TikTok Spark Ads: un-authorize before deleting, and keep a master copy

On TikTok's Spark Ads page, a video that is running as a Spark Ad has to be un-authorized as a Spark Ad before it can be deleted from the organic account. If your only copy of a cut is the live post, that makes edits awkward. Store the master file as a Sume artifact and re-render variants from it.

What TikTok's page says

"About Spark Ads" (read 2026-10-05) describes Spark Ads as a native ad format that uses organic posts from your own account or from creators who give you permission. It says the post authorization duration is customizable, the video can be up to 10 minutes, and videos must be un-authorized as a Spark Ad before they can be deleted from the organic account.

The page also says up to 10,000 Spark Ads can be created per Ads Manager account, and that banned organic posts are rejected.

Why a master copy matters

A Spark Ad is the post itself. If you want to change the opening seconds or fix a caption typo, you do not edit the ad: you publish a new post and authorize that one. Having the clean master and the cut recipe saved makes that a quick re-render instead of a hunt through a phone's camera roll.

Keep the recipe in the render request

Timeline 1.0 takes URLs on media.sume.com, so import the source once with POST /v1/media-imports and reuse the returned URL in every later render. A Timeline body is plain JSON, so you can store it next to the video. Re-running it with a different first slot gives a new variant with no other change.

Before you post the new cut, run video inspect on it. It returns probe facts such as duration, size and audio, which you can compare against the 10 minute limit and your own plan.

• Save the master URL and the Timeline JSON together.
• Change one thing per variant, such as the first slot.
• Post the new cut, authorize it, then un-authorize and delete the old post only when you want it gone.
• Do not count on Sume to touch your TikTok account; it renders files, you publish them.

What this post does not claim

TikTok's page governs authorization and deletion. Sume does not post to TikTok and does not manage Spark authorization; it produces the MP4 you upload. Check the TikTok page for the current rules before you plan a swap.