Docs · Public stories

Public stories

A creator's active public stories, with captions, media and expiration times.

1 credit per callFresh within 1 minuteMCP tool: tiktok_stories

GEThttps://api.lurkapi.com/v1/tiktok/user/stories

When to use this

Use it to see the short-lived stories a public creator posts alongside regular videos. Each story has the usual post fields plus expires_at.

You get up to 20 stories, oldest first, in a single page; this endpoint doesn't paginate. has_more is true when TikTok reports more than that. An account with no active stories returns an empty list. Only stories TikTok shows logged-out visitors are included, never private ones.

Unknown accounts return 404 not_found.

Example request

Copy one and replace YOUR_API_KEY with your API key (get one free). The code versions read the key from the LURKAPI_API_KEY environment variable instead.

curl "https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/tiktok/user/stories?handle=nono95118" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Paste it into a terminal, with your key in place of YOUR_API_KEY.

const params = new URLSearchParams({
  handle: "nono95118",
});
const res = await fetch(`https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/tiktok/user/stories?${params}`, {
  headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.LURKAPI_API_KEY },
});
const data = await res.json();
if (!data.success) throw new Error(`${data.code}: ${data.error}`);
console.log(data.stories);

Node 18+. Save it as lurk.mjs and run node lurk.mjs. It reads your key from LURKAPI_API_KEY.

import os
import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/tiktok/user/stories",
    params={
        "handle": "nono95118",
    },
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["LURKAPI_API_KEY"]},
    timeout=60,
)
data = res.json()
if not data["success"]:
    raise RuntimeError(f"{data['code']}: {data['error']}")
print(data["stories"])

Run pip install requests, save it as lurk.py and run python lurk.py. It reads your key from LURKAPI_API_KEY.

package main

import (
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
	"os"
	"time"
)

func main() {
	params := url.Values{}
	params.Set("handle", "nono95118")
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/tiktok/user/stories?"+params.Encode(), nil)
	req.Header.Set("x-api-key", os.Getenv("LURKAPI_API_KEY"))

	client := &http.Client{Timeout: 60 * time.Second}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	var data map[string]any
	if err := json.NewDecoder(res.Body).Decode(&data); err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	if data["success"] != true {
		panic(fmt.Sprintf("%v: %v", data["code"], data["error"]))
	}
	out, _ := json.MarshalIndent(data["stories"], "", "  ")
	fmt.Println(string(out))
}

Save it as main.go and run go run main.go. It reads your key from LURKAPI_API_KEY.

<?php
$params = http_build_query([
    'handle' => 'nono95118',
]);
$context = stream_context_create(['http' => [
    'header' => 'x-api-key: ' . getenv('LURKAPI_API_KEY'),
    'timeout' => 60,
    'ignore_errors' => true,
]]);
$body = file_get_contents('https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/tiktok/user/stories?' . $params, false, $context);
$data = json_decode($body, true);
if (!$data['success']) {
    throw new Exception("{$data['code']}: {$data['error']}");
}
print_r($data['stories']);

Save it as lurk.php and run php lurk.php. It reads your key from LURKAPI_API_KEY.

require 'json'
require 'net/http'

uri = URI('https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/tiktok/user/stories')
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(
  'handle' => 'nono95118',
)
req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req['x-api-key'] = ENV.fetch('LURKAPI_API_KEY')
res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, use_ssl: uri.scheme == 'https', read_timeout: 60) do |http|
  http.request(req)
end
data = JSON.parse(res.body)
raise "#{data['code']}: #{data['error']}" unless data['success']
puts JSON.pretty_generate(data['stories'])

Save it as lurk.rb and run ruby lurk.rb. It reads your key from LURKAPI_API_KEY.

Parameters

Add them to the URL after a ?, as in ?handle=nono95118. Join several with &.

Parameter	Description
`handle` stringrequired	TikTok username, with or without @ (e.g. `nike`), or the profile URL. Example `nono95118`

Example response

A real response, captured from the live API. Lists are trimmed to a couple of items, and long text such as media links is cut short with ….

Show the example response (4 KB)

