ao3.life

AO3 search tips

AO3's tags look like a secret language until someone explains them. Once you know the conventions, finding exactly the fic you want takes seconds, here and on AO3.

Updated

How AO3 tags work

Fandom tags name the source
Fandoms often include the creator, like Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, and some list the original-language title too. On ao3.life you can type just harry potter.
A slash means romance, an ampersand means friendship or family
In relationship tags, Character A/Character B is a romantic or sexual pairing, and Character A & Character B is platonic or familial. Searching the right one saves a lot of scrolling.
Characters and freeform tags
Character tags list who appears. Everything else (tropes, moods, settings, like Slow Burn, Fluff or Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés) lives in freeform tags. See the tropes guide.
Ratings
General Audiences, Teen And Up Audiences, Mature, Explicit, and Not Rated.
Archive warnings
Authors apply the warnings that fit (graphic violence, major character death, non-consent, underage), mark “No Archive Warnings Apply”, or choose “Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings”. Read that last one as “anything could be in here”.
Categories
F/F, F/M, M/M, Gen (no romance focus), Multi and Other describe the relationships in a work.

Searching on ao3.life

  • One box searches everything: titles, authors, fandoms, ships, characters, tags and summaries. Titles and authors rank highest.
  • Every word must match. Start with two or three words; add more only to narrow down.
  • The last word is a prefix, so results follow your typing: drac finds Draco.
  • Filters: rating, finished or in progress, and language on search; rating and status on every tag page.
  • Tag pages: tap any tag on a work to see everything that carries it, most-loved first, with related ships, characters and tropes.
  • Any script: search in Japanese, Chinese, Russian or any language the works are written in.

Works rated Mature, Explicit or Not Rated, and works with an Underage warning, show as “A potentially explicit work” until you confirm you are of legal age.

Searching on AO3 (when it's up)

  • On any tag page, use Filter to include and exclude tags, so you can ask for a ship without a trope you hate.
  • Sort by Kudos to find the classics, or by Date Updated for what's active.
  • You can include or exclude crossovers.
  • The Work Search page takes word-count ranges, so you can ask for “over 50,000 words, complete”.

Three searches to try