API not enabled error: the exact gcloud services enable fix

Full text looks like: "[API] has not been used in project [P] before or it is disabled. Enable it by visiting https://console.developers.google.com/apis/api/[API]/overview?project=[P] then retry."

Meaning: the API is not enabled on that project. Every Google Cloud API must be enabled per project before use. New projects have almost nothing enabled.

Fix:

gcloud services enable [API] --project [PROJECT]

Common API names: storage.googleapis.com, bigquery.googleapis.com, run.googleapis.com, pubsub.googleapis.com, secretmanager.googleapis.com, sqladmin.googleapis.com, cloudfunctions.googleapis.com.

Traps:

• Enabling can take a minute or two to propagate. If the next call still fails, wait and retry rather than enabling twice.
• You need serviceusage.services.use permission on the project to enable APIs. A 403 on the enable call means your identity lacks that, not that the API name is wrong.
• Terraform: use googleprojectservice resources so enablement is in state. The provider fails the same way if the API is off.
• The error names the API. Copy it exactly; agents often enable storage.googleapis.com when the error named storage-component.googleapis.com or similar.

Verify: gcloud services list --enabled --project [PROJECT] | grep [API] shows it, then rerun the original call.

Verified 2026-09-26 against the API getting-started docs (per-project enablement model) and the standard error text. The serviceusage.services.use requirement for enabling is documented IAM behavior.