Request for manual review — 403 PERMISSION_DENIED on Free Tier Gemini API project

Gemini API
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1

Hello,

I am requesting a manual review of my Gemini API Free Tier project.

My API requests consistently return:

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

Project name: Gemini Stocky-FreeProject
Project ID: gen-lang-client-08178188..
Project number: 10539632254..

Billing tier: Free Tier / no billing attached.

I have already completed phone verification and enabled 2-Step Verification on the Google account associated with this project.

The API key is valid, but Gemini API generation requests continue to return 403 PERMISSION_DENIED.

My use case is a personal AI agent using the Gemini API through OpenClaw. I would like to remain on the Gemini API Free Tier.

Could you please review the project/account restriction and restore Free Tier Gemini API access if possible?

Thank you.

2

Hi @Aida_Ascencio,
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:

  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.
3

Thank you for your response.

I am using gemini-3.1-flash-lite through the standard Gemini API with a Google AI Studio API key. I am not using Gemini CLI OAuth or Antigravity OAuth. OpenClaw connects through Google’s standard Gemini API.

The Rate Limit dashboard states that my project’s API access is restricted and asks me to enable billing. Can you confirm whether Free Tier Gemini API access has been disabled for this specific project/account, and whether it can be restored without enabling billing?

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4

Hi @Aida_Ascencio,

Access cannot be manually restored for this specific project/account without attaching billing, as automated restrictions apply to unbilled Google Workspace organization accounts on the Free Tier.

To resolve this, you have two options:

  1. Use a Personal Google Account (Free Tier): Sign in to Google AI Studio with a standard personal Google account to create a project and use the Free Tier without enabling billing.
  2. Unlock This Project (Paid Tier 1): Add prepayment credits directly in Google AI Studio or link a Google Cloud Billing account in the Google Cloud Console to immediately restore API access.