization": "Bearer " + token, "Content-Type": "application/json"},
method="POST",
)
# This starts a potentially billable run. Do not automatically retry this POST.
with urllib.request.urlopen(request, timeout=40) as response:
run = json.load(response)["data"]
print("Run ID:", run["id"])
print("Status:", run["status"])
# Inspect and download results in Apify Console once the run succeeds.
4. Inspect the actual results
Open the run in Apify Console and wait for a successful completion. Use the published output schema to locate results and the dataset schema to understand declared views. Missing or optional record fields must not be treated as guaranteed values.
One row per video language with timestamped caption segments, full transcript, source flags, available languages and optional VTT/SRT.
Questions before you run
Which inputs are required?
No top-level fields are marked required in the published schema. Conditional requirements can still apply; check the README.
What does this guide verify?
The fields, prefills, and schema links are rendered from the published build. This is a usage recipe, not a paid live extraction test. Source availability and collection results can vary.
What if the run request times out?
Check Apify Console before retrying. The first request may already have created a run. Do not automatically repeat a run-creation POST.
Generated from source build sV6PG2PO8kfbf5pyj and its README and schemas. Source changes regenerate this guide; no third-party editorial claims are inferred.