Google AI Policy: OpenClaw Verification

TL;DR: The Split

If you authenticated OpenClaw with “Sign in with Google” through Antigravity: Stop immediately. You’re violating ToS Section 6.

If you use Gemini API keys: You’re safe. Keep backups, monitor policy changes.

Why Google Is Confusing

Google runs two parallel AI tracks with opposite policies:

Google AI Ecosystem (Simplified)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
CONSUMER TRACK              DEVELOPER TRACK
(Antigravity)               (Gemini API / Vertex AI)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
• Web IDE, chat interface     • API endpoints
• OAuth authentication        • API key authentication  
• Personal use only           • Commercial contracts
• Section 6 ban on tools      • No tool restrictions
• Feb 2026: mass suspensions  • No enforcement reported
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The trap: Both use “Gemini” models. Both let you “Sign in with Google.” But one path gets you banned; the other is explicitly allowed.

The Authentication Distinction

Simple rule: If you’re copying a token from browser cookies, you’re on the banned path. If you’re generating a key in Google AI Studio, you’re on the allowed path.

Part 1: Antigravity OAuth — The Ban

Section 6: The Prohibition

Source: Antigravity Additional Terms of Service

“You must not abuse, harm, interfere with, or disrupt the Service. This includes, but is not limited to, using the Service in connection with products not provided by us.”

Interpretation:

• “Service” = Antigravity (the IDE/chat interface)
• “Products not provided by us” = OpenClaw, OpenCode, Roo Code, any third-party tool
• “Using the Service in connection with” = Routing Antigravity OAuth through non-Google software

February 2026 Enforcement Wave

Varun Mohan’s explanation:

“Massive increase in malicious usage… tremendously degraded quality of service.”

Scope of impact:

• ❌ Antigravity access suspended — IDE inaccessible, chat history locked
• ✅ Gmail/Workspace unaffected — Google confirmed surgical targeting
• ⚠️ Billing continues — Users report being charged during suspension

March 2026: Recovery Path Confirmed

Google has confirmed a recovery process for users suspended under the OAuth enforcement:

Recovery Process:

1. Email [email protected] with your account details
2. Explain that you were unaware of the ToS violation
3. Confirm immediate cessation of third-party tool usage
4. Wait 1-2+ weeks for response (based on user reports)

Eligibility (based on community reports):

• First-time violation
• Account in good standing prior to ban
• Immediate cessation upon notification
• No malicious intent (automation vs. abuse)

Not eligible:

• Repeated violations after warning
• Intentional ToS circumvention
• Commercial resale of access

Detection Methods

Google identifies violations via:

1. User-Agent analysis — Non-official client fingerprints
2. Binary signature detection — Known tool patterns
3. OAuth token usage patterns — Anomalous request timing/volume
4. Backend load signatures — Automated vs. human usage patterns

Data Loss Risk

Critical: There is no “export your data” option during suspension. If Antigravity holds your work, it’s hostage until Google responds (1-2+ week delays reported).

Part 2: Gemini API — The Safe Path

Why API Keys Are Different

Gemini API operates under developer terms, not consumer Antigravity terms:

Primary Source Verification

Source: Google Gemini API Terms (verified 2026-02-25)

Method: Full-text search for “third-party”, “agent”, “tool”, “automation”, “client”

Results:

• ✅ No prohibition on third-party tools
• ✅ No OAuth restriction (API keys only)
• ✅ Standard AUP (content safety, no abuse)
• ⚠️ Competitive use clause — Don’t build competing models
• ⚠️ Platform risk — Google can change terms

Risk Assessment: 🟡 LOW-MEDIUM

The caution: February 2026 proved Google will restrict access without warning. API keys are safer than OAuth, but maintain backup providers (Kimi, OpenAI, Mistral).

