A TikTok Spark Ads code is a post-specific code you generate in a video's Ad settings so that a brand can run that post as a paid ad from your account. You choose how long the authorisation lasts, which TikTok's help lists as 7, 30, 60 or 365 days, copy the code and send it to the advertiser, who enters it in TikTok Ads Manager. Agree the fee, period and terms in writing before you generate it, because the code itself is the permission.
What a Spark Ads code hands over
TikTok's page About Spark Ads describes a format built on organic posts: the views, comments, shares, likes and follows gained while the ad runs are attributed to your original post. The same page says the ad's display name and text reflect your post and cannot be edited during ad creation in Ads Manager, posts that have been banned are rejected, videos over 10 minutes cannot be sparked, and a video has to be un-authorised as a Spark Ad before you can delete it from your account.
TikTok's guide to Spark Ads in Smart+ campaigns adds two consequences creators rarely hear about. A post's caption cannot be edited once it has been authorised as an ad. And a private video becomes public once it is used in a campaign, with its privacy setting locked for the length of the promotion. If you planned to hide or remove a sponsored post after the organic window, the authorisation period overrides that plan.
TikTok's list of Spark Ads code errors shows the formats that will not work: story videos, duet carousels and posts that tag multiple other posts cannot become Spark Ads, and an advertiser who tries a post that is not public is told to ask the creator to make it public. Combined with the Smart+ note above, the practical rule is simple: a sparked post ends up public. Duets and Stitches need codes from both creators involved, so never promise a brand a Stitch of someone else's video without their agreement.
Step list: generate a code with the right period
- Agree the deal first: which post, the fee, the authorisation period, the start date and the terms in the checklist further down.
- Check that your account allows authorised posts; TikTok's guide points to the setting under Settings and privacy, then Privacy, or under Creator tools.
- Finalise the caption, since it locks once the post is authorised as an ad.
- Open the post, tap the three dots and choose Ad settings.
- Read the advertising content terms TikTok shows you and accept them if you are happy to proceed.
- Turn on the Ad authorization toggle.
- Generate the video code and select the authorisation duration you agreed from the options offered.
- Tap Copy code and send it through the channel your contract names, not a public comment.
- Write the code, post, brand, date and period into your deal log.
- Ask the brand to confirm when it has applied the code; in Ads Manager, TikTok shows the authorisation period beneath each authorised post.
Menu labels move between app versions and regions. If your screens differ from these steps, follow the current wording in the app and keep the same order: terms, toggle, duration, code.
Other routes that authorise your posts
A code you generate is only one way a brand can gain Spark permission, and several of the others are easier to grant without noticing. Each row below comes from TikTok's own help pages.
| Route | Who starts it | Period | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video code | You, from the post's Ad settings | The duration you select from TikTok's options | One post per code; the caption and privacy setting lock while it is promoted |
| Content Suite request | The brand, through an in-app note sent to you | TikTok says these requests default to 365 days | Approving gives a year unless the period was changed; check before you tap |
| Brand partner tag | You, when you disclose a paid partnership and tag the brand | Pre-authorised for Spark Ads by default for 60 days, according to the brand partner tag article | The tag also shares post insights with the brand, so treat tagging as a licensing step |
| Account-level authorisation | The brand, through Content Suite; you accept | Not described on the Content Suite page beyond its default for requests | Ask exactly which posts and what period it covers before accepting |
| Business Center link | The brand, via a QR code you scan in the app | Ongoing until the brand unlinks your account | Permissions can include publishing new videos to your account and viewing account data |
| TikTok Shop affiliate authorisation | You, in TikTok Shop Creator Center | Runs until you switch it off, the collaboration expires or the post loses its product link | Separate from video codes, which keep Shop ads running until the code expires |
The Business Center row deserves the most caution. TikTok's page on linking an existing TikTok account for ad delivery lists permissions a brand can request, including pulling your existing posts, publishing and managing new videos on your account, either hidden from your profile or shown on it, LIVE videos and access to account data and insights. Its page on editing those permissions says the Business Center can enable new permissions for an ad-delivery account but cannot disable existing ones. Scan a brand's QR code only when an ongoing relationship needs it, and read the permission list first.
