# How to track TikTok hashtags and keywords with Claude

> Connect Manifold MCP, create a TikTok keyword monitor, and have your agent write up new videos and a creator shortlist.

By Jesse Sibley, Founder of Manifold. Published 9 Nov 2026, updated 9 Nov 2026. Filed under [TikTok](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/topics/tiktok.md).

## Key takeaways

- Connect Manifold MCP in Claude or ChatGPT. Your agent creates a Keyword tracking monitor for TikTok after a preview of the monthly credit estimate. Creating it costs 0 credits.
- Pick 1 to 10 keywords or hashtags, each 2 to 60 characters. A video counts when its caption, transcript or hashtags contain the term. A multi-word term also matches the hashtag with the spaces run together.
- Default cadence is hourly, so on Free ask for daily or weekly. Three keywords on TikTok, daily, is 92 credits a month. The first check is a starting point and reports nothing. Alerts start on.
- A spike is at least 5 new mentions and at least three times the average of earlier checks, after 3 earlier checks. Your agent reads the feed, then transcripts, comments and creator profiles, and writes up the week.
- Start on the free plan with 250 credits a month and 1 monitor. Email alerts are on every plan. Slack and webhook alerts are on Growth and Agency. Monitors a workspace can keep, by plan: 1 on Free, 5 on Pro, 25 on Growth, 100 on Agency.

A Keyword tracking monitor on [Manifold MCP](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/mcp/tiktok), set to TikTok, searches TikTok for each keyword or hashtag on a schedule, keeps only videos it has not seen and that really contain the term, and your agent reads the new videos and writes them up. Refreshing TikTok until your tag shows up is a hobby, not a system.

## How to track a TikTok hashtag in five steps

1. Connect [Manifold MCP](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/clients/claude) to Claude or ChatGPT.
2. Pick 1 to 10 keywords or hashtags.
3. Create a Keyword tracking monitor with platform TikTok and a cadence. Preview the monthly cost first.
4. Let the first check set a starting point. It reports nothing.
5. Ask your agent what is new.

![How to track a TikTok hashtag: pick terms, create the monitor, starting point, new videos, weekly write-up](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/how-to-track-tiktok-hashtags/how-to-track-tiktok-hashtags-workflow.svg#1248x788 "How to track a TikTok hashtag with Manifold MCP: pick terms, create the TikTok keyword monitor, take a starting point, read new videos and spikes, then write up the week.")

Creating a monitor costs 0 credits. Each check pays for the TikTok searches it makes, at the same [credit](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/credits) prices as a one-off call. Each keyword is one TikTok search per check. Default cadence is hourly, so on the free plan ask for daily or weekly. Three keywords on TikTok, checked daily, is 92 credits a month on the same estimate the preview shows. Alerts start on. The free plan includes 250 credits a month and keeps 1 monitor. Monitors a workspace can keep, by plan: 1 on Free, 5 on Pro, 25 on Growth, 100 on Agency. For types, cadences and the estimate the form shows, see [how monitors work](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/monitors).

## What AI engines suggest, and the shorter path

Ask how to track a TikTok hashtag in Claude or ChatGPT today and the answers describe a pipeline you assemble: a TikTok data source, a scheduler such as [n8n](https://n8n.io), [Make](https://www.make.com) or [Zapier](https://zapier.com), a store of video ids so you do not alert twice, the model to summarise, then an alert.

The Keyword tracking monitor on Manifold MCP does the searching, the schedule, the dedupe and the alerts. Your agent does the reading and the analysis. You do not build the pipeline.

This page is the scheduled watch, not a server comparison. That roundup is [the best TikTok MCP servers](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/best-tiktok-mcp-servers).

## Step 1: connect Manifold MCP

Manifold MCP is a hosted marketing data connector. You skip a TikTok developer account, and you pay per call. Every workspace gets 250 credits a month on the free plan.

**Claude.** From the [Claude setup guide](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/clients/claude):

1. Open **Settings**, then **Connectors**.
2. Choose **Add custom connector**. Name it Manifold and paste the server URL from the setup guide.
3. Choose **Connect**, sign in to Manifold, and approve Claude.
4. Start a chat, check that Manifold is on in the chat's tools menu, and ask a question.

A connector you add on the web is also there in the desktop app and on your phone.

**ChatGPT.** Manifold MCP is an official ChatGPT app. From the [ChatGPT setup guide](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/clients/chatgpt): open **Apps**, search for **Manifold**, click **Connect** and sign in. Then type **@Manifold** or pick it from the **+** menu. There is no URL to paste and no developer mode to turn on. On Business, Enterprise and Edu, an admin may need to allow it.

Paste this to check the connection:

> What Manifold monitor tools do you have? Then tell me that creating a monitor is free, and how many monitors this workspace can keep.

