I wanted to suggest a potential idea for an open source project inspired by the (now defunct) AO3 Disco app.
For those who aren’t familiar, AO3 Disco was an unofficial tool that used machine learning to offer personalized Archive of Our Own (AO3) fanfiction recommendations.
Users could share a fanfic they liked, and the app would generate tailored suggestions for new stories, include filters, and link directly to AO3 works.
Unfortunately, AO3 Disco is no longer available, largely due to concerns from the AO3 team about privacy and the risks of third-party apps interacting with user accounts.
Would there be interest in developing an open source tool that:
- Provides personalized, privacy-respecting recommendations for AO3
- Lets users input a work or tag and get new fic suggestions (without requiring login)
- Includes robust filtering options and links to original AO3 pages
- Is entirely transparent and community-built to address security and trust concerns
I think such a project could really help fanfiction fans while respecting user privacy and AO3’s terms, especially if designed with a focus on open source ethics and transparency.
Personally, I’d love to see something like this happen, but I don’t have the time, knowledge, or energy to start it myself.
Would anyone else be interested in collaborating on something like this?
Or does anyone know of existing open source efforts in this area?
**Edit: **
Noo, really, idk what Disco was but tags and recommendations from other humans are plenty to find good AO3 fic to read. And AO3 itself has been getting hammered for months, presumably by corporate AI crawlers. A recommendation engine would also have to crawl AO3. That’s very difficult to do because of said hammering. Even the regular download feature barely works now if you use fanficfare for it.
