TikTok API 10-minute video limit: trim a longer video with Sume

TikTok's media guide says a developer can send at most 10 minutes through initialize upload. Sume video-trim cuts up to 900 s from a 1800 s source into an MP4.

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Cut the video to 600 seconds or less with POST /v1/video-trim (duration: 600), because TikTok says "The longest video a developer can send via the initialize Upload Video endpoint is 10 minutes." Sume's trim accepts an output of up to 900 seconds from a source of up to 1800 seconds.

What are TikTok's length numbers?

The media transfer guide gives a tiered picture: "All TikTok creators can post 3-minute videos, while some have access to post 5-minute or 10-minute videos." The developer cap is 10 minutes, so the effective limit for a given creator can be lower.

TikTok and Sume length limits (read 2026-09-30). Sume rows: https://docs.sume.com/models/video-trim
ItemValueSource
All creators3 minutesTikTok media guide
Some creators5 or 10 minutesTikTok media guide
Developer upload maximum10 minutes (600 s)TikTok media guide
Trim output0.2 to 900 sSume video-trim
Trim source1800 s or lessSume video-trim

How do I cut to 600 seconds?

Send start and exactly one of end or duration. A 600 second cut fits inside the 900 second output cap, and the source can be up to 1800 seconds. The default precision is exact, a frame-accurate re-encode to H.264 in yuv420p; keyframe copies the stream and may begin a GOP early.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/video-trim \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: tiktok-cut-001" \
  -d '{
    "video_url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/long.mp4",
    "start": 0,
    "duration": 600
  }'

What if I need a 10-minute video from several clips?

Assemble them with https://docs.sume.com/models/timeline, which takes an audio spine of 1 to 1800 seconds and up to 200 video slots. Set audio.duration_seconds to 600 to match the cap. Timeline is priced at $0.10 per output minute, and its plan route is unbilled if you want to preflight.

What does this not check?

Sume does not know which tier a TikTok creator has, so it cannot tell you whether 600 seconds is allowed for that account. Read the creator's allowed maximum from TikTok, then cut to that. Re-read the guide before shipping, since tiers change.

How do I verify the length before upload?

Trim's result reports duration_seconds and actual_start_seconds, so check the first against your limit before starting a TikTok upload. If the cut warns trim_clamped_to_source, the source ended before your end and the file is shorter than planned. Both fields come back from GET /v1/jobs/:id/result as kind: video_trim.

  • Compare duration_seconds with the creator's allowed maximum.
  • Treat any warnings[] entry as a reason to look before posting.
  • Keep the source untouched; the trim writes a new artf_ MP4.

Sources

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