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. OpenClaw reaches all of it through one connection. This page covers one slice of that: what OpenClaw can actually do on TikTok, and what TikTok will not let it do.
Connect Hermoso to OpenClaw
- Install and sign in.
Your browser opens once. Nothing to create and nothing to paste: the credential is stored owner-only innpm install -g hermoso && hermoso auth login~/.hermoso/config.json. On a machine with no browser,hermoso auth login --token hmk_…takes a key from MCP & CLI → Terminal & API keys instead. - Add it to
~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. No key goes in the file, becausehermoso mcpreads the sign-in above:{ "mcp": { "servers": { "hermoso": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "hermoso", "mcp"] } } } } - Ask your agent 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.
Hermoso has no special relationship with OpenClaw and does not claim one. The shape above is quoted from OpenClaw's own MCP reference at docs.openclaw.ai/cli/mcp, read on 2026-08-23; it is documented rather than run here, which is why it is the published file shape and not a bespoke install command.
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 OpenClaw 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 OpenClaw
Ask for it in ordinary language. These are plain sentences, not a DSL:
“Every week: render three hook variations from the current top angle, post the best one publicly, and put the other two in my TikTok drafts.”
That walks search_tiktok → plan_ad → render_ad → post_to_tiktok. How much a run asks you is OpenClaw’s setting, not ours.
OpenClaw on TikTok: the part that bites
Write the privacy into the standing instruction. TikTok will not accept a default, so a weekly job that leaves it out is refused before anything uploads. And if a post comes back pending, the next step is tiktok_post_status, not a second post: TikTok is still processing, and posting again would publish twice.
On a long autonomous loop the hermoso CLI is the token-cheap path, because the agent shells out per command instead of carrying an 922+ tool manifest through every turn.
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 OpenClaw 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 OpenClaw, post to: Facebook · Instagram · Threads · YouTube · X · LinkedIn · Pinterest · Bluesky · Telegram. Or see everything OpenClaw can publish to.
Post to TikTok from: Claude · ChatGPT · Claude Code · Cursor · Codex · Cline · Grok Bot · Hermes · Gemini CLI · Perplexity · Le Chat · Claude Cowork · Perplexity Computer · Paperclip
Frequently asked questions
Can OpenClaw post to TikTok?
Yes, through Hermoso's MCP server. Run npm install -g hermoso && hermoso auth login, then add hermoso under mcp.servers in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json with command npx and args -y hermoso mcp. The browser sign-in stores the credential, so no key goes in the file. OpenClaw 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 OpenClaw?
Two steps, once each. Run npm install -g hermoso && hermoso auth login, then add hermoso under mcp.servers in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json with command npx and args -y hermoso mcp. The browser sign-in stores the credential, so no key goes in the file. Then connect TikTok inside Hermoso under Settings → Connectors, which is an OAuth consent screen in a browser. After that OpenClaw publishes to TikTok as an ordinary tool call.
Can OpenClaw 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. OpenClaw calls the same publish tool either way, and a channel that cannot carry a carousel is refused with the real reason attached.
Can OpenClaw 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 OpenClaw need my TikTok password?
No. You connect TikTok to Hermoso once through an OAuth consent screen in a browser, and OpenClaw 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 OpenClaw?
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