Checklist

How to onboard TikTok LIVE creators: a checklist for agency owners

To onboard a TikTok LIVE creator, the agency owner settles the terms first, then puts the creator on the roster, lets them in and approves them, and finally checks that their first LIVE shows up in the figures. This checklist follows that order, marks what only the owner decides and shows where CN Creator App does the repetitive work.

Last updated 5 November 2026

On this page

Written for agency owners and the staff who bring creators in, not for creators looking for an agency. What it says about TikTok's rules comes from TikTok's own page, with the date we checked it. Where TikTok's page is silent, this page says so and points you to TikTok's current requirements. The boxes are for your own use while you read: they are not saved.

Key facts

Who it is for	Agency owners and the staff who bring creators in. It is not written for creators looking for an agency.
The order	Settle the terms and pay rules, connect Backstage or import your roster, set up your team, choose how creators get in, approve the requests, then check the first LIVE.
Ways a creator gets in	TikTok sign-in on a roster you imported, the join link together with the agency code, or an invitation by email.
Who approves	The owner, and any agent the owner has given the Handle requests permission. A request made with the code waits in Join requests until someone accepts or declines it.
What unlocks invitations	Connecting the agency's Backstage login, or importing a spreadsheet with at least one creator. Until then the app keeps invitations, the agency code and announcements locked.
What the owner decides	The terms agreed with each creator, how they are paid, who looks after them and what each agent may see and do.
What TikTok decides	Who may go LIVE, and what TikTok's incentive programs pay. Check TikTok's current requirements.
What the app does not do	It cannot put a creator on LIVE, it never moves money and it is not a TikTok product.

Before you invite anyone: five decisions

These are yours to settle first. The app can hold the answers, but it cannot make them for you.

Terms in writing. Write down what you offer and what you expect, and have each creator agree to it. TikTok's page says agencies can manage contracts in LIVE Backstage, and sets no terms of its own: they are yours.
How the creator is paid. Decide whether pay follows levels or diamonds and what each level pays, so a new creator can see how the month is worked out from day one.
Who looks after them. Pick the agent who will look after each new creator, or decide that an owner does.
Who approves requests. Owners always can. An agent can only if you give them the Handle requests permission.
Who may go LIVE. Check TikTok's own rules on who may go LIVE, including age, before you sign anyone. This page states none, because TikTok can change them.

Finding creators comes before all of this. TikTok says agencies can scout creators with tools inside LIVE Backstage, such as instant messages, see a list of potential creators and use referral programs to invite them to join. CN Creator App starts once you have someone to onboard.

Source: TikTok (checked 2026-11-05): TikTok LIVE Creator Networks, TikTok's age requirements for LIVE

The checklist, in order

Eight steps from the first invite to the first LIVE. Each one says what you decide and where the app helps.

Settle your terms and your pay rules
Agree the terms with the creator in writing and set the agency's levels and pay rules before the first invitation goes out, so a new creator can see how the month is worked out from day one.

You decide: The terms in your agreement, whether pay follows levels or diamonds, and what each level pays. TikTok fixes the gates for the five activeness levels; you set what each level pays.

In CN Creator App: Operations, then Bonus, holds the pay rules and shows them worked out on creators from your roster before you save. The Activeness Levels screen shows the five levels. If you use the setup assistant, it drafts the rules from a few questions and saves nothing until you do. The app works out what each creator is owed and keeps a payout ledger that is a read-only record: you pay outside the app.
Connect Backstage or import your roster
Connect the agency's TikTok Backstage login, or import an Excel or CSV file, so the creators you already have are on the roster before you invite anyone. Either one also unlocks invitations, the agency code and announcements, which stay locked until then.

You decide: Whether to start from your Backstage login or from the file you already hold.

In CN Creator App: Account, then Backstage login, connects Backstage and the first read of the roster starts on its own. The app only reads: it never posts or changes anything on TikTok. Account, then Import figures, takes a CSV or XLSX file up to 15 MB. Backstage's Creator data export works best, the app shows what it matched and nothing is saved until you have checked it.
Set up your team and what each agent can see
Bring in the agents who will work with new creators and decide what each of them may see and do. Staff who enter the agency code join straight away as agents, with every permission off until you grant it.

You decide: Each agent's role, whether they see the whole roster or their own, whether they see pay, and which permissions they hold, such as Handle requests and Manage roster.

