[GUI Plugin] FanFicFare

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by ThistleProse

For some reason, after the 10th July, my personal.ini stopped excluding author's notes and such when I download a fic from AO3

exclude_notes: authorheadnotes, chaptersummary, chapterheadnotes, chapterfootnotes, authorfootnotes, inspiredlinks

Working as expected for me.

I would speculate a personal.ini [section] confusion issue, or an author who put their notes in as part of the chapter text and not AO3's specific notes boxes.

Whenever posting any problem, a story URL that exhibits the problem will help...

[nephtys59]

Originally Posted by ernand

I just wanted to check if anyone else is having an HTTP Error in FFF '403 Client Error on AO3 today. I tried to set gay to true and false, but I get the same error.
I was able to download and update fics yesterday without issues.
So I wanted to confirm if it's just me or the usual Cloudflare BS.

This is what I am trying to add:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/19...iew_adult=true

Yes, I have same problem too with any fic I try to update or add.

[ericar13]

Originally Posted by ernand

I just wanted to check if anyone else is having an HTTP Error in FFF '403 Client Error on AO3 today. I tried to set gay to true and false, but I get the same error.
I was able to download and update fics yesterday without issues.
So I wanted to confirm if it's just me or the usual Cloudflare BS.

This is what I am trying to add:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/19...iew_adult=true

I am having the same issue today as well. I tried with both the normal url and the gay url, but no luck

[ovillo]

I haven't been able to downlaod anything in two days either. 403s on every try, with or without the .gay domain

[nephtys59]

Originally Posted by ovillo

I haven't been able to downlaod anything in two days either. 403s on every try, with or without the .gay domain

I even tried with FlareSolver but to no avail. Even if personal.ini has login information, asks user and pwd again and even if they're right, it denies access. I see that even .gay domain has cloudflare protection now. Don't know how to bypass this.

[JimmXinu]

Between all the AI training scrapers and botnets, I'm afraid that the long term trend is downward.

Consider this recent news about Cloudflare Precursor watches your mouse and keyboard to decide if you are human.

I would be curious to know if WebToEpub browser extension has similar problems.

[JimmXinu]

New Test Version Posted

2026-07-14
- adapter_sofurrycom: Revisit login url after 404, thanks dbhmw #1385

[LeWyKi]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

Between all the AI training scrapers and botnets, I'm afraid that the long term trend is downward.

Consider this recent news about Cloudflare Precursor watches your mouse and keyboard to decide if you are human.

I would be curious to know if WebToEpub browser extension has similar problems.

Just tried to download this AO3 story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/72976591
And yes, getting a similar issue with WebToEpub in Firefox "URL constructor: null is not a valid URL..."
Which matches the "HTTP Error in FFF '525 Server Error: <none> for url..." error I get in FFF without use_archiveofourown_gay:true.
With use_archiveofourown_gay:true enabled, the error changes to "HTTP Error in FFF '403 Client Error: Forbidden for url..."

For clarity, this is not the only AO3 story I tried to download today but the error pattern matched no matter the story.

[LeWyKi]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

Between all the AI training scrapers and botnets, I'm afraid that the long term trend is downward.

Consider this recent news about Cloudflare Precursor watches your mouse and keyboard to decide if you are human.

I would be curious to know if WebToEpub browser extension has similar problems.

I just tried downloading this AO3 story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/72976591

With WebToEpub (Firefox), I'm getting "URL constructor: null is not a valid URL..."
That pretty much matches the "HTTP Error in FFF '525 Server Error: <none> for url..." message I get with FFF and without use_archiveofourown_gay:true.
If I enable use_archiveofourown_gay:true, the error changes to "HTTP Error in FFF '403 Client Error: Forbidden for url..."

For clarity, I did test with multiple stories but the error pattern stayed the same.

[girlikecupcake]

It's not ideal, but I was still able to download from AO3 a few hours ago (was getting the same errors as posted above) by adding these to the AO3 section of my personal.ini like I already had for FFN.

use_browser_cache:true
use_browser_cache_only:true
browser_cache_age_limit:4.0
open_pages_in_browser:true
slow_down_sleep_time:2

Just make sure you have the cache path properly saved (there's examples in the default.ini) and that browser is set as your default browser. I wouldn't personally do it with large stories or a ton of stories at once since it's potentially a LOT of tabs opening, but it was fine for updating a bunch of stories in batches, didn't get/notice any errors.

[nephtys59]

Originally Posted by girlikecupcake

use_browser_cache:true
use_browser_cache_only:true
browser_cache_age_limit:4.0
open_pages_in_browser:true
slow_down_sleep_time:2

This worked for me. Thanks a lot!

[quilledink]

So I've been trying to get FFF to work with Ao3 for a few hours now, and keep coming up against the same issue--in effect, no matter which browser I use (and even after setting the openers_by_scheme to the appropriate browser), I keep getting an error saying that no such directory exists.

For reference, I'm on macOS 26.3, FFF and Calibre up to date. I've tried Safari, Firefox, Opera, and Chrome. I've been following the suggestions in defaults.ini plus specifically cross checking the cache locations, and making sure every time I have either my own username or ~ in front of /Library.

Any suggestions?

For reference, I'm doing what the user below suggested--and added in the sleep time and age limit settings as they suggested too, with no luck.

Oh, and, with Chrome specifically I've also gotten "no such file or directory:'Chrome'"--I did just install it but I've already logged in, gone to the specific link, closed and re-opened it, etc.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by girlikecupcake

It's not ideal, but I was still able to download from AO3 a few hours ago (was getting the same errors as posted above) by adding these to the AO3 section of my personal.ini like I already had for FFN.

use_browser_cache:true
use_browser_cache_only:true
browser_cache_age_limit:4.0
open_pages_in_browser:true
slow_down_sleep_time:2

Just make sure you have the cache path properly saved (there's examples in the default.ini) and that browser is set as your default browser. I wouldn't personally do it with large stories or a ton of stories at once since it's potentially a LOT of tabs opening, but it was fine for updating a bunch of stories in batches, didn't get/notice any errors.

