Gemini API error 403 PERMISSION_DENIED: how to fix it
Quick answer: A 403 means your API key doesn't have permission, or your project's access to the Gemini API is restricted. It's not an outage, and retrying won't help. The fix depends on which message you see.
The message you're seeing
403 PERMISSION_DENIEDYour project has been denied accessYour API key was reported as leaked. Please use another API key.
Is it down right now?
- Gemini · checked No problems
Live status, updated every minute. If it says “No problems”, the cause is most likely on your side: follow the steps below.
Fixes by message
- API key reported as leaked: Google has flagged the key as leaked, so it won't work again. Generate a new API key and update your app.
- Free tier not available for your project: upgrade to the paid tier by linking an active Cloud Billing account. Google notes that creating a new API key in the same project won't fix this.
- Payment needed: if the project is already on the paid tier, pay any overdue balance or update your payment method. Access comes back automatically once billing is in good standing.
Keep your key safe
Never put an API key in public code, a website's front end or a shared notebook. Keep it on your server or in environment variables.
Still denied?
Check that the key belongs to the project you think it does, and that the project has the Gemini API enabled. If you've just fixed billing, give it a few minutes and try again; Google says access comes back automatically once billing is in good standing.
Questions
Does upgrading to the paid tier give me the free-tier quota back?
No. Google's troubleshooting guide says upgrading a project to the paid tier doesn't unlock free-tier quota.
Should I retry a 403?
No. Google advises against retrying 403 errors; they need a change to your key, project or billing.
My key lists models fine, but generating fails with 403. Why?
Google notes that a successful model-list call doesn't guarantee your project can make generation calls. Check the project's billing and access.
Want to know when Gemini has a real outage? Follow our free outage alerts. We only post real outages, and again when they're fixed.
Related error guides
- Gemini API 429 RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED
- Gemini “Something went wrong”
- Gemini API 503 UNAVAILABLE
- Gemini API 400 errors
Based on official documentation, checked 3 November 2026: Google AI Studio: API errors · Google AI Studio: Troubleshooting. Error messages and limits change over time, so the provider's own docs are the final word.