AO3 Status

[update] Resolved: The fix we applied 24 hours ago appears to be holding, so we are resolving this incident. We thank everyone for their patience!

[update] Monitoring: We have made some adjustments based on recommendations from our database vendor and will continue to monitor their impact on system stability.

[update] Investigating: Following guidance from our vendor, we've brought #AO3 back online to help troubleshoot. We expect the site will go back down, although we don't know when that will happen. If you choose to post or update your works while AO3 is up, we strongly recom...

[update] Investigating: AO3 is now fully down. After performing a software upgrade a few days ago, we've been unable to keep our server cluster healthy due to what we believe is a bug or issue with the new release of our database server software.

We're working with our ve...

[update] Investigating: We are investigating reports of errors when trying to load AO3, including errors saying that AO3 is down, which seem to be related to the previous incident. We will update when we have more information!

[update] Resolved: We have resolved the underlying issue, and #AO3 should be behaving as normal for all users again.

[update] Monitoring: We have applied a fix, and #AO3 is accessible again for users. Potential slowness remains and certain VPNs may still be blocked until we verify everything is fully stable again.

[update] Investigating: #AO3 will remain down for at least several hours until we can consult our database vendor's support team and resolve the underlying issue. We're very sorry for the inconvenience.

[update] Investigating: We are investigating reports of errors when trying to load AO3, including errors saying that AO3 is down.

[update] Monitoring: #AO3 is back up! We appreciate your patience. We've got our protections against bot traffic turned up a bit higher than usual, so some users may experience problems if they're using a VPN or similar tools.

[update] Identified: We've identified the problem and are working on a fix. We expect to remain down for several more hours. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience!

[update] Investigating: AO3 is currently down. We do not have an estimated return time currently. We're looking into it with one of our third-party support providers and will update when we have more information. Thank you for your patience!

[update] Investigating: We are continuing to investigate reports of slowness and errors when trying to load AO3, including errors saying that AO3 is down.

[update] Investigating: We are currently investigating reports of slowness and errors when trying to load AO3.

We released several batches of bug fixes and code updates in December, focusing on improvements to collections and challenges, error handling, and code optimization. ao3-news.org/v-0-9-452

Resolved: Emails are sending again to Yahoo, AOL, and other related providers. All pending emails have been successfully delivered. Thank you to the Yahoo team for helping us resolve this issue!

We are aware that Yahoo Mail is not currently accepting emails from #AO3, and we are actively working to resolve the issue. We will update you when we know more!

[update] Resolved: AO3 is once again fully functional; all issues should be resolved. If you are still experiencing any issues past this point, please let us know. Thank you for your patience!

[update] Monitoring: We've made some adjustments to reduce the errors and are continuing to monitor the situation.

[update] Investigating: AO3 is currently experiencing slowness and errors. We are aware and are actively investigating.

To improve account security, #AO3 has updated our password change process to prevent users from choosing new passwords that are extremely short. We've also increased the maximum password length. To learn more about how to protect your account, check out: otw-news.org/y8jnay3v

[update] Resolved: This incident has been resolved.

[update] Monitoring: The vendor of our spam checking software has applied some changes, so fewer comments should be incorrectly marked as spam. We will continue to monitor the situation.

[update] Completed: The scheduled maintenance has been completed.

[update] In Progress: Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.

#AO3 downtime starts in one hour! We expect it to last about 15 hours.

[update] Scheduled: Maintenance will begin as scheduled in 60 minutes.

#AO3 will be going down for about 15 hours of maintenance at 08:00 UTC. Check what time that is for you: ao3-news.org/maint20260121

Starting 24 hours from now, #AO3 will be down for about 15 hours while we make some improvements to searching bookmarks and series. More information: ao3-news.org/maint2026012...

[update] Investigating: As of January 17, 2026, we're aware that some users are experiencing issues with comments being incorrectly marked as spam if they post in a language other than English. We are looking into this issue and working to resolve it as soon as possible.