Hello Google Gemini API Team,
I am a university student developing a low-volume academic software engineering project called SecureAI.
My Google AI Studio project currently shows:
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Project status: Restricted
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Billing tier: Unavailable
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Intended usage: Gemini API Free Tier
When I make a Gemini API request using the official @google/genai SDK, I receive:
403 PERMISSION_DENIED: Your project has been denied access. Please contact support.
I have:
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Created a Gemini API key through Google AI Studio
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Configured the key only on my server-side backend
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Verified that the API key is being loaded correctly
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Tested the API independently of my application logic
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Not enabled paid billing
I am trying to use Gemini for legitimate, low-volume educational development and testing.
I would like to remain on the Free Tier and do not want to add payment details.
Could you please manually review my project/account and let me know why access is restricted and whether Free Tier API access can be restored?
I have intentionally not included my API key or any private credentials.
Thank you.