[Bug] Global API Key Rejection / AI Studio "Failed to load app" (April 24)

Google AI Studio
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Description of the Issue: Starting yesterday, the Gemini API gateway seems to be completely rejecting valid API keys across multiple platforms. My AI Studio workspace apps and legacy Colab notebooks are all suddenly failing with authentication errors.

Symptoms:

  1. In AI Studio, the preview and shared applets crash with Gemini API key is not configured or [KeyCheck] Bridge returned error: Missing key on server.

  2. Publicly shared Applet links return a dead "Failed to load app" screen.

  3. An old Python Colab notebook (untouched for months) is now also failing to authenticate its API key.

Troubleshooting Steps Already Taken (None worked):

  • Used the default managed “AI Studio Free Tier” secret.

  • Deleted and generated a brand-new API key.

  • Attempted to bypass the secret vault by hardcoding a raw AIzaSy... key directly into a .env file (VITE_GEMINI_API_KEY).

Because my React app and my legacy Colab notebook both failed simultaneously, this appears to be a backend infrastructure issue with how Google is serving/authenticating keys today.

Is there an ETA on a fix for the API tollbooth, or a known workaround to get shared applets to compile successfully?