[GUI Plugin] FanFicFare

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by Harrow

Hi, I've been having issues for a few days with certain fics not adding the newest chapters when attempting to update. I updated to the newest release version and I have tried several things including selecting "Overwrite Always" when updating as well as deleting the fic entirely from Calibre and re-downloading a fresh copy but for some reason even when I do that the newest chapters won't download.

The failed one has Browser Cache turned on(use_browser_cache), and apparently you have browser_cache_age_limit set very high (or -1 for infinite) because you're using cached pages from 4 days ago:

FFF: DEBUG: 2026-02-15 18:06:29,689: base_browsercache.py(113): age:2026-02-11 21:41:42
FFF: DEBUG: 2026-02-15 18:06:29,689: base_browsercache.py(114): now:2026-02-15 18:06:29.689712
FFF: DEBUG: 2026-02-15 18:06:29,690: cache_browser.py(116): 
========== HIT (GET) BrowserCache

So turn off use_browser_cache or set browser_cache_age_limit to something more reasonable. Default is 4.0 hours.

[Harrow]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

So turn off use_browser_cache or set browser_cache_age_limit to something more reasonable. Default is 4.0 hours.

Ah, that worked perfectly. Thank you so much!

[jrojrojro]

Hello! I put up an ask within the Calibre Reddit sub and was encouraged to post here as what I was asking about we don't think exists. Below is what I originally posted - I'm curious if anything like that would ever be possible for the plugin?

TL;DR: Ideally, I would like a way to have Calibre automatically download and/or update certain fics from my ao3 account through the FFF plugin - whether it's fics marked as Mark For Later, within a certain bookmark tag, authors/series/individual works subscribed to within my Ao3 account, etc. Am I wishing for something impossible?

I've got hundreds of fics downloaded, some complete and some in progress, and if I just select them all and then tell Fanficfare to update them, it usually times out on me. Additionally, without going one by one, I'm having trouble keeping track of which ones I've added to Calibre at all and which ones I haven't yet. I've used the ao3 downloader python app, but even that can't know what I've downloaded vs. what's newly added since the last time I used it, unless I'm missing a functionality there. Again, if I use that program to generate a list of links to paste into FFF, it ends up being way too long and without going one by one, I can't tell what's already in my Calibre library.

In a perfect world, I envision something that works sort of how Libation works for audiobooks, where the books get added to the library based on what's showing as "in" your account but not yet added to the desktop program.

Does something like that exist? If not, is there any way that's something that could possibly be a new feature for the FFF plugin in the future?

I fully recognize that the plugin is a labor of love, and I'm so so grateful it exists! If this kind of ask is too complex or time-consuming, I completely understand and appreciate the functionality it already brings.

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by jrojrojro

Hello! I put up an ask within the Calibre Reddit sub and was encouraged to post here as what I was asking about we don't think exists. Below is what I originally posted - I'm curious if anything like that would ever be possible for the plugin?

From the FAQs:

Why shouldn't I just select my entire library and use FanFicFare plugin to check for updates?

I do not recommend using FanFicFare that way. Checking for updates on dozens (or hundreds or thousands) of stories at once causes excessive traffic on the source site. fanfiction.net and archiveofourown.org in particular, have been known to block people's IP address or refuse requests if they generate too much traffic.

Instead, I highly recommend that you 'follow' stories and use the sites' email notifications to inform you about updates and then update those specific stories.

I also recommend using Update EPUB, not Overwrite, unless you have reason to believe that a particular story has changes in previous chapters. Even for Mobi file users, I recommend downloading to EPUB and converting.

I repeat, doing mass updates is not recommended.

Getting update notifications from email is the best FFF offers. It's enough work keeping downloads mostly working--I'm not interested in driving more traffic to the sites.

[Blaodel]

Hi, i have issue with plugin. I updated it few hours ago and i can no longer download or update any stories from royalroad and a3o(didn't check other sites), with any other output format other than Epub. Comment of failure in View log is 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'startswitch'.

I deleted plugin, reinstalled it, restarted computer etc., also tried to copy paste files from github, but without any succes.

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by Blaodel

Hi, i have issue with plugin. I updated it few hours ago and i can no longer download or update any stories from royalroad and a3o(didn't check other sites), with any other output format other than Epub. Comment of failure in View log is 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'startswitch'.

