False Positive 403 PERMISSION_DENIED on brand-new account (Lyft Driver Shortcut)

Gemini API
1

Hello,

I am requesting a manual review and unlock of my Gemini API access. I am hitting a consistent 403 PERMISSION_DENIED error on freshly created projects with no prior usage history and no policy violations.

Project & Account Details:

  • Project Name: projects/10063823131..
  • Project Number: 10063823131..
  • Account Type: Personal Google Account
  • Billing Tier: Free Tier (billing not enabled)

The Exact Error Payload:

json

{
  "error" : {
    "message" : "Your project has been denied access. Please contact support.",
    "status" : "PERMISSION_DENIED",
    "code" : 403
  }
}

What I Have Verified & Troubleshooted:

  1. Account State: There are absolutely no warnings, blocks, or notification banners visible anywhere inside Google AI Studio. Everything looks normal on my dashboard.
  2. Scope of Error: The 403 error happens on every single request, even after creating a completely fresh project and generating a brand-new key.

My Use Case:
I am a Lyft driver using an iOS Shortcut to send screenshots of ride requests to the gemini-2.5-flash model. The shortcut processes the image text to help me calculate ride profitability (mileage and time costs) on the fly while driving.

Because this error happened instantly on a clean project before any real usage, it appears to be an automated security false-positive flagging the automated iOS Shortcut requests. Could someone please review and restore access to my project?

Thank you.

2

Hello @Jessica2 ,

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, you should consider setting up billing. In most cases this is enough to clear any flag on your account. Please note this will mean you lose your free tier quota. You should also see a banner in AI studio prompting you to set up billing.

  2. If you are on a paid tier, 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.