TikTok Email Finder API: Creator Emails via One Parameter

Most TikTok and YouTube email finders are web tools you type a handle into. If you want the same lookup inside your own product, add include=contacts to a profile call. The response carries the business email the creator published, the page it was read from, and a status that says whether the lookup found one, found none, or is still working. For Instagram, see the Instagram email finder.

This is for business contacts that creators chose to publish. Nothing is guessed or generated, and the lookup does not cover private people.

How do you find a TikTok creator's email with an API?

Call tiktok/profile with the handle and include=contacts. The profile comes back as usual, and the contacts sit under author.ext.contacts.

curl -G "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile" \
  --data-urlencode "handle=creator_a" \
  --data-urlencode "include=contacts" \
  -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY"

{
  "data": {
    "author": {
      "ext": {
        "contacts": [
          {
            "kind": "email",
            "value": "partnerships@example.com",
            "role": "management",
            "confidence": 0.79,
            "provenance": "published",
            "verification": { "syntax": true, "mx": true, "disposable": false, "role_account": true },
            "sources": [
              { "tier": "bio", "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@creator_a", "snippet": "partnerships@example.com ..." }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "contact_lookup": {
      "status": "found",
      "checked_at": "2026-11-12T00:00:00.000Z",
      "recheck_after": "2027-05-11T00:00:00.000Z",
      "tiers_run": ["store", "profile", "website"],
      "pending": null
    }
  }
}

Each entry in contacts[] is one address:

contact_lookup describes how the search ended. tiers_run lists the places that ran, such as store, profile and website, and recheck_after says when asking again is worthwhile.

How do you find a YouTube channel's email?

Use youtube/channel/about with the same parameter. The plain youtube/channel endpoint does not take include=contacts.

curl -G "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/channel/about" \
  --data-urlencode "handle=creator_b" \
  --data-urlencode "include=contacts" \
  -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY"

{
  "data": {
    "author": {
      "ext": {
        "contacts": [
          {
            "kind": "email",
            "value": "business@example.com",
            "role": "own",
            "confidence": 0.85,
            "provenance": "published",
            "sources": [
              { "tier": "about", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@creator_b/about", "snippet": "Business enquiries: business@example.com" }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "contact_lookup": { "status": "found", "recheck_after": "2027-05-11T00:00:00.000Z", "pending": null }
  }
}

On YouTube the address can come from the About page, a video description, a linked profile or link-in-bio page, the creator's own website, or the channel's View email address button. An address read from the button comes back with provenance: "gated_reveal" and a source tier of button.

Which endpoints take include=contacts?

Eight lanes take it, and the search starts at the creator's own text on each platform.

Only the TikTok and YouTube lanes are walked through in this post. The others follow the same response shape, and the creator email docs cover each one. linkbio/page and pillar/page read one page and take only include.

What do the lookup states mean?

data.contact_lookup.status has five values. Two are final and three mean "not yet".

partial is the state you meet in practice, when a channel or a short max_duration cuts the first call off. Handle gated_pending and unavailable too, and read all three non-final states as "not yet", never "no email".

On partial and gated_pending, contact_lookup.pending carries a reason, a retry_after_seconds and a doc_url pointing at the errors page. The search carries on after the response and stores what it finds, so wait the stated time and send the same call again.

async function findEmail(handle: string, maxAttempts = 4) {
  const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/channel/about");
  url.searchParams.set("handle", handle);
  url.searchParams.set("include", "contacts");

  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxAttempts; attempt++) {
    const res = await fetch(url, { headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY! } });
    const { data } = await res.json();
    const lookup = data.contact_lookup;

    if (lookup.status === "found" || lookup.status === "none_published") {
      return { status: lookup.status, contacts: data.author?.ext?.contacts ?? [] };
    }
    const wait = lookup.pending?.retry_after_seconds ?? 30;
    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, wait * 1000));
  }
  return { status: "unsettled", contacts: [] };
}

Read the wait from retry_after_seconds every time instead of hard-coding it. While a search is still running it is 30 seconds, and for a queued button read it can be much longer. In that case store the handle and call again later rather than holding a loop open.

