403 PERMISSION_DENIED only on generateContent with file_data/file_uri — uploads succeed, text/inline succeed (prepay account, key restricted to Gemini API)

Gemini API
1

Since ~11:17 UTC on Aug 14, every generateContent call that references a Files API upload returns 403 PERMISSION_DENIED (“The caller does not have permission”), while every other call type on the same API key works. The identical call shape worked at 10:46 UTC the same day (a 131 MB video analyzed successfully), so onset was between 10:46 and 11:17 UTC.

Reproduction matrix (same key, same project, minutes apart):

  • GET /v1beta/models → 200
  • generateContent, text only → 200
  • generateContent, inline_data image → 200
  • POST /upload/v1beta/files → 200, file reaches state ACTIVE
  • generateContent referencing that just-uploaded ACTIVE file via file_data.file_uri → 403 PERMISSION_DENIED

Reproduced with a 1-pixel PNG, so not size/duration/content related. Model: gemini-3.5-flash. The 403 body carries no detail beyond code/message/status.

Account state (the standard first questions, pre-answered):

  • Billing: the account had the “required to use prepay billing” notice; we completed the Prepay switch mid-incident and purchased credits (balance positive, no balance due, banner cleared). The 403 persisted unchanged through 22 once-per-minute probes after the switch.
  • API key: restricted to the Gemini API per the June 19 policy (key created Mar 29, 2026; restriction verified in Cloud Console today).
  • status.cloud.google.com shows no relevant incident.

This looks like the account-level flag class identified in recent threads (177857, 177451, 176394) — but scoped narrowly to file-referenced generation only: uploads succeed and reach ACTIVE, text and inline generation are unaffected. Closest precedents: deprecated-generative-ai-python issue 692 (same shape, Feb 2025, never root-caused) and discuss.google.dev topic 282362 (Vertex: text OK, fileData 403, attributed by staff to a project-level media-ingestion capability).

Project: gen-lang-client-07441523.. (billing account ID available via DM). Region: Malaysia. Happy to provide exact request timestamps for correlation.

Ask: could someone check/reset the file/media-generation permission flag on this project? Uploads clearly carry permission; only generation against our own ACTIVE files is refused.

2

Hello @Erica_Lsy ,

We recently rolled out a fix that should have resolved this issue. Request you to retry and let us know if you still face the issue

3

Hey @Sai_Deepika_K, we are experiencing the same issue. Uploading as a base64 encoded attachment works (using the data prop), but we get an error when using the uriprop to just point to the URL instead.

{
  message: 'The caller does not have permission',
  code: 'permission_denied'
}
4

Hello @Mark_Francis ,

Could you clarify if you are passing a direct external web URL or a file URI returned by the Gemini Files API?

5

It’s a direct URL, pointing to an S3 bucket hosted by us. The content within is publicly available

6

just reproduced this today (sep 10th), bytes upload works fine, public URL with asset (s3 presigned) does not