Archive of Our Own errors and common problems

Common problems people run into with Archive of Our Own and its error codes, with how to fix each one, taken from Archive of Our Own's own help pages and put in plain words. If many people have trouble at once, the cause may be on Archive of Our Own's side: check whether Archive of Our Own is down right now.

Problems

Common problems

Spam comments: Bots posting scam or harassing comments

Means
AO3 has seen a rise in spam comments from bots, often posted as guests. They try to get you to reply, contact them off the site, click links or run code.
First step
Don't reply, click links or run any code from the comment. All steps

Codes

Error codes

Retry later: Rate limit after many actions in a short time

Means
AO3 limits how many actions a logged-in user can take in a short period, mainly to slow down spam comments. Leaving or editing several comments quickly is the most common trigger.
First step
Stop posting or editing comments for now. All steps

Checked against Archive of Our Own's help pages on 5 November 2026. Each page links to the help page its steps came from.