google-gemini/gemini-cli · error · InvalidNumericProjectIdError

Invalid Google Cloud Project ID: "${projectId}". The GOOGLE_

Error message

Invalid Google Cloud Project ID: "${projectId}". The GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT (or GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT_ID) environment variable must be set to your string-based Project ID (e.g., "my-project-123"), not your numeric Project Number. Please update your environment variables.

What it means

Thrown as InvalidNumericProjectIdError by setupUser() when the GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT or GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT_ID environment variable contains a purely numeric string (matches /^\d+$/). Google Cloud project IDs are string-based (e.g., 'my-project-123'); project numbers are numeric and are a different identifier. The Code Assist API requires the string project ID, so a numeric value is always wrong. The error includes the offending value and instructs the user to update their environment.

Source

Thrown at packages/core/src/code_assist/setup.ts:135

 * @param httpOptions - Optional HTTP options
 * @returns The user's project ID, tier ID, and tier name
 * @throws {ValidationRequiredError} If account validation is required
 * @throws {ProjectIdRequiredError} If no project ID is available and required
 * @throws {ValidationCancelledError} If user cancels validation
 * @throws {ChangeAuthRequestedError} If user requests to change auth method
 */
export async function setupUser(
  client: AuthClient,
  config: Config,
  httpOptions: HttpOptions = {},
): Promise<UserData> {
  const projectId =
    process.env['GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT'] ||
    process.env['GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT_ID'] ||
    undefined;

  if (projectId && /^\d+$/.test(projectId)) {
    throw new InvalidNumericProjectIdError(projectId);
  }

  const projectCache = userDataCache.getOrCreate(client, () =>
    createCache<string | undefined, Promise<UserData>>({
      storage: 'map',
      defaultTtl: 30000, // 30 seconds
    }),
  );

  return projectCache.getOrCreate(projectId, () =>
    _doSetupUser(client, projectId, config, httpOptions),
  );
}

/**
 * Internal implementation of the user setup logic.
 */
async function _doSetupUser(

View on GitHub (pinned to 5024443c72)

Solutions

1. Find your Project ID in the Google Cloud Console (it looks like 'my-project-123', not a pure number) and set export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=my-project-123.
2. Run 'gcloud projects list' to see both the ID and number; copy the ID column.
3. Update any automation/CI scripts to use the string project ID, not the numeric project number.
4. Unset the env var to let gcloud's default project config apply: unset GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT.

Example fix

# before — project number (wrong)
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=123456789012

# after — project ID (correct)
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=my-project-123

# Find your project ID
gcloud projects list --format='table(projectId, projectNumber, name)'

// Validate project ID format before using it
function isValidProjectId(id: string): boolean {
  // Project IDs are string-based, not purely numeric
  return !/^\d+$/.test(id) && /^[a-z][a-z0-9-]{4,28}[a-z0-9]$/.test(id);
}

const projectId = process.env['GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT'];
if (projectId && !isValidProjectId(projectId)) {
  throw new Error(
    `GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT='${projectId}' looks like a Project Number. Use the string Project ID instead.`
  );
}

function isStringProjectId(id: string | undefined): id is string {
  return typeof id === 'string' && id.length > 0 && !/^\d+$/.test(id);
}

try {
  await setupUser(client, config, httpOptions);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof InvalidNumericProjectIdError) {
    console.error(
      `GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT is set to a numeric Project Number. ` +
      `Find your Project ID with 'gcloud projects list' and set it instead.`
    );
    process.exit(2);
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: setupUser() reads GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT (or GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT_ID) from process.env, finds it matches /^\d+$/, and throws InvalidNumericProjectIdError. For example, setting export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=123456789012 (a project number) triggers this.

Common situations: User copied the Project Number from the Google Cloud Console instead of the Project ID; automation scripts that inject the numeric project identifier; confusion between 'Project ID' (string) and 'Project Number' (integer) in GCP console; terraform/infrastructure scripts outputting the number instead of the ID.

Related errors

• projectId is not defined for CodeAssistServer.
• Access to the default Cloud Shell Gemini project was denied.
• GEMINI_SANDBOX is true but failed to determine command for s
• Unsupported authType: ${authType}
• Missing required environment variable '{name}'. Please ensur

AI-assisted analysis of google-gemini/gemini-cli@5024443c72 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7f19fcad3e463c9b. Report an issue: GitHub.