Hermoso is a marketing MCP server: 922+ tools over one OAuth’d endpoint that let an agent research the ads already running in a market, generate finished image and video ads, publish them, and build the paid campaigns behind them. Claude Code reaches all of it through one connection. This page covers one slice of that: what Claude Code can actually do on TikTok, and what TikTok will not let it do.
Connect Hermoso to Claude Code
- One command, and no key.
Already inside a session? Typeclaude plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso && claude plugin install hermoso@hermoso/plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso, then/plugin install hermoso@hermoso. It installs five Hermoso skills (research, ad-from-brand, generate, product-photoshoot and marketing) that run thehermosocommand throughnpx, so no tool list is loaded into your sessions and nothing costs context until it runs. - Sign in once.
It opens a browser sign-in on loopback, the waynpx -y hermoso auth loginghdoes, and stores an owner-only credential in~/.hermoso/config.json. Claude Code runs it for you the first time it needs Hermoso. No browser on that machine, say CI, a remote box or a container? Create a key under MCP & CLI → Terminal & API keys and runnpx -y hermoso auth login --token hmk_…. A key carries real spend authority, so treat it like a password. - Optional: the MCP server as well. If you also want Hermoso’s tools in Claude Code’s own tool list, run
claude mcp add hermoso -- npx -y hermoso mcpafter signing in. It reads the same stored credential, so no key goes into.claude.json. The skills reach every tool without it. - Ask Claude Code for something. “Pull my three closest competitors’ longest-running ads and remix the best hook into a 9:16 video,” or “post this render to the channel.” The agent picks the tools; you approve the spend.
The plugin and the optional MCP server reach the same tools and the same account. The difference is context: a tool list is loaded into every session before you type anything, while the skills cost nothing until a command runs.
Then connect TikTok itself, once, under Settings → Connectors in Hermoso. That is an OAuth consent screen, so it is the one step that needs a browser. Everything after it is a tool call.
The TikTok tools Claude Code gets
post_to_tiktok: publishes a finished video, or a photo post of up to 35 images, live on the profile at the privacy you choose, or into your TikTok drafts to finish in the app. It also carries the interaction settings (comments, duet, stitch), the cover frame and the branded-content disclosure.schedule_post: queues it for later on the shared calendar, with the privacy fixed when you queue it.tiktok_account / tiktok_creator_info: the account’s bio, verification, follower and video counts, and the privacy levels the account itself allows.tiktok_post_status: follows a post TikTok is still processing, so a slow upload is checked rather than posted twice.list_tiktok_videos / tiktok_account_insights: recent posts with views, likes, comments and shares, and the account’s own analytics, with follower demographics on a Business account of 100 or more followers.list_tiktok_comments / reply_to_tiktok_comment / moderate_tiktok_comment: reads the comments on your posts, replies as the account, and likes, hides or deletes, once the TikTok account authorization is connected.search_tiktok: keyword search across public TikTok, which is the research half.
Two more operational facts. TikTok photo posts are pulled from a URL rather than uploaded, so the host serving the images has to be verified in TikTok’s developer portal before photo posts can go out at all. And a draft carries no cover frame: on a direct post Hermoso sets the video’s best frame as the cover, while for a draft you pick the cover in the TikTok app.
TikTok limits worth knowing before you automate anything
| Text | A TikTok video caption is capped at 2,200 characters, a photo-post caption at 4,000, and a photo title at 90. It is enforced when the post is created or queued, so an overlong post is refused while you are still there to fix it instead of being silently cut on the way out. |
|---|---|
| Visibility | Everyone, followers, friends, only you, or a draft, and you choose. Hermoso passed TikTok’s Direct Post audit in August 2026, so a post can go live on the profile. TikTok’s rule is that the creator picks the privacy for every post, with nothing pre-selected, and only from the levels tiktok_creator_info says the account allows, so Hermoso asks instead of defaulting and refuses a post that names none before anything uploads. A draft goes to the TikTok inbox for you to finish in the app, which is also where you add a TikTok sound. There is no unlisted. Branded content cannot be combined with a private (only you) post, and that combination is refused rather than resolved for you. |
| Carousel | Up to 35 images as a TikTok photo post, images only. That number is TikTok’s: “An array containing up to 35 photo content URLs.” The order is the slideshow, so slide order is the product. One image is simply a one-slide post, not a refusal. |
| Which account | None. TikTok publishes to the connected account. |
Try it in Claude Code
Ask for it in ordinary language. These are plain sentences, not a DSL:
“Render three variations of the hook, post the strongest publicly, upload the other two to TikTok drafts, and print the publish ids.”
That walks search_tiktok → plan_ad → render_ad → post_to_tiktok. Claude Code asks before it runs a tool, and the transcript is right there in the terminal, so a publish step is a line you can read before you press y.
