Agency access to X and TikTok business accounts without a shared login

X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok both offer delegated access for ad accounts and for the posting account itself, so your staff sign in as themselves. The difference is where access is set. On X, ad account access and access to the posting account are two separate settings. On TikTok, both live in Business Center, a single screen for a business’s ad accounts, TikTok accounts and other assets.

Access to an X ads account (multi-user login)

X calls this multi-user login. An account administrator adds another user’s handle and picks an access level. That user then works in the ads account at ads.x.com while signed in to their own X account. X Help says this lets more of your team in without sharing the main account’s password. The handle that creates an ads account is its account administrator by default.

A promoted-only post runs only as an ad and is shown only to the people a campaign targets. Account administrators and ad managers can’t write these by default. Only an account administrator can turn on “Can compose promotable posts,” and only for administrators and ad managers. None of these levels lets anyone publish ordinary posts from the brand’s account. If your agency also handles posting, that runs through Delegate, below.

To add someone, the administrator opens ads.x.com, selects the ads account name in the top right, and chooses Edit access to account. They choose Add access, enter the handle, pick a level and save. Changing a person’s level happens on the same screen under Edit access. For agencies, X Help says you can ask a client to set up multi-user login between its ads account and your agency’s ads account.

Delegate for the X account itself

X Delegate lets several people work on one X account. X Help says you can assign or remove roles “without sharing passwords.” There are three roles.

To invite someone, the owner or an admin signs in as the account and opens Your account. From there they go to Security and account access, then X Delegate, and choose Invite a member. They enter the person’s name or handle, pick contributor or admin, and send. The person accepts and then works in the account from their own X account. To change a role or remove someone, the same screen has Members you’ve delegated to, with Change role and Remove from account.

X Help says delegates keep their access when the password changes, and encourages updating the password so that only the owner knows it. It also says account owners are responsible for what admins and contributors post.

Members and partners in TikTok Business Center

Business Center holds ad accounts, TikTok accounts, shops, pixels, catalogs and audiences in one place. TikTok Help says you can use it to see which users can reach your accounts and assets. People come in one of two ways.

Members are people added directly to a Business Center. An admin opens Users, chooses Add Members, and enters the person’s email address and role. A Business Center can have up to 4,000 members. The basic roles are Admin, with full access to every function, and Standard, which works only on the accounts and assets it’s given. Finance Manager and Finance Analyst are extra roles added on top. Help says you give one to an admin who needs to view or manage finances.

A partner is another business’s Business Center, such as your agency’s. Adding partners and sharing assets with them needs Admin access. The client adds you by your Business Center ID or an ad account ID, and picks the accounts, assets and permissions to share at that point. Once you accept, the shared items appear in your Business Center.

Permissions are then set for each asset, for members and partners alike. Ad accounts have three levels.

Only Business Center admins can assign account or asset permissions to members.

Linking the TikTok account itself

The TikTok account that posts is linked to Business Center. A Business Center admin chooses to link an existing account and sends a QR code. Someone signed in to that TikTok account scans it in the TikTok app and grants the permissions. So the client has to act. A personal account is asked to switch to a business account first.

Members can then get one of two permissions on the linked account. Deliver ads lets them use the account’s name and posts in paid campaigns, most notably Spark Ads, which run TikTok posts as ads. Manage account adds replying to comments, sending direct messages and managing the profile. When linking, the admin can also allow members to publish new videos. The video can go on the profile and in ads, or in ads only.

Either side can unlink. In Business Center, open Accounts, then TikTok accounts, choose View for the account, and select Unlink account. In the TikTok app, go to Settings and privacy, then Security and permissions, then Apps and services permissions, then TikTok Business Center, and choose Remove Access.

Removing members and partners

An admin removes a member on the Users page and confirms with a verification code. TikTok Help says a removed member loses access to that Business Center and to the accounts and assets assigned there.

Help says admins can remove a partner “at any time.” The admin opens Partners, selects the partner and deletes it. The partner loses access to everything that was shared with it.

Where a shared login still remains

On X, your agency can run ads through multi-user login, and posting and direct messages through Delegate. Neither needs the client’s password. What’s left is owner-only work (the password, phone number and login verification), plus any client you can’t ask to send an invitation.

On TikTok, the account owner links the account in the app, and Business Center handles permissions after that. So ads and account management work through delegated access, and so can posting if the admin allows it. What’s left is the linking step itself, since someone signed in to the account has to scan the QR code, plus any client who won’t do it.

On both platforms the client has to act first. On X, it adds your handles or sends a Delegate invite. On TikTok, it scans the QR code or shares assets with your Business Center. Until it does, you keep using the login you were given. What to decide about those remaining shared logins is in managing client accounts at an agency.