[JimmXinu]

That sounds very much like you haven't correctly set browser_cache_path to point to the browser's cache directory.

Where that is will be different on different OSes and different browsers, usually including your user name.

You may have missed seeing browser_cache_path in default.ini since it is usually set in [defaults] rather than one of the site sections. That's so you only set it once even if you need it for more than one site.

From default.ini:

Spoiler:

## As a work around for certain sites blocking automated downloads,
## FFF now offers the ability to look for pages in your Chrome(or
## Chromium-derived) or Firefox browser's cache.  Requires both
## use_browser_cache:true and browser_cache_path to be set.
##
## browser_cache_path needs to be set to the location of YOUR browser
## cache.  Here are a few examples for different OS.  Note that all
## have YOUR user name in them somewhere as well as a Profile name,
## frequently Default.  Make sure you have personalized (and
## uncommented) ONE browser_cache_path setting.  Also note that Chrome
## browsers added an additional directory level, 'Cache_Data', in
## early 2022.

## Note also that browser_cache_path is recommended under [defaults],
## but use_browser_cache should go under individual [site] sections.

## windows:
### Chrome:
#browser_cache_path:C:\Users\YourUser\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache\Cache_Data
#browser_cache_path:C:\Users\YourUser\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Profile 1\Cache\Cache_Data
### Firefox
#browser_cache_path:C:\Users\YourUser\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ZjwI7Fo4.default\cache2

## mac:
### Chrome:
#browser_cache_path:/Users/your.user/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/Default/Cache/Cache_Data
#browser_cache_path:/Users/your.user/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/Profile 2/Cache/Cache_Data
### Firefox
#browser_cache_path:/Users/your.user/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/43fkezvc.default-release/cache2

## linux:
### Chrome:
#browser_cache_path:/home/youruser/.cache/google-chrome/Default/Cache/Cache_Data
#browser_cache_path:/home/youruser/.cache/google-chrome/Profile 1/Cache/Cache_Data
### Firefox
#browser_cache_path:/home/youruser/.cache/mozilla/firefox/dk4o1y83.default-release/cache2

[quilledink]

Hi there! Thanks for responding so quickly!

Unfortunately I did go via the defaults.ini (search is a great feature, ha), and still ran into problems. I copied directly from there into the defaults section of my person ini, then adjusted for my username (put ~ in front of /Library for it to automatically fill it in, but it generates as /Users/quilledink/), double checked that the path actually exists on my computer, with cache files inside, double checked with a lot of skimming reddit and the FFF wiki that that is where the cache is stored, and still get the same error saying it doesn't exist.

The folder it says that for is exactly the same as in the defaults ini (except, again username).

I'm sure I am getting something wrong in the filepath though, I just can't imagine what, especially given that those folders very much exist.

For example, the error I just got was:



"defaults" in my personal.ini is set as follows:


And this is the folder itself, under Library/Caches/Google/


I did see in another thread a while back you suggested something about calibre's "safe_open_url" -- is that something that might work? (I'm not familiar enough with coding in general to know--I more tend to try and logic and research my way through stuff like this).

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

That sounds very much like you haven't correctly set browser_cache_path to point to the browser's cache directory.

Where that is will be different on different OSes and different browsers, usually including your user name.

You may have missed seeing browser_cache_path in default.ini since it is usually set in [defaults] rather than one of the site sections. That's so you only set it once even if you need it for more than one site.

From default.ini:

Spoiler:

## As a work around for certain sites blocking automated downloads,
## FFF now offers the ability to look for pages in your Chrome(or
## Chromium-derived) or Firefox browser's cache.  Requires both
## use_browser_cache:true and browser_cache_path to be set.
##
## browser_cache_path needs to be set to the location of YOUR browser
## cache.  Here are a few examples for different OS.  Note that all
## have YOUR user name in them somewhere as well as a Profile name,
## frequently Default.  Make sure you have personalized (and
## uncommented) ONE browser_cache_path setting.  Also note that Chrome
## browsers added an additional directory level, 'Cache_Data', in
## early 2022.

## Note also that browser_cache_path is recommended under [defaults],
## but use_browser_cache should go under individual [site] sections.

## windows:
### Chrome:
#browser_cache_path:C:\Users\YourUser\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache\Cache_Data
#browser_cache_path:C:\Users\YourUser\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Profile 1\Cache\Cache_Data
### Firefox
#browser_cache_path:C:\Users\YourUser\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ZjwI7Fo4.default\cache2

## mac:
### Chrome:
#browser_cache_path:/Users/your.user/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/Default/Cache/Cache_Data
#browser_cache_path:/Users/your.user/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/Profile 2/Cache/Cache_Data
### Firefox
#browser_cache_path:/Users/your.user/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/43fkezvc.default-release/cache2

## linux:
### Chrome:
#browser_cache_path:/home/youruser/.cache/google-chrome/Default/Cache/Cache_Data
#browser_cache_path:/home/youruser/.cache/google-chrome/Profile 1/Cache/Cache_Data
### Firefox
#browser_cache_path:/home/youruser/.cache/mozilla/firefox/dk4o1y83.default-release/cache2

[nephtys59]

Originally Posted by girlikecupcake

use_browser_cache:true
use_browser_cache_only:true
browser_cache_age_limit:4.0
open_pages_in_browser:true
slow_down_sleep_time:2

Stopped working this evening with error 428. Damn AO3!

Solved changing this value:
browser_cache_age_limit:-1

Let's hope it lasts.