Request for manual review — Gemini API 403 PERMISSION_DENIED, project Restricted

Gemini API
1

Hello Gemini API / Google AI Studio team,

I am requesting a manual review of Gemini API access for this Free Tier project.

Project name: My Project 63511..
Project ID: top-glass-507503-p0..

Google AI Studio currently shows:

  • Billing tier: Unavailable
  • Status: Restricted

Gemini API generateContent requests return:
403 PERMISSION_DENIED
“Your project has been denied access. Please contact support.”

Model listing works, but generateContent fails across multiple Gemini models. The project is not linked to a billing account, and I do not want to enable billing or add prepaid funds. I want to use the eligible Free Tier only.

I contacted Google Cloud Billing Support. A human support representative confirmed that this is an automated AI Studio platform flag, not a billing hold, and that Billing Support cannot remove or internally escalate Free Tier API/project restrictions. I was directed to the Google AI Developers Forum for manual review.

Could a member of the Gemini API / Google AI Studio team please review the account/project access state, explain why the project is Restricted, and restore eligible Free Tier access if this was an automated false positive?

No API key is included in this post.

Thank you.

2

Hello @wem ,

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:

If you’re on the free tier with no billing attached, 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. Ensure you have completed age verification by navigating to Google Account Age Verification and verifying date of birth in Google Account Personal Info.

  3. Complete Phone Verification and turn on 2-Step Verification (2SV) on the Google Account associated with your project.

  4. Once age, phone and 2sv are configured, retry your request or create a new API key in Google AI Studio.

  5. If completing these steps still does not restore access (or if using a model requiring a paid tier), you might want to consider adding prepayment credits directly in Google AI Studio and/ or attaching a Google Cloud Billing account in the Google Cloud Console. Please note this will mean you lose your free tier quota.

3

Hello @Pooja_Kapse,

Thank you for your reply.

I have already completed all of the suggested Free Tier verification steps:

  • Age and date of birth verified
  • Phone number verified
  • 2-Step Verification enabled
  • Tested models that support the Free Tier
  • Created and tested a new Gemini API key
  • Confirmed that models.list works, while generateContent still returns 403 PERMISSION_DENIED

I checked Google AI Studio again today. The project still shows:

  • Project quota tier: Unavailable
  • API access: Restricted

There is no appeal button or actionable warning other than the suggestion to enable billing. I do not want to attach billing or prepayment, because my request is specifically for eligible Free Tier access.

Could you please escalate this to the Gemini API account-risk/access team for an actual manual review of project top-glass-507503-p0? I can provide additional details privately if required.

Thank you.

4

Hello @wem ,

Note: There is no manual billing sync at our end.

Access to the free tier for project top-glass-507503-... is restricted by automated account verification checks. You might want to consider adding prepayment credits directly in Google AI Studio and/ or attach a Google Cloud Billing account in the Google Cloud Console to immediately restore API access.