Google Cloud's Hidden Org Policy Blocks Service Account Keys Without Warning
A developer attempting to generate a JSON service account key for a Google Cloud project received a cryptic FAILED_PRECONDITION error with no explanation. The cause turned out to be an organization policy constraint called iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation, silently inherited from a linked Google Workspace domain the developer had set up years earlier. The policy blocks key creation across all projects under the organization, even those personally owned and administered, and users receive no notification when it is enforced. After spending two hours attempting to override the constraint — which requires org-level admin permissions beyond standard project ownership — the developer abandoned that approach entirely. The experience highlighted how default org policies in Google Cloud can silently block common workflows, and that alternative authentication methods may achieve the same goal without needing a key file at all.
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