The permission thing happens to me too, but very intermittently, usually a couple of hard refreshes of the tab clears it up, sometimes I need to delete the conversation I'd just tried to start and start a new conversation. I can't remember the exact message, sometime like you don't have permission or permission denied. If I had to guess it happens 1 in 5 sessions I load. The API key stuff would be a lot easier if it landed you on the correct page in the GCP portal when it directs you out of AI studio, I think that is the most confusing part of the experience, you end up on what seems like a random GCP billing page with no clear indication as to what it has to do with API keys.
Pls email me if you can on the latter, we can update whatever pointers we have to the cloud console and make them more contextual. We are also pushing on the north star of the P99 user experience not needing to leave AI Studio. We have landed a lot of stuff to make this possible already!
