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traktok

Feature overview

The goal of traktok is to provide easy access to TikTok data. This package once started as an R port of Deen Freelon’s Pyktok 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 official Research API. To learn about both access pathways, you should check out the Research API and Unofficial 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 development version of traktok from GitHub with:

# install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("JBGruber/traktok")

In Research

The research papers and projects below have used traktok to gather their data:

1. 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
2. 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
3. Giglietto, F. (2024). Dashboard: TikTok Coordinated Sharing Network. https://fabiogiglietto.github.io/tiktok_csbn/tt_viz.html
4. 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
5. 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
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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_v2

A 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},
  }

These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.
Health stats visible at Monitor.