Where did each address come from?

provenance and sources[] answer that for every address. published means the creator or their management put it on a page: a bio, an About page, a video description, a linked page or their own website. gated_reveal means it came from YouTube's View email address button, which the channel owner turns on.

Each source has a tier and the snippet of text around the address, so you can show the evidence next to the address before anyone sends an email. Read the snippet before relying on an address, because confidence ranks addresses against each other and is not a measured accuracy.

Which parameters control the lookup?

A longer max_duration makes partial less likely on the first call. Because a filter can empty the result, a none_published after you raised min_confidence may mean the filter removed the address.

What does it cost?

include=contacts adds no charge. On tiktok/profile and the other profile lanes, the call costs its normal profile price whatever the lookup answers, which is 1 credit for a TikTok profile. youtube/channel/about is charged 25 credits only when an address is returned, and none_published, partial, gated_pending and unavailable are not charged there. An unsettled answer is not cached, so a retry on a charged lane is billed like any other call. Endpoint pricing lists every endpoint.

How does the lookup run, and what if an address is wrong?

The lookup reads only what a creator publishes. It goes from the cheapest place to the most expensive and stops once it has an address: your stored result first, then the bio or About page, video descriptions, linked profiles and link-in-bio pages, and finally the creator's own website. It never guesses a handle or an address.

Websites are read by SocialCrawlContactBot, which follows robots.txt, makes at most one request per domain every 2 seconds, and does not log in, submit forms or run scripts. The contact crawler page has the full rules and the opt-out for site owners.

When an address bounces, belongs to someone else or turns out to be right, report it with the free POST /v1/feedback/contact. The outcomes are bounced, replied, wrong_person and correct, and a bounce marks the stored address suspect.

How do you look up many creators?

The email lookup is a per-creator call today. To get emails for a list, run a creator search first. Then call the profile lane for each result in a loop, or send them as one background job with POST /v1/prism/jobs:

curl -X POST "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/prism/jobs" \
  -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "endpoint": "tiktok/profile",
    "items": [
      { "handle": "creator_a", "include": "contacts" },
      { "handle": "creator_c", "include": "contacts" }
    ]
  }'

A job takes 1 to 1,000 items, each validated like a direct call, and you read the results when it finishes. The async docs cover polling and webhooks. For turning those addresses into outreach, see the influencer outreach API comparison, and to widen a shortlist first, find similar TikTok accounts.

What is it not for?

It returns business addresses that creators published. It is not for private people, and an empty answer is a normal result because many creators publish nothing.

An address being public does not make every use of it lawful. You decide how you use an address and you are responsible for the marketing and privacy rules that apply to you, and many creators are sole traders whom those rules can treat as individuals. Honor opt-outs, and keep to the terms.

Frequently asked questions

How do you find a TikTok creator's email?

Call GET /v1/tiktok/profile with the handle and include=contacts. If the creator published a business address, it is in author.ext.contacts[] with its role, confidence and the page it was read from. If not, data.contact_lookup.status is none_published.

Does include=contacts work for YouTube channels?

Yes, on youtube/channel/about. The plain youtube/channel endpoint does not take the parameter. An address read from YouTube's View email address button is marked provenance: "gated_reveal".

What should you do when the status is partial?

It means "not yet", so do not read it as "no email". Use any address already in the response, wait pending.retry_after_seconds, and send the same call again. The search continues between your calls and stores what it finds.

Does a TikTok email lookup cost extra?

No. include=contacts adds no charge, and a TikTok profile call costs its normal 1 credit whatever the lookup answers. On youtube/channel/about, 25 credits are charged only when an address is returned.

Can it find the email of any creator?

No. It returns only business addresses a creator published, read from places such as the bio, About page, linked pages and their own website. When none is published the status is none_published, and you can ask again after recheck_after.