[
    {
        "role": "user",
        "content": "Can%20I%20get%20AI%2C%20either%20yours%20or%20Gemini%20or%20Claude%2C%20to%20check%20certain%20fanfic%20sites%20such%20as%20www.fanfiction.net%20and%2For%20www.archiveofourown.com%20each%20day%20to%20see%20if%20new%20fics%20have%20been%20posted%20to%20certain%20fandoms%3F%20If%20possible%2C%20please%20explain%20step%20by%20step%20how%20I%20ight%20accomplish%20this%3F"
    },
    {
        "role": "assistant",
        "content": "Yes \u2014 it *is* possible to have an AI (or automation service) check sites like Archive of Our Own (AO3) or FanFiction.Net daily and alert you when new stories are posted in certain fandoms. The setup typically involves using RSS/Atom feeds, filtering tags, and automation tools like IFTTT or custom scripts. Here\u2019s how you can do it, step by step. I'll include options for tools you might use and what each site supports.\n\n---\n\n## What the sites support now\n\n### AO3 (Archive of Our Own)\n\n- AO3 supports RSS/Atom feeds for **fandom tags**, **relationship tags**, and **character tags**. ([reddit.com](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/1f6o9oe?utm_source=openai))  \n- You *cannot* subscribe via RSS to \u201cfreeform\u201d or \u201cadditional\u201d tags. ([archive.transformativeworks.org](https://archive.transformativeworks.org/faq/subscriptions-and-feeds?language_id=en&utm_source=openai))  \n- You cannot create a feed with combined filters that restrict to multiple tags (e.g. fandom + relationship + setting) and only include work that matches *all* those \u2014 feeds still pull everything under the tag regardless. ([archive.transformativeworks.org](https://archive.transformativeworks.org/faq/subscriptions-and-feeds?language_id=en&utm_source=openai))  \n\n### FanFiction.Net (FFN)\n\n- FFN allows you to \u201cfollow\u201d an author or a specific story, and you\u2019ll get email updates when the author posts a new story or when a followed story is updated. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FanFiction.Net?utm_source=openai))  \n- However, it does *not* offer robust public RSS feeds for fandom tags in the way AO3 does (or at least not officially documented ones for all fandoms). It\u2019s more limited.  \n\n---\n\n## Option 1: Using RSS feeds + RSS reader (or AI via RSS)\n\nIf what you want is daily checks for new fics in specific fandoms/tags, RSS feeds are your best starting point \u2014 especially on AO3.\n\n1. On **AO3**, go to the page for the fandom tag you're interested in. At the top, there should be an \u201cRSS Feed\u201d or \u201cFeed\u201d button. Clicking this gives you the Atom/RSS feed URL for that tag. ([archive.transformativeworks.org](https://archive.transformativeworks.org/faq/subscriptions-and-feeds?language_id=en&utm_source=openai))  \n2. Copy that RSS feed URL.\n3. Choose an RSS reader (apps like Feedly, Inoreader, NewsBlur, etc.). Add the feed URL. These readers often let you see new items immediately, or with notifications.\n4. If you want alerts (email, phone, etc.), many RSS readers support push/email notifications when a new item appears.\n\n**For FFN**, since you can follow authors or stories:\n\n- If you want new stories by a specific author, use the \u201cfollow author\u201d feature and get email notifications.  \n- If the site or community provides an RSS feed for the fandom or category, you can use that, but FFN doesn\u2019t always reliably provide RSS for all fandom tags.  \n\n---\n\n## Option 2: Automating notifications via tools like IFTTT or Zapier\n\nYou can use automation platforms to turn RSS feed updates into alerts to your phone, email, Discord, whatever.\n\nHere\u2019s a step-by-step using IFTTT:\n\n1. Sign up for an IFTTT account.\n2. Create a new *Applet*: \n   - Choose \u201cRSS Feed\u201d as the trigger service.\n   - Use the trigger **\u201cNew feed item\u201d** \u2014 input the RSS URL for the fandom tag (on AO3) or any public RSS you have.\n3. For the action, choose what you want: email, push notification, post to Discord/Slack, etc.\n   - For instance: \u201cSend me an email\u201d or \u201cSend a notification\u201d when the feed updates.\n4. Save the applet. IFTTT will check the feed periodically and trigger when new items show up. ([ifttt.com](https://ifttt.com/feed?utm_source=openai))  \n\n**Notes**:\n\n- Free IFTTT accounts check less frequently than paid ones. So your \u201cdaily check\u201d could be delayed a bit.  \n- If the RSS is broken or missing entries, you may need to try an alternative method.\n\n---\n\n## Option 3: Custom scripts (for more control)\n\nIf you want finer control (e.g. watch multiple fandoms/tags, combine filters, check times, ignore certain content), you can build a small script or use an open-source tool.\n\nHere\u2019s how you'd generally do this:\n\n1. **Find or build a tool** that can fetch and parse RSS/Atom feeds. For instance, there\u2019s a GitHub project `ao3-rss` that lets you serve Atom/RSS feeds for AO3 works/series. ([github.com](https://github.com/kthchew/ao3-rss?utm_source=openai))  \n2. Write a small script (in Python, JS, etc.) that:\n   - Pulls the feed XML\n   - Checks \u201cpubDate\u201d or \u201cupdated\u201d fields to see what\u2019s new since last time\n   - Filters by tag names or other metadata if needed\n   - Sends you a notification (e.g. email, webhook to Discord, etc.)\n3. Schedule this script to run once per day (or more often) using cron (if you have a server or even your computer) or use cloud functions (like AWS Lambda, GitHub Actions, Google Cloud Functions, etc.).\n\n---\n\n## How AI (like me, Gemini, Claude) could help\n\nAn AI can be part of the system in a few ways:\n\n- You provide the feed URLs + tags/fandoms you\u2019re interested in. The AI can run the script and report to you (if you set it up that way manually).\n- Alternatively, you could use prompt-based tools or agents that periodically fetch these feeds and summarize new fics for you.\n- Some AI platforms (if they have web scraping or RSS-fetching capabilities) could be configured (if allowed) to check those feeds and notify you.\n\n---\n\n## Potential challenges & workarounds\n\n- Some tags don\u2019t have RSS feeds (especially freeform tags on AO3). There\u2019s no RSS for those. ([archive.transformativeworks.org](https://archive.transformativeworks.org/faq/subscriptions-and-feeds?language_id=en&utm_source=openai))  \n- AO3\u2019s filtering + feed system doesn\u2019t allow combining tags precisely (you may get extra items).  \n- RSS feeds sometimes break or are slow to update. Possible workaround: more frequent polling or using multiple feed sources.  \n- Respect site terms of service \u2014 don\u2019t scrape aggressively or in violation of their rules.\n\n---\n\nIf you want, I can help you build a specific setup \u2014 e.g., an automated tool that checks AO3 for new fics in a fandom you name (say \u201cPercy Jackson\u201d or \u201cHarry Potter\u201d) and sends you a daily summary. Do you want me to walk you through that for your fandoms of choice?"
    }
]