{
  "success": true,
  "credits_remaining": 999956,
  "credits_charged": 1,
  "user": {
    "id": "7322921924349690912",
    "uniqueId": "nono95118",
    "nickname": "n.o4m'🫆",
    "avatarThumb": "https://p19-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-maliva-avt-0068/2eefcd56d9d…",
    "verified": false
  },
  "stories": [
    {
      "id": "7691030223965506849",
      "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@nono95118/video/7691030223965506849",
      "desc": "",
      "title": null,
      "createTime": 1790707521,
      "textLanguage": "un",
      "locationCreated": null,
      "isAd": false,
      "author": {
        "id": "7322921924349690912",
        "uniqueId": "nono95118",
        "nickname": "n.o4m'🫆",
        "secUid": "MS4wLjABAAAAm4M5uYboGN9cOhADsXDQe_AIUrXvvalv-7c1nV7AUhaiinF_Sk75ktDi8SRKZjfv",
        "verified": false,
        "privateAccount": false,
        "avatarThumb": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-maliva-avt-0068/2eefcd56d9d…",
        "avatarLarger": "https://p19-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-maliva-avt-0068/2eefcd56d9d…"
      },
      "stats": {
        "playCount": 66,
        "diggCount": 2,
        "commentCount": 0,
        "shareCount": 0,
        "collectCount": 0,
        "repostCount": 0
      },
      "video": {
        "duration": 24,
        "width": 576,
        "height": 1024,
        "definition": "540p",
        "cover": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-useast2a-p-0037-euttp/oY5z1…",
        "dynamicCover": "https://p19-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-useast2a-p-0037-euttp/osB5Q…",
        "playUrl": "https://www.tiktok.com/aweme/v1/play/?faid=1988&file_id=a11cc2e02b9b4450…",
        "expires_at": 1790947543
      },
      "music": {
        "id": "6716518209370982401",
        "title": "Hymn for the Weekend",
        "authorName": "Coldplay",
        "original": false,
        "duration": 60,
        "playUrl": "https://sf19.tiktokcdn-us.com/obj/tos-alisg-ve-2774/7b32380bc8be43028a40d287cc6e4489",
        "cover": "https://p19-common.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-alisg-v-2774/9ed8c123c47c4eac897…"
      },
      "hashtags": [],
      "mentions": [],
      "images": [],
      "expires_at": 1790793921
    },
    {
      "id": "7691227743198940448",
      "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@nono95118/video/7691227743198940448",
      "desc": "",
      "title": null,
      "createTime": 1790753511,
      "textLanguage": "un",
      "locationCreated": null,
      "isAd": false,
      "author": {
        "id": "7322921924349690912",
        "uniqueId": "nono95118",
        "nickname": "n.o4m'🫆",
        "secUid": "MS4wLjABAAAAm4M5uYboGN9cOhADsXDQe_AIUrXvvalv-7c1nV7AUhaiinF_Sk75ktDi8SRKZjfv",
        "verified": false,
        "privateAccount": false,
        "avatarThumb": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-maliva-avt-0068/2eefcd56d9d…",
        "avatarLarger": "https://p19-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-maliva-avt-0068/2eefcd56d9d…"
      },
      "stats": {
        "playCount": 30,
        "diggCount": 0,
        "commentCount": 0,
        "shareCount": 0,
        "collectCount": 0,
        "repostCount": 0
      },
      "video": {
        "duration": 10,
        "width": 576,
        "height": 1024,
        "definition": "540p",
        "cover": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-useast2a-p-0037-euttp/okrAZ…",
        "dynamicCover": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-useast2a-p-0037-euttp/oUfdd…",
        "playUrl": "https://www.tiktok.com/aweme/v1/play/?faid=1988&file_id=667c80c4e20f4a8d…",
        "expires_at": 1790947529
      },
      "music": {
        "id": "7683828213017316118",
        "title": "sunet original",
        "authorName": "Kashif",
        "original": true,
        "duration": 14,
        "playUrl": "https://v16-webapp-prime.us.tiktok.com/video/tos/no1a/tos-no1a-v-2370-no…",
        "cover": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-maliva-avt-0068/bb05916d5c1…"
      },
      "hashtags": [],
      "mentions": [],
      "images": [],
      "expires_at": 1790839911
    }
  ],
  "total_count": 3,
  "has_more": false
}

Response fields

Every field in a successful response, and what it means. A name with [] belongs to each item of a list: stories[].id is the id of every item in stories. null means there's no value.

