[TikTok] Failed to parse JSON - Can't download videos without watermark

[Neurotoxin001]

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Checklist

• I'm reporting that yt-dlp is broken on a supported site
• I've verified that I have updated yt-dlp to nightly or master (update instructions)
• I've checked that all provided URLs are playable in a browser with the same IP and same login details
• I've checked that all URLs and arguments with special characters are properly quoted or escaped
• I've searched known issues and the bugtracker for similar issues including closed ones. DO NOT post duplicates
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Region

Netherlands

Provide a description that is worded well enough to be understood

Yesterday videos without watermarks were downloading fine, but today videos are only downloading with watermarks. I see that there were issues here about "Failed to parse JSON", but they are all locked and I can't reply in them.

Provide verbose output that clearly demonstrates the problem

• Run your yt-dlp command with -vU flag added (yt-dlp -vU <your command line>)
• If using API, add 'verbose': True to YoutubeDL params instead
• Copy the WHOLE output (starting with [debug] Command-line config) and insert it below

Complete Verbose Output

[debug] Command-line config: ['https://www.tiktok.com/@elias_filmz/video/7344534749551070506', '-vU']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp1251, fs utf-8, pref cp1251, out utf-8, error utf-8, screen utf-8
[debug] yt-dlp version [email protected] from yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds [8463fb510] (win_exe)
[debug] Python 3.8.10 (CPython AMD64 64bit) - Windows-10-10.0.19044-SP0 (OpenSSL 1.1.1k  25 Mar 2021)
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg n6.1.1-1-g61b88b4dda-20240118 (setts), ffprobe n6.1.1-1-g61b88b4dda-20240118
[debug] Optional libraries: Cryptodome-3.20.0, brotli-1.1.0, certifi-2024.02.02, mutagen-1.47.0, requests-2.31.0, sqlite3-3.35.5, urllib3-2.2.1, websockets-12.0
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[debug] Request Handlers: urllib, requests, websockets
[debug] Loaded 1803 extractors
[debug] Fetching release info: https://api.github.com/repos/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/latest
Latest version: [email protected] from yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds
yt-dlp is up to date ([email protected] from yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds)
[TikTok] Extracting URL: https://www.tiktok.com/@elias_filmz/video/7344534749551070506
[TikTok] 7344534749551070506: Downloading video feed
WARNING: [TikTok] Expecting value in '': line 1 column 1 (char 0). Retrying... (attempt 1 of 4)
[TikTok] 7344534749551070506: Downloading video feed
WARNING: [TikTok] Expecting value in '': line 1 column 1 (char 0). Retrying... (attempt 2 of 4)
[TikTok] 7344534749551070506: Downloading video feed
WARNING: [TikTok] Expecting value in '': line 1 column 1 (char 0). Retrying... (attempt 3 of 4)
[TikTok] 7344534749551070506: Downloading video feed
WARNING: [TikTok] 7344534749551070506: Failed to parse JSON (caused by JSONDecodeError("Expecting value in '': line 1 column 1 (char 0)")); trying with webpage
[TikTok] 7344534749551070506: Downloading webpage
[debug] [TikTok] Found universal data for rehydration
[debug] Formats sorted by: hasvid, ie_pref, lang, quality, res, fps, hdr:12(7), vcodec:vp9.2(10), channels, acodec, size, br, asr, proto, vext, aext, hasaud, source, id
[debug] Default format spec: bestvideo*+bestaudio/best
[info] 7344534749551070506: Downloading 1 format(s): download
[debug] Invoking http downloader on "https://v16-webapp-prime.tiktok.com/video/tos/maliva/tos-maliva-ve-0068c799-us/osDtSSfFIBS7HQEH6fRBEHnD5cmYQgX8gRAQFl/?a=1988&ch=0&cr=3&dr=0&lr=tiktok_m&cd=0%7C0%7C1%7C&cv=1&br=1958&bt=979&bti=ODszNWYuMDE6&cs=0&ds=3&ft=-Csk_mIRPD12NTGunf-Ux412SYKW3wv25NcAp&mime_type=video_mp4&qs=0&rc=aWhlNmdoZDM5ZTU2OGY5M0BpM2VoaW05cjRqcTMzZzczNEA1YS4tNWMuXy0xMTYvLS0tYSNqZmRoMmRjYmpgLS1kMS9zcw%3D%3D&btag=e00090000&expire=1710420583&l=20240314064834E1772D870274A3041055&ply_type=2&policy=2&signature=d63e05bc6e4a2807447d63823426f55f&tk=tt_chain_token"
[debug] File locking is not supported. Proceeding without locking
[download] Destination: Trying to eat breakfast with Bruce! #cow #brucethecow #food #snack #first #animals #foodreview  [7344534749551070506].mp4
[download] 100% of    8.15MiB in 00:00:01 at 4.90MiB/s

[bashonly]

I see that there were issues here about "Failed to parse JSON", but they are all locked and I can't reply in them.

This is a legit new issue, though with a familiar error message.

Failed to parse JSON (caused by JSONDecodeError("Expecting value in '': line 1 column 1 (char 0)"))

In the past, this problem has manifested due to either the _APP_VERSIONS being out-of-date, the _API_HOSTNAME needing to be changed/updated, or the endpoint we use adding extra param/header requirements. I've tried some alternatives to our current _APP_VERSIONS and _API_HOSTNAME without any success. Any help is welcome.

[Okashichan]

@bashonly Definitely a problem with _API_HOSTNAME. It's just down/broken at the moment.
If "useast1a" in the API link represents a region, it might even be due to the latest news about the USA wanting to ban Tiktok if they would not sell it to them.

[ThePiousDragon]

As a temporary workaround -f 0 downloads videos without watermark.

[AbdallhMAbd]

Hi
Replace old _API_HOSTNAME with api22-normal-c-useast2a.tiktokv.com

[Okashichan]

Hi Replace old _API_HOSTNAME with api22-normal-c-useast2a.tiktokv.com

Seems to work fine from my end. Thanks for the suggestion!

[bashonly]

@AbdallhMAbd Thanks!

Until this is fixed in master/nightly/stable,

--extractor-args "tiktok:api_hostname=api22-normal-c-useast2a.tiktokv.com"

can be passed to yt-dlp as a workaround

[GSMelford]

Hi Replace old _API_HOSTNAME with api22-normal-c-useast2a.tiktokv.com

Hello! And how did you find a working domain?

[cguess]

@ThePiousDragon Thanks for this, it does indeed fix the problem.

[theChampionOne]

As a temporary workaround -f 0 downloads videos without watermark.

works perfectly) Where did u find information about this keys?

[ThePiousDragon]

works perfectly) Where did u find information about this keys?

Using -F gives you a list with all the available formats for your link. The format called 0 is the only alternative to the default download when the API is unavailable, so I just assumed it's without watermark.

[yuyoiuyoiu]

--extractor-args "tiktok:api_hostname=api22-normal-c-useast2a.tiktokv.com" is not working

[Rizwan-Basheer]

yes now it's not working --extractor-args "tiktok:api_hostname=api22-normal-c-useast2a.tiktokv.com"

[nodata168]

hello sire, what is wrong with yt-dlp went download video from tiktok, How to fix?

[Neurotoxin001]

Can you reopen this issue? It's broken again

[bashonly]

• [TikTok] Failed to parse JSON/ No video formats found #9506