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TikTok Pixel payload fields, explained

TikTok sends its events as a JSON body rather than a query string. What each field in that body means, and the mistakes that stop an event from matching a product or a server event.

14 parameters · descriptions from the Tag Master extension’s glossary · Decode a real TikTok Pixel request →

Where the request goes

The TikTok Pixel sends events to analytics.tiktok.com, as JSON POSTs to /api/v2/pixel/track. Nothing of interest is in the URL: the pixel code, the event and its properties are all in the body. In DevTools, read the Payload tab — or paste the URL and the body into the request decoder, which flattens the JSON into the dotted names used below.

Event

Which pixel and which event.

ParameterWhat it means
eventEvent NameTikTok event name.
event_idDeduplication id shared with the Events API.
timestampWhen the event happened, as the pixel recorded it.
context.pixel.codeThe TikTok pixel this event reports to. Check it against the pixel in Events Manager.

Page

Where the event happened.

ParameterWhat it means
context.page.urlThe page the event happened on.
context.page.referrerThe page the visitor came from.

Properties

What you passed as the second argument of ttq.track(…).

ParameterWhat it means
properties.valueThe value of the event, as a number. TikTok uses it for value-based optimisation.
properties.currencyCurrency of that value, as a three-letter ISO 4217 code.
properties.content_idThe product id. It must match the id in your TikTok catalogue for the event to match a product.
properties.content_typeWhether content_id refers to a product or a product group.
properties.content_nameThe product or page name.
properties.contentsThe products in the event, each with its id, quantity and price, as an array.
properties.quantityHow many items the event covers.
properties.queryThe search query, sent with a Search event.

What goes wrong

The checks the Tag Master extension runs on every TikTok Pixel hit it captures. Each is something the platform drops, cuts or misreports without saying so in its own interface.

Worth a lookA purchase with no event_id

Browser and server events without a shared id are counted twice.

Fix: Pass event_id in the third argument of ttq.track and send the same value from the Events API.

Platform documentation

Dropped or wrongA content_type TikTok does not accept

An unrecognised content_type breaks catalogue matching, and Video Shopping Ads stop attributing.

Fix: Use one of: product, product_group, destination, hotel, flight, vehicle.

Platform documentation

Worth a lookA commerce event with no content_id

Without it TikTok cannot match the event to a catalogue product, which Video Shopping Ads require.

Fix: Send content_id (and content_type) with every commerce event.

Dropped or wrongA currency that is not a three-letter code

Platforms cannot convert an unknown currency, so the value is dropped or read as the account default — silently changing what the sale was worth.

Fix: Send the three-letter code: TRY, EUR, USD. Not the symbol, not lowercase.

Platform documentation

Dropped or wrongA value that is not a plain number

A value carrying a currency sign, a thousands separator or a comma decimal reads as zero on the platform side.

Fix: Send 1649.25 — no symbols, no spaces, dot as the decimal separator.

Have a request in front of you? Paste it into the tracking request decoder and every parameter above is named on the hit itself, with these checks run on it. The Tag Master extension does the same for every request on the page, live.

Questions

Why can I not see the TikTok event in the request URL?

TikTok sends events as a JSON POST. The URL is just the endpoint; the event, the pixel code and every property are in the request body.

What is event_id in a TikTok Pixel event?

The deduplication ID. When the same event is also sent from your server through the Events API with the same ID, TikTok counts it once.

Which content_type values does TikTok accept?

product or product_group for a catalogue, and destination, hotel, flight or vehicle for those verticals. Anything else breaks catalogue matching.

Related guides

Other references: GA4 · Meta Pixel · Google Ads conversion

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