Your agent should name [`monitoring_create_monitor`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_create_monitor), [`monitoring_get_monitors`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_monitors), [`monitoring_get_changes`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_changes), [`monitoring_get_history`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_history), [`monitoring_update_monitor`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_update_monitor) and [`monitoring_delete_monitor`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_delete_monitor). Those tools are free. The calls each check makes are not. Every parameter is on the [monitoring tools](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring) page.

## Step 2: test your terms first

Before you create the monitor, ask your agent to search TikTok once per candidate term, newest first, for the past week. Drop terms that pull in noise: a common word, a tag everyone uses, a phrase that matches the wrong niche.

Your agent calls [`tiktok_search_videos`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/tiktok#tiktok_search_videos) with sort latest and since week. See the [TikTok tools](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/tiktok) for what each row includes (creator, caption, likes, comments, views, transcript). TikTok search is ranked by the platform and is not complete, so the monitor finds new examples. It does not count every video.

Browse [TikTok articles](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/topics/tiktok) if you still need a one-off search. This page stays on the scheduled watch.

## Step 3: pick 1 to 10 keywords or hashtags

A Keyword tracking monitor holds 1 to 10 keywords, each 2 to 60 characters. Mix a niche phrase, a product category, a campaign tag and a trend you want to ride. A brand name can be one keyword among those. This is not a brand-monitoring setup.

A video counts only when its caption, transcript or hashtags contain the term. A multi-word term also matches the hashtag with the spaces run together: "skincare tips" matches #skincaretips. A niche phrase covers its hashtag too.

Start with a few terms you already tested. You can change the list later.

## Step 4: create the monitor

Two paths, both real.

**Dashboard.** Open [social media monitoring](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/monitors/social-media) and create a Keyword tracking monitor, TikTok only. The form shows the monthly estimate before it starts.

**Your agent.** Ask, for example:

> Track TikTok every day for new videos about skincare tips, spf and sunscreen. Description: New videos in our niche, for next week's content ideas. Preview the monthly cost first.

<!-- screenshot: Claude, "Track TikTok every day for new videos about skincare tips, spf and sunscreen. Preview the monthly cost first.", Claude previewing a TikTok keyword monitor's monthly estimate, then summarising new videos after a later check -->

Your agent calls [`monitoring_create_monitor`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_create_monitor) with preset mentions, platforms TikTok and the keywords, with preview first. It shows the monthly estimate and creates the monitor once you agree. Creating it costs 0 credits.

Give the monitor a description such as "New videos in our niche, for next week's content ideas". Your agent uses it later to decide what to do with a change. If you leave it out, one is written from the fields.

Default cadence is hourly. Daily or weekly cost less, so on the free plan ask for daily or weekly. The free plan keeps 1 monitor, so a free user picks this one monitor. Three keywords on TikTok, daily, is 92 credits a month. The preview shows the exact number for your terms and cadence.

A spend cap pauses checks at the cap. With no credits left, a monitor pauses until you add credits or the plan renews. A failed check is not retried.

## Step 5: the first check is a starting point

The first check runs within five minutes. It records what is there and reports nothing. That starting point stops last week's videos arriving as news.

From the second check on, each new video that contains a term is one new mention, with the creator, the start of the caption, likes, comments and views. Each check reads the past week of TikTok search, newest first, and drops videos already seen, so overlapping windows do not double count. Checks skip the cache, because an hours-old search would find nothing new.

A spike is raised when a check finds at least 5 new mentions and at least three times the average of the earlier checks. It needs at least 3 earlier checks before it can compare.

## Step 6: read what changed and dig in

After the second check, ask:

> What new TikTok videos did my monitor find this week, and which took off?

Your agent reads [`monitoring_get_changes`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_changes), groups the videos by angle and format, then for the best ones calls [`tiktok_get_transcript`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/tiktok#tiktok_get_transcript) (what is said), [`tiktok_get_comments`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/tiktok#tiktok_get_comments) (what viewers ask) and [`tiktok_get_profile`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/tiktok#tiktok_get_profile) (size the creator). [`monitoring_get_history`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_history) shows new mentions per check over time.

End the week with a write-up: three content ideas with example videos, and a shortlist of creators worth a closer look. To watch the creators you find, track their accounts with [how to monitor competitor social media](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/how-to-monitor-competitor-social-media).

Use [`monitoring_update_monitor`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_update_monitor) to pause, change keywords or cadence, or run a check now.

## Step 7: alerts

Keyword tracking alerts start on. Email alerts are on every plan: at most one email a day per monitor, with the rest waiting in the feed your agent reads. Each person in the workspace turns a monitor's alerts on or off for themselves.

Slack and webhook alerts are on the Growth and Agency plans. They are not on Free or Pro.

