Account restricted to AQ. prefix keys instead of standard AIza format

Gemini API
1

Hello Google AI Support Team,

My Google AI Studio account is currently restricted to generating API keys with the “AQ.” prefix instead of the standard “AIza” format expected by the Gemini API SDK.

I have tried the following without success:

  • Creating a new key from the default project

  • Creating a brand new Google Cloud project from scratch and enabling the Generative Language API manually

  • Creating credentials directly from Cloud Console (API key option)

In all cases, the generated key starts with “AQ.” and returns the following error when used with the Gemini API:

“Request had invalid authentication credentials. Expected OAuth 2 access token, login cookie or other valid authentication credential.”

My account email is a personal Gmail account, not linked to any Google Workspace organization (confirmed via myaccount.google.com).

Could you please review my account and restore the ability to generate standard “AIza” format API keys?

Account email: [l…@gmail.com]

Thank you for your help.

2

Hello @Luis_Rogel ,

We are moving away from Traffic keys (Alza) and towards a more secure Authentication Key (AQ). AI Studio will now only generate Authentication Key (AQ) keys. More information on key usage can be found in the Using Gemini API keys documentation.

Please submit any compatibility issues with services / SDKs etc. in this form for our engineering team to review. Thanks!