Claude Code on TikTok: the part that bites
Set the privacy in the command, every time. TikTok does not allow a default, so a step that leaves it out is refused before anything uploads, which is the right failure for an unattended run. A publish that is still processing comes back pending; poll tiktok_post_status with the publish id instead of retrying, because a retry is a second post.
The plugin carries no tool manifest, which matters most on a long unattended run: the agent shells out to the hermoso command per step, and --json on any command gives it machine output to assert on.
Research TikTok before you post
Hermoso has no TikTok ad-library search of the kind it runs on Meta, so TikTok research is organic: search_tiktok finds what is working by keyword, and analyze_video will pull a clip apart into its hook, beats and on-screen text so the pattern can be reused rather than guessed at.
The paid half
TikTok Ads is one of the twelve paid platforms Hermoso builds and reads campaigns on, including Smart+ campaigns and Spark Ads that promote an organic post, and it is a separate connection from the organic one. Campaigns run on TikTok’s Marketing API and posting runs on its content-posting approval, so Hermoso reports each one on its own rather than letting one imply the other. Only a confirm-gated status switch arms real money.
What Claude Code cannot do on its own
An agent with a budget is only useful if the blast radius is bounded, so the fence is in the server rather than in a prompt. Every ad campaign, ad set, ad group and ad is created paused, and the status switches that arm real money refuse to run without an explicit confirmation flag. Every render is quoted first (hermoso_capabilities publishes each model’s exact credit cost before anything spends). Credits are reserved before the first provider call and settled at the exact cost afterwards, so a failed dispatch refunds rather than leaving you billed for nothing. Deletes are confirm-gated too, and every campaign tree is read back from the ad platform before your agent tells you what it built.
One step is deliberately not headless: linking an account is an OAuth consent screen, so you connect the channel once in a browser. Everything after that is a tool call.
The rest of the matrix
From Claude Code, post to: Facebook · Instagram · Threads · YouTube · X · LinkedIn · Pinterest · Bluesky · Telegram. Or see everything Claude Code can publish to.
Post to TikTok from: Claude · ChatGPT · Cursor · Codex · Cline · OpenClaw · Grok Bot · Hermes · Gemini CLI · Perplexity · Le Chat · Claude Cowork · Perplexity Computer · Paperclip · Claude Code marketing
Frequently asked questions
Can Claude Code post to TikTok?
Yes, with Hermoso's Claude Code plugin. One command: claude plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso && claude plugin install hermoso@hermoso, or inside a session /plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso then /plugin install hermoso@hermoso. It installs five Hermoso skills that drive the hermoso CLI, so no tool list is loaded into your sessions. Sign in once with npx -y hermoso auth login, which opens a browser and stores the credential itself, so there is no key to create and none to paste. Claude Code then has 922+ tools, including the ones that publish to TikTok, plus the ones that research the ads already running in your market and render the creative in the first place.
How do I connect TikTok to Claude Code?
Two steps, once each. One command: claude plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso && claude plugin install hermoso@hermoso, or inside a session /plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso then /plugin install hermoso@hermoso. It installs five Hermoso skills that drive the hermoso CLI, so no tool list is loaded into your sessions. Sign in once with npx -y hermoso auth login, which opens a browser and stores the credential itself, so there is no key to create and none to paste. Then connect TikTok inside Hermoso under Settings → Connectors, which is an OAuth consent screen in a browser. After that Claude Code publishes to TikTok as an ordinary tool call.
Can Claude Code post a carousel to TikTok?
Yes. A TikTok photo post takes up to 35 images, in the order you pass them, and the order is the slideshow. Video cannot be mixed in. Claude Code calls the same publish tool either way, and a channel that cannot carry a carousel is refused with the real reason attached.
Can Claude Code schedule a TikTok post for later?
Yes. schedule_post queues it on one calendar shared with every other channel, with a per-channel caption if the copy should differ, and list_scheduled and cancel_scheduled read and pull it back. TikTok is one of the eleven channels that queue.
Does Claude Code need my TikTok password?
No. You connect TikTok to Hermoso once through an OAuth consent screen in a browser, and Claude Code then reaches it as a tool call. Linking an account is the one step that is not headless; nothing after it needs a password, and no credential is ever handed to the model.
What does it cost to post to TikTok from Claude Code?
Publishing to TikTok costs no credits; TikTok charges nothing per API call. Credits are spent on the render. Plans are $29, $69 and $149 a month for 1,200, 3,000 and 7,000 credits, and every feature is on every plan including Free. The only exception is enterprise SSO.
Start free with 30 credits at signup and 250+ more to earn. Every feature is on every plan. Credits are spent only on AI models and Ad Spy research; posting, scheduling, ads management and analytics are free.
Start free → See pricing