403 PERMISSION_DENIED: "Your project has been denied access" — request manual review

Gemini API
1

Hello Gemini API team,

I’m requesting a manual review of my project. Every generateContent call fails with:
403 PERMISSION_DENIED: “Your project has been denied access. Please contact support.”

Project details:

  • Project name: My Project 99315
  • Project ID: cultivated-link-509807-..
  • Project number: 1044362046..

What I’ve verified:

  • The API key is valid: GET /v1beta/models returns 200 with the full model list using the same key.
  • The Gemini API is enabled on the project in Cloud Console.
  • Tried multiple API keys (including a newly created auth key in AI Studio) and multiple models (gemini-3.5-flash, gemini-3.8-flash, gemini-3.5-flash-lite) — all return the same 403.
  • The project was created today and has no usage history.

Could you please check whether an automated flag was placed on the project/account and restore access? Happy to provide any verification needed.

Thank you.

2

Hello @xiamu1205 ,

Getting a 403 API error response and / or seeing “Unavailable” next to your project in AI audio indicates a flag has been placed on your account. To proceed:

  1. If you’re on the free tier with no billing attached, please try the below steps:

  2. Check Model Availability & Rate Limits:

    • Ensure that the model you are requesting is available on your current plan. For example, not all models are available on the free tier. You can verify model availability, quotas, and limits on the AI Studio Rate Limit dashboard.

  3. Ensure you have completed age verification by navigating to Google Account Age Verification and verifying date of birth in Google Account Personal Info.

  4. Complete Phone Verification and turn on 2-Step Verification (2SV) on the Google Account associated with your project.

  5. Once age, phone and 2sv are configured, retry your request or create a new API key in Google AI Studio.

  6. If completing these steps still does not restore access (or if using a model requiring a paid tier), you might want to consider adding prepayment credits directly in Google AI Studio and/ or attaching a Google Cloud Billing account in the Google Cloud Console. Please note this will mean you lose your free tier quota.

  7. If you are on a paid tier:

    1. Check for banners / error callouts in the AI Studio Projects page & the Billing page. Mostly these flags cause visible banners or other errors on these pages with concrete next steps / appeal links. You can also check the email address associated with your project for information on next steps.

    2. If your GCP project/ billing account is suspended, you must submit an appeal directly through the Google Cloud Console following the Project Suspension Guidelines (Help Center)

3

Hello @Mahesh_Sutar,

Thank you very much for your suggestions.

I have now completed all the recommended steps:

  • :white_check_mark: Age verification completed (date of birth verified in Google Account)
  • :white_check_mark: Phone verification completed
  • :white_check_mark: 2-Step Verification (2SV) enabled on the Google Account
  • :white_check_mark: Created a new API key in Google AI Studio

Unfortunately, the issue persists. Every generateContent call still fails with:

403 PERMISSION_DENIED: "Your project has been denied access. Please contact support."

Some additional details:

  • GET /v1beta/models still returns 200 with the full model list — both the old and the new API keys work fine for listing models.
  • Only generateContent is blocked, with both the old key and the newly created key.
  • The Gemini API is enabled on the project in Cloud Console.

Could this please be escalated for a manual review, to check whether an automated flag was placed on the project or account?

Thank you.

4

Hi @xiamu1205 ,

If completing these steps still does not restore access (or if using a model requiring a paid tier), you might want to consider adding prepayment credits directly in Google AI Studio and/ or attaching a Google Cloud Billing account in the Google Cloud Console. Please note this will mean you lose your free tier quota.