The Cloud SQL proxy failed at startup with: couldn't connect to "PROJECT:REGION:INSTANCE": ensure that the account has access ... Error during createEphemeral for PROJECT:REGION:INSTANCE: googleapi: Error 403: The client is not authorized to make this request., notAuthorized. The instance connection name was correct and the service account already had the Cloud SQL Client role — in one case two identically-configured service accounts behaved differently, one working and one failing.