How to Automate TikTok Comment Moderation using the API

1#!/usr/bin/env python3
2"""
3TikTok Comment Management - Hybrid API + Manual approach.
4The TikTok API has NO comment moderation endpoints.
5This script: monitors comment volume + alerts for manual action + controls comment
6permissions at post creation.
7Runs every 30 minutes as a cron job.
8"""
9import os
10import json
11import time
12import logging
13import requests
14from datetime import datetime, timezone
15
16logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format='%(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(message)s')
17log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
18
19ACCESS_TOKEN = os.environ['TIKTOK_ACCESS_TOKEN']
20REFRESH_TOKEN = os.environ['TIKTOK_REFRESH_TOKEN']
21CLIENT_KEY = os.environ['TIKTOK_CLIENT_KEY']
22CLIENT_SECRET = os.environ['TIKTOK_CLIENT_SECRET']
23SLACK_WEBHOOK = os.environ.get('SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL')
24COMMENT_ALERT_THRESHOLD = int(os.environ.get('COMMENT_THRESHOLD', '50'))
25
26def refresh_token():
27    """Refresh the 24-hour access token. Call every 18-20 hours."""
28    resp = requests.post(
29        'https://open.tiktokapis.com/v2/oauth/token/',
30        data={
31            'client_key': CLIENT_KEY,
32            'client_secret': CLIENT_SECRET,
33            'grant_type': 'refresh_token',
34            'refresh_token': REFRESH_TOKEN,
35        },
36        headers={'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'}
37    )
38    resp.raise_for_status()
39    data = resp.json()
40    log.info(f'Token refreshed, expires in {data["expires_in"]}s')
41    return data['access_token'], data.get('refresh_token', REFRESH_TOKEN)
42
43def get_videos():
44    resp = requests.post(
45        'https://open.tiktokapis.com/v2/video/list/',
46        headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}', 'Content-Type': 'application/json; charset=UTF-8'},
47        json={'fields': ['id', 'title', 'comment_count', 'view_count', 'like_count', 'create_time']}
48    )
49    resp.raise_for_status()
50    data = resp.json()
51    if data['error']['code'] != 'ok':
52        raise ValueError(f'API error: {data["error"]}')
53    return data['data'].get('videos', [])
54
55def send_alert(video):
56    if not SLACK_WEBHOOK:
57        log.info(f'ALERT: Video "{video["title"][:50]}" has {video["comment_count"]} comments. Moderate at: https://www.tiktok.com/studio/comment')
58        return
59    text = (
60        f'*TikTok Comment Alert*\n'
61        f'Video: "{(video.get("title") or "")[:60]}"\n'
62        f'Comments: {video.get("comment_count", 0):,} | Views: {video.get("view_count", 0):,}\n'
63        f'Moderate at: https://www.tiktok.com/studio/comment\n'
64        f'Video ID: {video["id"]}'
65    )
66    requests.post(SLACK_WEBHOOK, json={'text': text}, timeout=10)
67
68def monitor_and_alert():
69    log.info('Checking TikTok video comment counts...')
70    videos = get_videos()
71    flagged = [v for v in videos if v.get('comment_count', 0) >= COMMENT_ALERT_THRESHOLD]
72    if flagged:
73        log.info(f'{len(flagged)} videos need moderation')
74        for v in sorted(flagged, key=lambda x: x.get('comment_count', 0), reverse=True)[:5]:
75            send_alert(v)
76    else:
77        log.info('No videos above alert threshold')
78    return len(flagged)
79
80if __name__ == '__main__':
81    count = monitor_and_alert()
82    print(f'Alerts sent for {count} videos')
83    print()
84    print('Remember: TikTok API cannot hide/delete/reply to individual comments.')
85    print('Manual moderation at https://www.tiktok.com/studio/comment')