In CN Creator App: Team shows the agency code and lets you replace it, and you are told when someone joins with it. Tap a person to change what they can do: roster visibility (their roster or the whole agency), payout access (none, their roster or the whole agency) and permissions such as Edit creators, Handle requests, Manage roster and Post announcements.
Choose how each creator gets in
A creator gets in one of three ways: by signing in with TikTok when they are already on your imported roster, by signing up with your join link or agency code and their TikTok username, or by an email invitation you send to one person. Most creators do not need an invitation.

You decide: Which way you use for which creators. Use an invitation for someone you want attached to a specific row on the roster or to a specific agent, and the code for everyone else.

In CN Creator App: Roster, then Invite a creator, sends a private invitation by email and can assign the creator to an agent. For a creator who is already on your roster, open them from the roster and choose Email invitation, so the app account stays attached to their TikTok ID instead of creating a duplicate.
Send the join link and the agency code together
Give the creator your join link and the agency code in the same message. The link opens the app with your agency's name already filled in, and the creator still types the agency code (8 letters and numbers) and their own TikTok username.

You decide: Who receives the code. Keep it to people you mean to onboard, and replace it from Team if it has spread further than you intended. Requests already filed are not cancelled when you replace it.

In CN Creator App: Join requests has a Copy link button, and the code is under Team and Account. The creator signs up with any email, the code and their TikTok username, then waits for a decision. In Account, then Branding, you can add a welcome message in English, Arabic or Turkish that appears on your join page.
Approve the join requests
Open Join requests, check each request against your roster and accept or decline it. Requests made with the code wait there for a person on your team to decide.

You decide: Whether the TikTok handle belongs to the person asking. Anyone holding the code can type any handle, so this check is yours.

In CN Creator App: Join requests, under Needs your review in Operations, lists requests as Requested, Accepted and Declined, marks each one On roster or Not on roster, warns of a handle clash when more than one person asks for the same handle and offers Accept clear requests in one tap. Everyone who can decide is notified when a request is filed.
Assign the creator and welcome them
Make sure each new creator has someone looking after them, then tell them what to expect: where they see their own month, how their level and bonus are worked out and how to reach you. A creator sees only their own figures.

You decide: Which agent looks after the creator, and what you tell them about the terms and the pay rules.

In CN Creator App: Roster lists every creator with their level, LIVE hours this month and diamonds, and you open a creator from it to assign them to an agent. Announcements reach the whole agency or a chosen audience. In the creator's own app, Home shows their month, their level and what it takes to hold or climb it, and Learn has short videos.
Check that the first LIVE shows in the figures
After the creator's first LIVE, check the roster. Their LIVE hours and diamonds appear after the app's next read of your Backstage account, and a figure that has not been read shows as a dash, never as a zero. If nothing appears, check that the creator sits on the right roster row and that your Backstage login is still connected.

You decide: What a good first month looks like on your own terms, and when to follow up with the creator or their agent.

In CN Creator App: The roster and the creator's own Home show the figures once they are read, and the app builds a weekly and a monthly report on each creator's month. Going LIVE itself happens on TikTok: the app cannot start, schedule or check a LIVE.

The ways a creator or an agent gets in

Creators and staff use different doors, and only one of them has a queue.

Way in	What they do	What you do
TikTok sign-in (creators)	Sign in with TikTok. The app matches them to their row on your imported roster by their TikTok account.	Import your roster or connect Backstage first. A creator who does not match a row waits in Join requests.
Join link and agency code (creators)	Open the link, then sign up with any email, the agency code and their TikTok username.	Share both together, then accept or decline in Join requests.
Email invitation (creators)	Open the private invitation sent to their email address.	Roster, then Invite a creator, or open a creator already on the roster and choose Email invitation.
Agency code (staff)	Sign up or sign in and enter the agency code. They join straight away as an agent.	Nothing to approve. Every permission starts off, and you are told they joined. Set what they can do in Team.

What TikTok decides and what you decide

It helps to keep these apart when you explain onboarding to a new creator or to your own team.

