Subject: CRITICAL DATA LOSS: Project Vanished After Google Cloud Billing Redirect

Category: Google AI Studio / Cloud Integration Project ID: gen-lang-client-

Description: I was building two full applications using the AI Studio “Build” mode. After several hours of prompting and successful code generation, I attempted to deploy the apps to Google Cloud. During the deployment flow, I was prompted to enable billing/auto-pay.

I completed the payment process in a separate tab/window. When the billing was finalized and I returned to the AI Studio session, the session had timed out or refreshed.

Current State:

  • The project appears in my AI Studio project list (aistudio.google.com/projects).

  • Clicking the project does not open the build interface; it only opens a “Project Details” popup.

  • Attempting to access the project via direct URL results in a 404 error.

  • Logs Explorer in the Google Cloud Console shows active SetIamPolicy and SearchProjects events for this Project ID, confirming the backend project exists.

  • However, Cloud Storage and Cloud Build history show no source files or buckets.

Troubleshooting Already Attempted:

  • Checked Google Drive (including Trash and “applet” searches). No JSON or source files found.

  • Checked Cloud Shell history.

  • Verified browser IndexedDB for local cached state.

Request: Since the Logs Explorer shows activity, the metadata for this build must exist. Is there a way for the engineering team to recover the source code archives associated with this Project ID? This represents a significant loss of work due to a session timeout during a mandatory billing redirect.