ERROR: [TikTok] : Unable to extract json_string

[skynetgroupllc]

Checklist

• [ x] I'm reporting a bug unrelated to a specific site
• [x ] I've verified that I'm running yt-dlp version 2021.09.02
• [x ] I've checked that all provided URLs are alive and playable in a browser
• [ x] The provided URLs do not contain any DRM to the best of my knowledge
• [ x] I've checked that all URLs and arguments with special characters are properly quoted or escaped
• [x ] I've searched the bugtracker for similar bug reports including closed ones
• [x ] I've read bugs section in FAQ

Verbose log

[debug] Command-line config: ['-v', 'https://www.tiktok.com/share/video/6850242410719612166/']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp1252, fs utf-8, out utf-8, pref cp1252
[debug] yt-dlp version 2021.09.02 (exe)
[debug] Python version 3.8.10 (CPython 64bit) - Windows-10-10.0.17763-SP0
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 2021-08-04-git-3b298640e1-full_build-www.gyan.dev, ffprobe 2021-08-04-git-3b298640e1-full_build-www.gyan.dev
[debug] Optional libraries: mutagen, pycryptodome, sqlite, websockets
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[debug] [generic] Extracting URL: https://www.tiktok.com/share/video/6850242410719612166/
[generic] 6850242410719612166: Requesting header
[redirect] Following redirect to https://www.tiktok.com/@_shadowkillaz05_/video/6850242410719612166
[debug] [TikTok] Extracting URL: https://www.tiktok.com/@_shadowkillaz05_/video/6850242410719612166
[TikTok] 6850242410719612166: Downloading webpage
[TikTok] 6850242410719612166: Downloading video webpage
ERROR: [TikTok] 6850242410719612166: Unable to extract json_string; please report this issue on  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp . Make sure you are using the latest version; see  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp  on how to update. Be sure to call yt-dlp with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "yt_dlp\extractor\common.py", line 584, in extract
  File "yt_dlp\extractor\tiktok.py", line 117, in _real_extract
  File "yt_dlp\extractor\common.py", line 1147, in _search_regex
yt_dlp.utils.RegexNotFoundError: Unable to extract json_string; please report this issue on  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp . Make sure you are using the latest version; see  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp  on how to update. Be sure to call yt-dlp with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "yt_dlp\extractor\common.py", line 584, in extract
  File "yt_dlp\extractor\tiktok.py", line 117, in _real_extract
  File "yt_dlp\extractor\common.py", line 1147, in _search_regex
yt_dlp.utils.RegexNotFoundError: Unable to extract json_string; please report this issue on  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp . Make sure you are using the latest version; see  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp  on how to update. Be sure to call yt-dlp with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 1214, in wrapper
  File "yt_dlp\YoutubeDL.py", line 1239, in __extract_info
  File "yt_dlp\extractor\common.py", line 600, in extract
yt_dlp.utils.ExtractorError: [TikTok] 6850242410719612166: Unable to extract json_string; please report this issue on  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp . Make sure you are using the latest version; see  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp  on how to update. Be sure to call yt-dlp with the --verbose flag and include its complete output.

Description

This works perfectly over the weekend. Now, when attempting to access any tiktok video I'm receiving the "unable to extract json_string" error. I had a friend try this from their location as well and received the same error response, so this does not appear to be a block on my end by tiktok.

[liamengland1]

Try latest master, the extractor has been re-designed to use the mobile API.

[nicolaasjan]

You can try with the latest master branch, as @llacb47 said.
It works (I checked).
Just download the zip file (under the green CODE button) and extract to folder yt-dlp-master.
Then open a command prompt in that folder (type cmd in the address bar and hit enter) and paste in this:
(Python must be installed)

.\yt_dlp\__main__.py https://www.tiktok.com/share/video/6850242410719612166/

C:\Users\Nico\Desktop\yt-dlp-master>.\yt_dlp\__main__.py https://www.tiktok.com/share/video/6850242410719612166/
[generic] 6850242410719612166: Requesting header
[redirect] Following redirect to https://www.tiktok.com/@_shadowkillaz05_/video/6850242410719612166
[TikTok] 6850242410719612166: Downloading video details
[SponsorBlock] SponsorBlock is not supported for TikTok
[info] 6850242410719612166: Downloading 1 format(s): bytevc1_720p_255329-2
[TikTok] 6850242410719612166: Downloading thumbnail  ...
[TikTok] 6850242410719612166: Writing thumbnail to: C:\Users\Nico\Desktop\Part1 #foryou #viral.webp
[download] Destination: C:\Users\Nico\Desktop\Part1 #foryou #viral.mp4
[aria2c] Downloaded 1888222 bytes
[download] 100% of 1.80MiB in 00:00
[ModifyChapters] SponsorBlock information is unavailable
[Metadata] Adding metadata to "C:\Users\Nico\Desktop\Part1 #foryou #viral.mp4"
[ThumbnailsConvertor] Converting thumbnail "C:\Users\Nico\Desktop\Part1 #foryou #viral.webp" to png
[EmbedThumbnail] mutagen: Adding thumbnail to "C:\Users\Nico\Desktop\Part1 #foryou #viral.mp4"
Deleting original file C:\Users\Nico\Desktop\Part1 #foryou #viral.png (pass -k to keep)
Deleting original file C:\Users\Nico\Desktop\Part1 #foryou #viral.webp (pass -k to keep)

Or wait for the next release.

[pukkandan]

Closing since its already fixed in code