I deleted plugin, reinstalled it, restarted computer etc., also tried to copy paste files from github, but without any succes.

I'm not seeing that. Nor am I finding 'startswitch' (which is obviously a typo) anywhere in FFF.

Please try again with Calibre in debug mode (under Calibre's Preferences drop down) and post the error log.

[Blaodel]

calibre-debug-log.txt

[JimmXinu]

That particular problem is unique to RR and not related to output format or AO3. It's also already been fixed in the current test version, link in my signature.

Please try the test version and report back if you still have issues.

[applegaa]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

It's also already been fixed in the current test version, link in my signature.

Would it be possible for you to include the version number along with the date on test releases? The plugin manager in Calibre shows my installed version is newer than the available version, but the released date is for the available version.

It looks like there have been three test versions since the available version, but I'm running a version that ends in .4, so the only way I can figure out to tell which test version I'm running is to check the download date on the zip file, if I still have it.

- Andrew

[ownedbycats]

JimmXinu has said before it's much work for him.

[applegaa]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

JimmXinu has said before it's much work for him.

That's weird, but thanks.

I figured he had to manually set the version numbers, so he would know it when he updated the zip file, date, and patch details in his post. No big deal, as he usually doesn't release too many test versions between full releases.

[ericar13]

Out of curiosity, is FFF able to download via Wayback Machine (for sites that are already compatible, of course)? For example, if I have tracked down an Entire Work view of a now deleted AO3 fic, would pasting the web archive link into FFF work?

Here's an example of the archived link - https://web.archive.org/web/20210127...full_work=true

[JimmXinu]

No. This has come up before:

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

This has been raised before.

Yes, it is theoretically possible; and if you can make it work, good for you. But I don't have any interest in supporting downloading from Wayback Machine.

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

If you search the thread for 'wayback', you'll see that's been discussed before. Short version: Old removed stories were incomplete in the samples checked and also in old since-changed site layout that FFF no longer supports.

[applegaa]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

No. This has come up before:

There seems to be a misunderstanding here, as that has nothing to do with my request. I don't want to download any older versions. I just want to easily determine which test version I'm currently running.

To give you an example, I'm asking for this:

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

2026-02-10 4.54.z
- Epub Update: Skip missing chapter, image and css files instead of failing.
- Plugin only: In Skip mode, don't do initial metadata fetch if already matched in library. #1309

2026-02-05 4.54.y
- Ignore CSS url() when ttf/otf/woff/woff2 font files
- Additional checks for svg images to reject--Calibre only. Related to #1298

2026-02-02 4.54.x
- Refactor metadata entry and settings name code a bit
- Remove Site: swi.org.ru No DNS for site.
- Make some metadata entries immutable
- adapter_adultfanfictionorg: Fixes for site changes #1305
- adapter_fimfictionnet/adapter_royalroadcom: Better handling of cover image size fall back #1306

I'm currently running 4.54.4, and I want a simple way to determine if that is x, y, or z.

I hope that clears up the misunderstanding.

- Andrew

EDIT: Okay, I missed the comment between yours and mine, so I thought you were replying to me. Totally my bad on that misunderstanding. Still, I'll leave the above up in case it really was a misunderstanding on what I was asking for.

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by applegaa

EDIT: Okay, I missed the comment between yours and mine, so I thought you were replying to me. Totally my bad on that misunderstanding. Still, I'll leave the above up in case it really was a misunderstanding on what I was asking for.

Yes, I understand your request. But IMO, this is a very minor benefit.

99+ times out of 100, you can see the current test version number at https://github.com/JimmXinu/FanFicFare/ as the most recent change to pyproject.toml if not higher on the page.

You can see the time stamp for when you last installed the plugin by looking in the 'plugins' folder in Calibre's config dir.


I am remarkably bad at remembering numbers. I can put the date because it's literally in the corner of the screen. And yes, I look at it every time.

I am not going to post version numbers if I have to do it manually. I use a script to bump the versions for me and I generally have no idea what FFF's current version number is. I think we're in the 4.50s.

I might modify my script to also generate a change log including version number for me, but it's not a priority.