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Login Kit for Desktop

This guide details how to enable authentication from your desktop app to TikTok. After successfully completing authentication with TikTok, developers can obtain an access_token for the TikTok user.

Prerequisites

Register your app

Register your app following these steps. Then obtain a Client key and Client secret from the TikTok for Developers website by clicking your profile icon in the navigation bar, clicking Manage apps, and then selecting the relevant app.

Configure Redirect URI

Redirect URI is required for desktop apps. After the user completes authorization with Login Kit on the desktop, they will be redirected to the URI that you provide. This redirect URI must be registered in the Login Kit product configuration for your app.

The following are restrictions for registering redirect URIs.

A maximum of 10 URIs is supported.
The length of each URI must be fewer than 512 characters.
URIs must be absolute and begin with https or http.
URIs must be static. Parameters or fragment CANNOT be appended to the URI.
Only localhost or loopback IP 127.0.0.1 are allowed host names in URI.
URIs must have a port number, and wildcard port number (*) is supported. Wildcard config is recommended if your redirect URI uses a random port number.
The following are some examples of valid redirect URIs:

http://localhost:3455/callback/
http://127.0.0.1:*/callback/
https://127.0.0.1:3455/callback/

Integration Guide

Implement the front-end code

Get started by connecting your front-end login button to the server endpoint. The following is an example in HTML:

<a href='{SERVER_ENDPOINT_OAUTH}'>Continue with TikTok</a>

Implement the server code to handle authorization grant flow

The server code must be responsible for the following:

Ensuring that the client secret and refresh token are stored securely.
Ensuring that the security for each user is protected by preventing request forgery attacks.
Handling the refresh flow before access token expiry.
Managing the access token request flow for each user.

Redirect request to TikTok's authorization server

Create an anti-forgery state token

You must prevent request forgery attacks to protect the security of your users. The first step before making the redirect request to TikTok's authorization server is to create a unique session token to maintain the state between the request and callback.

You will later match this unique session token with the authentication response to verify that the user is making the request and is not a malicious attacker.

One of the simple approaches to a state token is a randomly generated alphanumeric string constructed using a random-number generator, like the following example.

let array = new Uint8Array(30); 
const csrfState = window.crypto.getRandomValues(array);

Generate a code verifier and code challenge

TikTok requires the Proof Key for Code Exchange (PKCE) protocol for desktop apps to make the authorization flow more secure. Every time you initialize an authorization request, a new code verifier should be generated. Code challenge is SHA256 hash of the code verifier.

How to generate a code verifier and code challenge

code_verifier

Generate a high-entropy cryptographic random string using the unreserved characters [A-Z] / [a-z] / [0-9] / "-" / "." / "_" / "~" , with a minimum length of 43 characters and a maximum length of 128 characters.

function generateRandomString(length) {
  var result = '';
  var characters = 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789-._~';
  var charactersLength = characters.length;
  for (var i = 0; i < length; i++) {
    result += characters.charAt(Math.floor(Math.random() * charactersLength));
  }
  return result;
}

code_challenge

Since we only support S256 as code_challenge_method, use code_challenge = SHA256(code_verifier)

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/crypto-js/3.1.9-1/crypto-js.min.js"></script>
// CryptoJS required
code_challenge = CryptoJS.SHA256(code_verifier).toString(CryptoJS.enc.Hex);

Initial redirect to TikTok's authorization page

To make the initial redirect request to TikTok's authorization server, the following query parameters below must be added to the Authorization Page URL using the application/x-www-form-urlencoded format.

For example, you can use an online URL encoder to encode parameters. Select UTF-8 as the destination character set.

Parameter	Type	Description
`client_key`	string	The unique identification key provisioned to the partner
`scope`	string	A comma (,) separated string of authorization scope(s). These scope(s) are assigned to your application on the TikTok for Developers website. They handle what content your application can and cannot access. If a scope is toggleable, the user can deny access to one scope while granting access to others.
`redirect_uri`	string	The redirect URI that you requested for your application. It must match one of the redirect URIs you registered for the app.
`state`	string	The state is used to maintain the state of your request and callback. This value will be included when redirecting the user back to the client. Check if the state returned in the callback matches what you sent earlier to prevent cross-site request forgery. The state can also include customized parameters that you want TikTok service to return.
`response_type`	string	This value should always be set to `code`
`code_challenge`	string	SHA256 hash of `code_verifier` that will be used as a server-side challenge during authorization code exchange
`code_challenge_method`	string	This value should always be set to `S256`

Redirect your users to the authorization page URL and supply the necessary query parameters. Note that the page can only be accessed through HTTPS.

Type	Description
URL	`https://www.tiktok.com/v2/auth/authorize/`
Query parameters	`client_key=<client_key>&response_type=code&scope=<scope>&redirect_uri=<redirect_uri>&state=<state>&code_challenge=<code_challenge>&code_challenge_method=S256`

The following is an example using Node, Express, and JavaScript:

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const fetch = require('node-fetch');
const cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');
const cors = require('cors');

app.use(cookieParser());
app.use(cors());
app.listen(process.env.PORT || 5000).

const CLIENT_KEY = 'your_client_key' // this value can be found in app's developer portal
const SERVER_ENDPOINT_REDIRECT = 'your_redirect_uri' // redirect URI should be registered in developer portal
const CODE_VERIFIER = 'your_unique_code_verifier'
const CODE_CHALLENGE = 'SHA256_hash_of_code_verifier'

app.get('/oauth', (req, res) => {
    const csrfState = Math.random().toString(36).substring(2);
    res.cookie('csrfState', csrfState, { maxAge: 60000 });

    let url = 'https://www.tiktok.com/v2/auth/authorize/';

    // the following params need to be in `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` format.
    url += '?client_key={CLIENT_KEY}';
    url += '&scope=user.info.basic';
    url += '&response_type=code';
    url += '&redirect_uri={SERVER_ENDPOINT_REDIRECT}';
    url += '&state=' + csrfState;
    url += '&code_challenge={CODE_VERIFIER}';
    url += '&code_challenge_method=S256'

    res.redirect(url);
})

TikTok prompts a users to log in or sign up

The authorization page takes the user to the TikTok website if the user is not logged in. They are then prompted to log in or sign up for TikTok.

TikTok prompts a user for consent

After logging in or signing up, an authorization page asks the user for consent to allow your application to access your requested permissions.

Manage authorization response

If the user authorizes access, they will be redirected to redirect_uri with the following query parameters appended using application/x-www-form-urlencoded format:

Parameter	Type	Description
`code`	string	Authorization code that is used in getting an access token
`scopes`	string	A comma-separated (,) string of authorization scope(s), which the user has granted
`state`	string	A unique, non-guessable string when making the initial authorization request. This value allows you to prevent CSRF attacks by confirming that the value coming from the response matches the one you sent.
`error`	string	If this field is set, the current user is not eligible for using third-party login or authorization. The partner is responsible for handling the error gracefully.
`error_description`	string	If this field is set, it will be a human-readable description about the error

Manage access token

Using the code appended to your redirect_uri, you can obtain access_token for the user, which completes the flow for logging in with TikTok.

For related endpoints, refer to this guide on managing user access tokens.