Gemini API 403 PERMISSION_DENIED – Project has been denied access

[Alizay_Tanveer]

Subject:
Gemini API 403 PERMISSION_DENIED – Project has been denied access

Project:
AI Email Responder

Error:
403 PERMISSION_DENIED
“Your project has been denied access. Please contact support.”

I created a new Google Cloud project and generated a new Gemini API key.
The API key is accepted, but every generateContent request returns
403 PERMISSION_DENIED.

Google AI Studio shows the project as Restricted.

Please review the project and restore Gemini API access.

[Mahesh_Sutar]

Hello @Alizay_Tanveer ,
Please try the below steps:

1. 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.

2. Verify your Google Account:

   • Complete Phone Verification and turn on 2-Step Verification (2SV) on the Google Account associated with your project.
   • Once verified, retry your request or create a new API key in Google AI Studio.

3. Upgrade to a Paid Tier:

   • If verifying your account does not restore access (or if using a model requiring a paid tier), you can unlock access by adding prepayment credits directly in Google AI Studio or attaching a Google Cloud Billing account in the Google Cloud Console.