In this paper, we analyze Fourier coefficients of automorphic forms on a finite cover G of an adelic split simply-laced group. Let $\pi $ be a minimal or next-to-minimal automorphic representation of G. We prove that any $\eta \in \pi $ is completely determined by its Whittaker coefficients with respect to (possibly degenerate) characters of the unipotent radical of a fixed Borel subgroup, analogously to the Piatetski-Shapiro–Shalika formula for cusp forms on $\operatorname {GL}_n$ . We also derive explicit formulas expressing the form, as well as all its maximal parabolic Fourier coefficient, in terms of these Whittaker coefficients. A consequence of our results is the nonexistence of cusp forms in the minimal and next-to-minimal automorphic spectrum. We provide detailed examples for G of type $D_5$ and $E_8$ with a view toward applications to scattering amplitudes in string theory.