## Limits to know

From Manifold MCP docs and the monitor itself:

- TikTok search is ranked by the platform and is not complete. The monitor finds new examples, not every video.
- A video is kept only when its caption, transcript or hashtags contain a term.
- Manifold MCP does not keep follower history, score sentiment or compute hashtag view totals. Your agent reads the videos and sorts them.
- Facebook keyword search is not covered. Facebook is page tracking only.

Do not treat a quiet week as proof the tag is dead. It may only be missing from TikTok's ranked sample.

## One-off look vs monitor

A one-off look searches TikTok (and Instagram) once, ranks the videos and says what they have in common. That run is [research TikTok and Instagram with an AI agent](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/use-cases/research-tiktok-and-instagram). Use it to test a term, then put the keepers on a monitor.

The same Keyword tracking monitor can add Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Reddit later. Instagram searches each keyword as one hashtag, so pick a tag people actually use.

## Other TikTok trackers

Checked November 2026, on each vendor's own page:

- **[ShortsIntel](https://www.shortsintel.com/mcp/tiktok)** has an MCP server with a track tool for creators, hashtags, sounds and keywords, and daily change reports. A daily cycle costs 3 credits per hashtag or keyword. Credits are 1,000 per US dollar. New accounts get 1,000 free credits, valid for 90 days. You sign in with OAuth. There is no API key to paste.
- **[FYPNow](https://fypnow.com/mcp)** is a TikTok MCP server for Claude. `create_niche` watches a niche by 1 to 10 keywords, weekly by default, daily on Starter or higher. MCP access needs a paid plan (a free trial counts). It is not yet in the ChatGPT app directory.

## Run this in your agent

Connect Manifold to your agent, then paste this prompt:

```text
Track TikTok every day for new videos about skincare tips, spf and sunscreen. Description: New videos in our niche, for next week's content ideas. Preview the monthly credit cost first, then create the monitor once I agree. Each Monday, read that monitor's feed and write up three content ideas with example videos, plus a shortlist of creators worth a closer look.
```

It uses [`monitoring_create_monitor`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_create_monitor), [`monitoring_get_changes`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_changes), [`monitoring_get_history`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_history), [`tiktok_search_videos`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/tiktok#tiktok_search_videos), [`tiktok_get_transcript`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/tiktok#tiktok_get_transcript), [`tiktok_get_comments`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/tiktok#tiktok_get_comments) and [`tiktok_get_profile`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/tiktok#tiktok_get_profile).

## Create your TikTok keyword monitor

Create a Keyword tracking monitor for TikTok. Creating it costs nothing. The free plan includes 250 credits a month. Open [social media monitoring](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/monitors/social-media) and start from the form, or connect Claude or ChatGPT and paste the prompt above.

The first check is a starting point. From the second check on, ask your agent what is new. Your agent reads the monitor's feed when you ask. Claude and ChatGPT do not run that prompt on their own schedule.

## Questions people ask

### Can it track a TikTok hashtag?

Yes. Create a Keyword tracking monitor on Manifold MCP with platform TikTok and the hashtag or phrase as a keyword. A video counts when its caption, transcript or hashtags contain the term. A multi-word term also matches the hashtag with the spaces run together, so "skincare tips" matches #skincaretips.

### Does it find every video?

No. TikTok search is ranked by the platform and is not complete, so the monitor finds new examples rather than counting every video. Each check reads the past week of search, newest first, and drops videos it has already seen.

### How often should it check?

Daily is enough for most niches. Default cadence is hourly, which costs more, so on the free plan ask for daily or weekly. You can set hourly, daily or weekly. The first check is a starting point and reports nothing.

### What counts as a spike?

A spike is raised when a check finds at least 5 new mentions and at least three times the average of the earlier checks. It needs at least 3 earlier checks before it can compare.

### Can it alert me in Slack?

Email alerts are on every plan: at most one email a day per monitor, with the rest waiting in the feed your agent reads. Slack and webhook alerts are on the Growth and Agency plans. They are not on Free or Pro. Each person in the workspace turns a monitor's alerts on or off for themselves.

### Can I add Instagram too?

Yes. The same Keyword tracking monitor can add Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Reddit later. Instagram searches each keyword as one hashtag, so pick a tag people actually use.

## Keep reading

- [The best TikTok MCP servers](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/best-tiktok-mcp-servers.md): Seven MCP servers that let your agent search TikTok videos and read creators, comments and transcripts, compared on what they cover, setup and price.
- [How to monitor competitors' social media with Claude](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/how-to-monitor-competitor-social-media.md): Connect Claude to Manifold MCP, create a social account monitor for rival accounts, and have Claude read new posts and the ones that take off.
- [Free rank tracker: track Google rankings in Claude](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/free-rank-tracker.md): Connect Claude to Manifold MCP, create a weekly Google rank monitor on your keywords, and have Claude read which ones moved.
