TikTok explore feed trending post scraper in n8n
Collect trending posts from TikTok's Explore feed across one or more content categories, with engagement stats, author snapshot, sound and video details. Can also try to discover category IDs.
What this workflow does
Import it and n8n runs the TikTok Explore Feed Trending Post Scraper Actor on Apify every day at 08:00 with the starter input below. Each row comes back with rank, market, category, category id and 14 more; repeats with the same postUrl are dropped. A Google Sheets append is included and stays off until you add your sheet. The only credential it needs is your Apify API token.
Read from the workflow file, built for TikTok Explore Feed Trending Post Scraper version 1.2.1. Updated 2026-11-14.How the rows travel
6 nodes, in the order n8n runs them. The yellow stop is the call to the Apify Actor; the dashed stop is optional.
- Daily trigger Schedule trigger
- Configure input Code
- Run Apify Actor HTTP Request
- Normalize + dedupe Code
- Rows ready No operation
- Google Sheets (optional) Google Sheets, off until you switch it on
Input
The Configure input node holds the starter input. Change it there; every setting the Actor accepts is listed below.
{
"rehostVideo": false,
"categories": [
"All"
],
"maxItems": 50
}| Setting | Type | Required | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| categories | array | Yes | ["All"] | Categories to collect. Accepts names, numeric IDs, or legacy {id,name} objects. All=120; topics 100-119: Anime & Comics, Shows, Beauty Care, Games, Comedy, Daily Life, Family… |
| maxItemsPerCategory | integer | No | 3 | Hard cap on emitted posts per category. The cap is applied before any page is pushed, so a 30-item page never overshoots. |
| maxItems | integer | No | – | Legacy alias for maxItemsPerCategory. It is used when maxItemsPerCategory is absent or exactly the default 3; an explicitly non-default maxItemsPerCategory wins. |
| categoryId | integer | No | – | Legacy shorthand for one category. It replaces the categories list. 100-120 are accepted; 123 maps to 120; other values are skipped with a warning. |
| autoDiscoverCategories | boolean | No | false | When true, an empty or All-only selection expands to all 21 verified Explore categories. If specific categories are selected, the missing categories are appended. |
| countries | array | No | – | Optional ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 markets. Empty means the actor's current egress and no proxy. Each selected country uses a per-country Apify proxy (AUTO first, residential only after… |
| country | string | No | – | Single-country shorthand. Ignored when countries is non-empty. |
| postedWithin | string | No | any | Client-side filter on createTime relative to the run start. One of: any, 24h, 7d, 30d, 90d. |
| minViews | integer | No | 0 | Drop posts with fewer playCount views. Missing stats fail a positive threshold. |
| minLikes | integer | No | 0 | Drop posts with fewer likes. Missing stats fail a positive threshold. |
| minComments | integer | No | 0 | Drop posts with fewer comments. Missing stats fail a positive threshold. |
| minShares | integer | No | 0 | Drop posts with fewer shares. Missing stats fail a positive threshold. |
| onlyNew | boolean | No | false | Emit only posts that were not present in the named state store. State is read and written only when this is true. |
| stateKey | string | No | – | Optional key-value store key for onlyNew. When empty, a deterministic key is derived from categories, countries and filters. |
| includeTranscripts | boolean | No | false | Fetch subtitle WebVTT URLs and add subtitles[].text. Subtitle metadata is always returned when available; text is opt-in and fail-soft. |
| includePostDetails | boolean | No | false | Fetch the public post detail page for each selected post (bounded to the emitted maxItems) and merge locationCreated plus poi/imagePost when the feed omitted them. |
| rehostVideo | boolean | No | true | Open each emitted post with Playwright to capture the real video/mp4 response, then HTTP-fetch the signed cover, originCover, dynamicCover, zoomCover, avatar, music, slideshow… |
What each row holds
Every field the Actor returns stays in the row (18 in its dataset schema). Normalize + dedupe trims text, drops empty fields, removes repeats with the same postUrl and adds _source and _scrapedAt. The main fields:
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| rank | Rank |
| marketRegion | Market |
| categoryName | Category |
| categoryId | Category ID |
| itemCategoryName | Item Category |
| feedType | Feed Type |
| postId | Post ID |
| caption | Caption |
| playCount | Plays |
| likeCount | Likes |
| engagementRate | Engagement Rate |
| ageHours | Age (hours) |
| playsPerHour | Plays / Hour |
| createdAt | Created At |
| postUrl | Post URL |
| mediaRehosted | Media Rehosted |
| mediaRehostedAll | All Media Rehosted |
| rehostStatus | Rehost Status |
What the first run costs
With the starter input (maxItems = 50) a first run costs about $0.45 on the Apify Free plan: $0.40 to start the run at 4 GB of memory and $0.05 for the results, plus platform usage.
The Actor lists $0.99 per 1,000 results; its catalogue page breaks the price down by Apify plan. The Apify Free plan includes $5 of usage a month.
The Actor behind it
TikTok Explore Feed Trending Post Scraper: Collect trending posts from TikTok's Explore feed across one or more content categories, with engagement stats, author snapshot, sound and video details. Can also try to discover category IDs.
The same job from an AI agent
The matching agent skill gives Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other agents the same Actor, input and fields. Install it in one line:
npx skills add https://scraperfinder.com --skill tiktok-explore-feed-trending-post-scraper The tikTok explore feed trending post scraper skill, with manual install and run steps
Questions people ask
How do I import this workflow into n8n?
Copy https://scraperfinder.com/n8n/tiktok-explore-feed-trending-post-scraper.json. In n8n, open a new workflow, click the three-dot menu, choose Import from URL and paste it. Or download the JSON file and use Import from File; both give the same 6 nodes.
Do I need an Apify account?
Yes. The workflow calls the TikTok Explore Feed Trending Post Scraper Actor through the Apify API with your own token, and each run is billed to your Apify account. The Free plan includes $5 of usage a month.
What does a run cost?
With the starter input (maxItems = 50) a first run costs about $0.45 on the Apify Free plan: $0.40 to start the run at 4 GB of memory and $0.05 for the results, plus platform usage. The Actor's Store page shows the current price.
Can I change what it collects?
Yes: edit the input object in the Configure input node. The Actor takes 17 settings; the table on this page lists each one with its default. Raise maxItems once the first rows look right.
Does it work without Google Sheets?
Yes. The rows wait in the Rows ready node, so you can connect any other node there: a database, Airtable, a webhook or an email. The Google Sheets node is only one option.