Show all 60 fields

Field	Type	Description
success	true	Always true here; errors have `success: false`.
credits_remaining	number	Your balance after this call. On anonymous playground calls: free tries left today.
credits_charged	number	Credits this call cost; 0 on free endpoints. On anonymous playground calls: tries used (1).
user	object	The creator.
user.id	string	Numeric user id.
user.uniqueId	string	Username (handle), without @.
user.nickname	string	Display name.
user.avatarThumb	stringcan be null	Small avatar URL (expires after a few days); null if TikTok has none.
user.verified	boolean	Has the verified badge.
stories	object[]	Active public stories, oldest first, up to 20.
stories[].id	string	Video id, e.g. `7671325437229845774`.
stories[].url	string	The post on tiktok.com.
stories[].desc	string	Caption, hashtags included.
stories[].title	stringcan be null	A photo post's title, shown above the caption, e.g. `tom & jerry art`; null for videos and untitled posts.
stories[].createTime	number	Posted at, Unix seconds.
stories[].textLanguage	stringcan be null	Caption language as TikTok detects it, e.g. `en`; `un` = undetermined; null if unknown.
stories[].locationCreated	stringcan be null	Country the post was made in, as a 2-letter code. Only video details have it; null in lists and when unknown.
stories[].isAd	boolean	A paid ad (Spark Ad or promoted post).
stories[].author	object	Who posted it.
stories[].author.id	string	Numeric user id.
stories[].author.uniqueId	string	Username (handle), without @.
stories[].author.nickname	string	Display name.
stories[].author.secUid	string	TikTok's long, stable user id; other tools ask for it.
stories[].author.verified	boolean	Has the verified badge.
stories[].author.privateAccount	boolean	The account is private.
stories[].author.avatarThumb	stringcan be null	Small avatar URL (expires after a few days); null if TikTok has none.
stories[].author.avatarLarger	stringcan be null	Large avatar URL (expires after a few days); null if TikTok has none.
stories[].stats	object	Engagement when fetched, as tiktok.com gives it: exact for smaller counts, rounded for large ones (e.g. `2500000` views).
stories[].stats.playCount	number	Views.
stories[].stats.diggCount	number	Likes.
stories[].stats.commentCount	number	Comments.
stories[].stats.shareCount	number	Shares.
stories[].stats.collectCount	numbercan be null	Saves (favorites); null where TikTok doesn't show it.
stories[].stats.repostCount	numbercan be null	Reposts; null where TikTok doesn't show it.
stories[].video	object	The video file. For photo posts see `images`.
stories[].video.duration	number	Length in seconds; 0 for photo posts.
stories[].video.width	number	Width in pixels; 0 for photo posts.
stories[].video.height	number	Height in pixels; 0 for photo posts.
stories[].video.definition	stringcan be null	Quality of the default rendition, e.g. `720p`.
stories[].video.cover	stringcan be null	Cover image URL (expires after a few days); null if TikTok has none.
stories[].video.dynamicCover	stringcan be null	Animated cover URL (expires after a few days); null if TikTok has none.
stories[].video.playUrl	stringcan be null	MP4 URL that plays without cookies (h264, best quality). It redirects to TikTok's CDN and expires at `expires_at`; null if TikTok has none.
stories[].video.expires_at	numbercan be null	When `playUrl` stops working, Unix seconds; null if unknown.
stories[].music	objectcan be null	The sound; null if the post has none.
stories[].music.id	string	Sound id; pass it to song endpoints.
stories[].music.title	string	Sound title, e.g. `original sound`.
stories[].music.authorName	stringcan be null	Artist, or the creator for original sounds.
stories[].music.original	boolean	An original sound made with this post rather than a track.
stories[].music.duration	numbercan be null	Length in seconds.
stories[].music.playUrl	stringcan be null	Audio URL (expires after a few hours); null if TikTok has none.
stories[].music.cover	stringcan be null	Sound cover image URL; null if TikTok has none.
stories[].hashtags	string[]	Hashtags in the caption, without #.
stories[].mentions	string[]	Usernames @mentioned in the caption.
stories[].images	object[]	The slides of a photo post, in order. Empty for videos.
stories[].images[].url	string	Image URL (expires after a few days).
stories[].images[].width	number	Width in pixels.
stories[].images[].height	number	Height in pixels.
stories[].expires_at	number	When this story expires, Unix seconds.
total_count	number	Stories TikTok reported when fetched. It can be more than this page holds.
has_more	boolean	TikTok reports more stories than this page holds. This endpoint doesn't paginate.

Cost and freshness

Each call costs 1 credit. Calls turned away before they reach the platform (invalid parameters, a key or balance problem, a rate limit) are free, and so are 5xx errors. A not_found is charged, since the platform was checked. How charging works.

Answers are cached for up to 1 minute. A repeat call within that time can return the same data, and costs the same.

Errors

A failed call returns success: false, an error message, a code your program can check, and a docs link. These are the errors this endpoint can return. All error codes.

Status	Code	Meaning
401	`missing_api_key`	No API key was sent. Put it in the `x-api-key` header.
401	`invalid_api_key`	This key doesn't exist or was revoked.
402	`insufficient_credits`	Not enough credits for this call. Buy a pack, or wait for tomorrow's free top-up.
402	`over_max_credits`	This call would cost more than the `max_credits` you set. The error says what it needs; raise `max_credits` to allow it. Not charged.
403	`account_suspended`	This account is suspended. Email support@lurkapi.com. Not charged.
404	`not_found`	What you asked for (a post, an ad, a subreddit) doesn't exist, or there's no endpoint at that path. Charged if the platform was checked.
405	`method_not_allowed`	Endpoints only take `GET`, with parameters in the URL.
429	`rate_limited`	Too many calls in a short time. Wait as many seconds as the `retry-after` header says, then retry.
500	`internal_error`	Something broke on our side. Retry. Not charged.
502	`upstream_error`	The platform didn't send a usable answer. Retry. Not charged.
503	`upstream_busy`	All our connections to the platform are busy. Retry in a few seconds. Not charged.
504	`upstream_timeout`	The platform took over 30 seconds to answer (90 for web pages). Retry. Not charged.

Use it in Claude

Connect LurkAPI to Claude and ask in plain English. This endpoint is the tiktok_stories tool. For example:

Ask Claude

Use LurkAPI's tiktok_stories tool with handle "nono95118", then summarize what you find.

Claude calls tiktok_stories with arguments like these, and each call costs 1 credit:

Tool arguments

{"handle": "nono95118"}

To save tokens, tool results leave out empty fields, keep one URL per image or video, and give transcripts as plain text unless you pass timestamps=true. A result over 45,000 characters comes in parts. Its _note gives the offset for the next part, and later parts are free for 15 minutes. Pass trim=false for the full response.

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