The Shop row has its own surprise. TikTok's comparison of affiliate mass authorisation and video codes says that with a video code an advertiser can feature a different product from the one linked in your post. If you only endorse one product, write that limit into the deal; our guide to becoming a TikTok Shop affiliate covers the rest of the Shop side.
Choosing the authorisation period
Pick the period that matches the paid term you sold, not the longest one on the menu. If the contract term falls between TikTok's options, choose the shortest option that covers it and state in the contract that use ends on the contract date. Do not accept a year simply because a Content Suite request arrived with that default.
When the period runs out, the brand will hit TikTok's expired-authorisation error, which tells it to contact you to extend; a campaign scheduled past your end date triggers a separate error saying the authorisation ends before the ad does. Both lead back to you, so price extensions before they are needed using the renewal table in our usage rights pricing worksheet, and issue a fresh code only once the extension is agreed and paid.
Ending an authorisation early
TikTok documents the edges of revocation more clearly than its middle. You must un-authorise a post before deleting it, and the Smart+ guide tells advertisers that a video code can only be deleted once every ad using that video has been deleted in Ads Manager. The help pages cited here do not spell out what happens to an ad that is already running if you switch ad authorisation off mid-campaign, so do not rely on the toggle as an emergency brake.
Put the off-switch in the contract instead: the brand stops its Spark Ads on the end date or within an agreed time of your request, then you turn off ad authorisation for the post, and both of you confirm in writing. For a Business Center link, TikTok's page on removing a TikTok account from Business Center describes the brand's admin unlinking your account, which it says revokes all permissions; make that step, and a screenshot of it, a close-out obligation.
Spark Ads terms checklist
- Posts: which videos may be sparked, remembering each one needs its own code.
- Period: the TikTok duration selected, the start date, and a rule that use stops at the contract end date or when the code expires, whichever comes first.
- Fee: a Spark line priced per post and per period, separate from the content fee.
- Ad text: TikTok's pages differ here, with About Spark Ads listing text edits for pushed Spark Ads while the Smart+ guide says captions cannot change after authorisation, so state that no ad text beyond your caption runs without your approval.
- Call to action and destination: the button wording and landing page, approved before launch.
- Product scope: the product or service the ads may promote, especially for TikTok Shop deals.
- Comments: paid viewers comment on your actual post, so agree who moderates and who answers product questions.
- Targeting and reporting: the countries the ads may run in, and regular figures on spend and results.
- Visibility: the post stays public while promoted and cannot be deleted until un-authorised, so schedule any cleanup after the term.
- Disclosure: the commercial content setting switched on for the original post, explained in our guide to TikTok paid partnership disclosure.
- Close-out: who stops the ads, who switches off authorisation and how both confirm it.
If the deal came through TikTok One, TikTok's guide to creating a creator marketing project has the brand select an ad authorisation period while setting it up, so check that period against your contract too; our guide to TikTok One and the Creator Marketplace explains how projects and payouts work there. Instagram and Facebook handle creator-handle ads differently, as our explainer on influencer whitelisting shows.
Limitations of this guide
This guide relies on TikTok Ads Manager and Business Center help pages as they read on 1 October 2026, most of them written for advertisers rather than creators. Durations, defaults and menu names change, and where TikTok's pages disagree, as they do on ad text, the safer course is to settle the point in your contract.
Regional arrangements also differ. TikTok's January 2026 announcement says a new US joint venture now runs US data protection, the recommendation algorithm and trust and safety, while TikTok's global US entities keep commercial activities such as advertising, so US creators should check which company's terms they accept in the app. None of this is legal advice; for long or high-value authorisations, have a lawyer review the agreement before you share a code.