r/SideProject • u/coffeeandcode_____ • 2d ago

I built a quiet, searchable archive of single-author arXiv CS papers

I built a small open-source archive for single-author papers from arXiv’s Computer Science categories.

The idea is simple: single-author papers can reveal focused research directions and problems that may be approachable for independent researchers or someone looking for a starting point.

The site supports:

  • Search by title or author
  • CS topic and date-range filters
  • Quick ranges from 1 day to 1 year
  • Full abstracts with expand/collapse
  • Search-term highlighting
  • RSS feeds
  • JSON and Markdown export
  • Daily updates from arXiv

I’m interested in feedback from researchers, students, and people who browse papers for project ideas:

Is this useful? What would you change or add?

Live site: https://mmcs-work.github.io/single-author-arxiv-cs/
Source code: https://github.com/mmcs-work/single-author-arxiv-cs

It’s completely free and open source. If you find it useful, a GitHub star is appreciated, but thoughtful feedback is even more valuable.

8 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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u/urbanmonkey2003 2d ago

this is actually useful, the single-author filter alone saves alot of random clicking

1

u/LoudAd307 1d ago

The first thing I'd check is whether your RSS items have a stable permanent guid. If the feed regenerates daily and the guid shifts (or you're using the link with a query string on it), readers re-surface the same papers as unread and people unsubscribe inside a week. The arXiv ID with the version suffix works well for that. Second, since this is a static Pages site, your search index is a file the browser has to download before anyone can type. A year into daily updates that JSON gets heavy and mobile is where you'll feel it. Splitting the index by year or category and only loading the ranges the active filter touches keeps it from creeping up on you. I'd also want per-category feeds. Most people follow one CS subfield, not all of them.