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. Gemini CLI reaches all of it through one connection. This page covers one slice of that: what Gemini CLI can actually do on TikTok, and what TikTok will not let it do.
Connect Hermoso to Gemini CLI
- Install the extension.
It installs the latest release of Hermoso’s public repository: five skills (research, ad-from-brand, generate, product-photoshoot and marketing) plus agemini extensions install https://github.com/hermoso-ai/hermosoGEMINI.mdcontext file. The skills run thehermosocommand throughnpx, so nothing is added to Gemini CLI’s tool list and nothing costs context until a command runs.gemini extensions listshows them under Agent skills. - Sign in once.
It opens a browser sign-in and stores an owner-only credential innpx -y hermoso auth login~/.hermoso/config.json. Gemini CLI can run it for you the first time it needs Hermoso. No browser on that machine? Create a key under MCP & CLI → Terminal & API keys and runnpx -y hermoso auth login --token hmk_…. - Optional: the MCP server as well.
Gemini CLI finds Hermoso’s authorization server when the first connection answers 401 and registers itself, so no key goes ingemini mcp add --scope user --transport http hermoso https://app.hermoso.ai/mcpsettings.json;/mcp auth hermosoinside a session runs the sign-in. The skills reach every tool without it. - Ask Gemini CLI 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.
We ran the install above on 2026-09-23 against Gemini CLI 0.60.0 in a clean home directory: it pulled the current release of hermoso-ai/hermoso, and gemini extensions list reported the five skills and the context file. The extension carries no MCP server of its own, which is deliberate: a tool list is loaded into every session, and skills cost nothing until they run. Hermoso is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.
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 Gemini CLI 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 Gemini CLI
Ask for it in ordinary language. These are plain sentences, not a DSL:
“Render two 15-second hook variations for our product, post the first publicly, and send the second to my TikTok drafts.”
That walks search_tiktok → plan_ad → render_ad → post_to_tiktok. Gemini CLI asks before it runs a shell command, and the skills act through the hermoso command, so a publish shows up as a line you can read before you say yes. For MCP tools it offers once, always for that tool, or always for the server.
Gemini CLI on TikTok: the part that bites
Gemini CLI asks before it runs a shell command, so a TikTok post shows up as a hermoso line you can read first, privacy included. On a direct post Hermoso sets the video’s best frame as the cover; a draft takes no cover, and you pick one in the TikTok app.
Two Gemini CLI details decide how safe this is. gemini mcp add writes to the project’s .gemini/settings.json unless you pass --scope user, which is useful when one repo should always run against one brand. And never add Hermoso with --trust: it skips every confirmation for the server, including the ones in front of a publish. MCP tools arrive named mcp_hermoso_ plus the tool name, and --exclude-tools keeps any of them out entirely.
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 Gemini CLI 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 Gemini CLI, post to: Facebook · Instagram · Threads · YouTube · X · LinkedIn · Pinterest · Bluesky · Telegram. Or see everything Gemini CLI can publish to.
Post to TikTok from: Claude · ChatGPT · Claude Code · Cursor · Codex · Cline · OpenClaw · Grok Bot · Hermes · Perplexity · Le Chat · Claude Cowork · Perplexity Computer · Paperclip
Frequently asked questions
Can Gemini CLI post to TikTok?
Yes, with Hermoso's Gemini CLI extension. Run gemini extensions install https://github.com/hermoso-ai/hermoso, which adds five Hermoso skills that drive the hermoso command, then sign in once with npx -y hermoso auth login. The sign-in opens a browser and stores the credential itself, so there is no key to create and none to paste. If you also want Hermoso's tools in Gemini CLI's own list, gemini mcp add --scope user --transport http hermoso https://app.hermoso.ai/mcp adds the hosted server, which signs in with OAuth. Gemini CLI 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 Gemini CLI?
Two steps, once each. Run gemini extensions install https://github.com/hermoso-ai/hermoso, which adds five Hermoso skills that drive the hermoso command, then sign in once with npx -y hermoso auth login. The sign-in opens a browser and stores the credential itself, so there is no key to create and none to paste. If you also want Hermoso's tools in Gemini CLI's own list, gemini mcp add --scope user --transport http hermoso https://app.hermoso.ai/mcp adds the hosted server, which signs in with OAuth. Then connect TikTok inside Hermoso under Settings → Connectors, which is an OAuth consent screen in a browser. After that Gemini CLI publishes to TikTok as an ordinary tool call.
What is the TikTok caption limit when posting from Gemini CLI?
A TikTok video caption can run to 2,200 characters and a photo-post caption to 4,000. Hermoso enforces it when the post is created or queued, so Gemini CLI is told immediately rather than failing later when nobody is watching.
Can Gemini CLI research TikTok before it posts?
Yes, organically: Hermoso has no TikTok ad-library search. search_tiktok finds what is working by keyword, and analyze_video breaks a clip into its hook, beats and on-screen text.
Can Gemini CLI post privately or as a draft to TikTok?
Yes. A TikTok post can go out to everyone, to followers, to friends or to only you, or go to your drafts instead. TikTok wants the creator to pick the privacy for each post, from the levels the account allows, so Hermoso asks rather than choosing for you. Hermoso refuses a visibility TikTok cannot honour at the moment you ask for it, rather than quietly publishing something weaker.
Can Gemini CLI run TikTok ads as well as posting?
Yes. TikTok Ads is one of the twelve paid platforms Hermoso manages, and it connects separately from organic TikTok publishing. Each half runs on its own TikTok approval, and Hermoso reports each one on its own instead of inferring one from the other.
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