Question	Who decides	Where to check
Who may go LIVE	TikTok	TikTok's page on age requirements for LIVE
Incentive programs and monthly bonuses	TikTok's programs; TikTok's page gives no amounts	LIVE Backstage
The gates for the five activeness levels	TikTok. The app shows them and cannot change them.	The Activeness Levels screen and LIVE Backstage
What each level pays your creators	You	Operations, then Bonus
The terms with each creator	You, in your written agreement	Your own agreement
Who joins your roster	You, and the agents you allow	Join requests
What each agent sees and does	You	Team
When and how a creator is paid	You, outside the app	The payout ledger is a read-only record of what is owed

Source: TikTok (checked 2026-11-05): TikTok LIVE Creator Networks, TikTok's age requirements for LIVE

What CN Creator App does not do

It does not put a creator on LIVE or check whether they may go LIVE. That is TikTok's decision.
It does not move money. The payout ledger is a read-only record of what each creator is owed, and the agency pays outside the app.
It does not find creators for you. Scouting happens in TikTok's tools or wherever you already recruit.
It is not a TikTok product. It is made by an official TikTok LIVE agency partner and reads your own Backstage account.

Questions owners ask

How do I onboard a new creator to my TikTok LIVE agency?

Settle the terms and pay rules first, put the creator on your roster, let them in and approve them, then check that their first LIVE shows up in the figures. In CN Creator App the creator gets in by TikTok sign-in on an imported roster, by your join link and agency code, or by an email invitation, and the owner or an agent with the right permission accepts the request.

What should a TikTok LIVE creator onboarding checklist include?

Written terms, how the creator is paid, which agent looks after them, who may approve requests and a check of TikTok's own rules on who may go LIVE. After that come the roster, the invitation or join code, the approval and a check that the first LIVE appears in the figures. This page lays those out in order.

How do creators join my agency in CN Creator App?

Three ways. A creator already on your imported roster signs in with TikTok and is matched to their row. Any other creator opens your join link or finds your agency code, signs up with any email, the code and their TikTok username, and waits for you to accept. You can also send an email invitation to one person. The link alone is not enough: the creator still needs the agency code.

Do I have to invite every creator by email?

No. Most creators do not need an invitation. Creators on your imported roster sign in with TikTok, and anyone else can sign up with the agency code and their TikTok username. An email invitation suits one person you want attached to a specific roster row or agent.

Who can approve new creators, and can an agent do it?

Owners always can. An agent can only if the owner has given them the Handle requests permission. Requests made with the agency code wait in Join requests, where the owner or that agent accepts or declines them.

What happens when someone uses my agency code?

A creator who uses it files a join request and waits for a decision. A member of staff who uses it joins straight away as an agent with every permission off, and the owners are told. Replace the code from Team if it has spread further than you meant: requests already filed are not cancelled.

Can I add all my creators at once from a spreadsheet?

Yes. CN Creator App imports a CSV or XLSX file up to 15 MB, shows what it matched and saves nothing until the owner has checked it. Backstage's Creator data export works best. Importing at least one creator also unlocks invitations, the agency code and announcements.

How do I know a new creator has gone LIVE?

Check the roster after the creator's first LIVE. Their LIVE hours and diamonds appear after the app's next read of your Backstage account, and a figure that has not been read shows as a dash, never as a zero. The app cannot start or schedule a LIVE for them.

Who decides what a new creator is paid?

The agency. TikTok fixes the gates for the five activeness levels, and the owner sets what each level pays and the pay rules in CN Creator App. The app works out what each creator is owed and keeps a read-only payout ledger. It never moves money: the agency pays outside the app.

How do I find creators to onboard?

TikTok says agencies can scout creators with tools inside LIVE Backstage, such as instant messages, see a list of potential creators and use referral programs to invite them to join (checked 2026-11-05). CN Creator App starts once you have someone to onboard: it does not find creators for you.

Does CN Creator App check whether a creator is allowed to go LIVE?

No. Who may go LIVE is TikTok's decision, including the age requirements, so check TikTok's current requirements before you sign anyone. CN Creator App is made by an official TikTok LIVE agency partner and is not a TikTok product.

TikTok sources

Every statement about TikTok's rules on this page comes from these pages, checked on 2026-11-05. TikTok can change them.

TikTok LIVE Creator Networks: scouting creators, LIVE Backstage: https://www.tiktok.com/live/creator-networks/en
TikTok's age requirements for LIVE: https://support.tiktok.com/en/safety-hc/account-and-user-safety/age-requirements-for-tiktok-live

More from CN Creator App

Open your agency