Getting API Keys

1. Visit Google AI Studio
2. Create API key (no billing required for free tier)
3. Use key in OpenClaw config:

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{
  "provider": "google",
  "model": "gemini-2.0-flash",
  "apiKey": "${GEMINI_API_KEY}"
}

Free Tier vs. Paid

If You’re Currently Using Google with OpenClaw

For Gemini API Users: ✅ SAFE TO CONTINUE

If you’re using Gemini API keys with OpenClaw:

1. No action required — API keys are explicitly allowed
2. Monitor policy changes — Google’s platform control philosophy means terms can shift
3. Keep alternatives ready — Maintain Kimi/OpenAI backup providers
4. Set up billing alerts — Google Cloud can accumulate charges quickly

For Antigravity OAuth Users: 🚫 STOP IMMEDIATELY

If you authenticated OpenClaw with “Sign in with Google” through Antigravity:

1. STOP using Antigravity OAuth with OpenClaw — You’re violating ToS Section 6
2. Export data now — While you still have access (see data loss section above)
3. Generate Gemini API key — Visit Google AI Studio
4. Update OpenClaw config — Switch from OAuth to API key authentication
5. Revoke OAuth authorization — Google Account → Security → Third-party apps

Part 3: Migration Guide

If You’re on the Banned Path (Antigravity OAuth)

Immediate:

1. STOP using Antigravity OAuth with OpenClaw
2. Export data while you have access (Settings → Data Export)
3. Screenshot critical conversations
4. Save work to Drive — Don’t rely on IDE persistence

Within 24 hours:

1. Generate Gemini API key
2. Update OpenClaw config to use API key
3. Test with small task
4. Revoke OAuth authorization (Google Account → Security → Third-party apps)

Migration: OAuth → API Key

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# BEFORE (BANNED — Antigravity OAuth)
export GOOGLE_OAUTH_TOKEN="ya29..."
# OpenClaw routes through Antigravity

# AFTER (ALLOWED — Gemini API)
export GEMINI_API_KEY="AIzaSyC..."
# OpenClaw calls Gemini API directly

If You Want Out of Google Entirely

Free access: NVIDIA NIM — Free Kimi k2.5 API credits; OpenCode Zen — moving limited-time free roster, with current Qwen rows priced

Provider Comparison: What Vendors Do vs. Say

Lesson: Precedent > Policy. OpenAI’s Codex CLI uses the exact OAuth pattern Google banned. When vendors build it, they permit it. When they ban it, they enforce it.

FAQ

Can I use OpenClaw with Google?

It depends.

• ✅ Gemini API (API keys): Allowed
• 🚫 Antigravity OAuth: Banned — will result in immediate suspension

How do I know if I’m using OAuth or API keys?

• OAuth: You clicked “Sign in with Google” in OpenClaw and authenticated through Antigravity
• API keys: You generated a key at Google AI Studio and pasted it into OpenClaw config

I got a 403 “Terms of Service” error. What now?

Your Antigravity access has been suspended. Recovery path exists for “unaware users” but timeline is unknown (1-2+ weeks reported). Contact Google support and:

1. Stop using Antigravity OAuth immediately
2. Switch to Gemini API keys or alternative provider
3. Request data export if needed

Will my Gmail/Google Workspace be affected?

No. Google confirms only Antigravity access is blocked. Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and other services remain functional.

What’s safer: Google API keys or OpenAI?

OpenAI is safer. While Gemini API keys are allowed, Google’s February 2026 enforcement shows they can change policy without warning. OpenAI has no enforcement history and explicitly supports third-party OAuth.

Can I use the free tier of Gemini API?

Yes. Google AI Studio offers a free tier (60 requests/min, 1M tokens/day). Same terms as paid tier — no third-party tool restrictions.

Can I cancel my subscription during suspension?

No. Multiple users report being unable to access billing controls during Antigravity suspension, resulting in charges for service they cannot use.

Mitigation:

• Contact Google Cloud Support immediately
• Document billing issue in recovery form
• Request retroactive credit upon restoration
• Consider using free tier only (no payment method on file)

What Would Change This Rating

Antigravity OAuth (currently 🔴 HIGH risk):

• Policy reversal (unlikely)
• Published authorized tools list
• Warning system before suspension

Gemini API (currently 🟡 LOW-MEDIUM risk):

• Explicit authorization statement (would upgrade to 🟢)
• Documented enforcement against API users (would downgrade to 🔴)

Review cadence: Monthly during policy volatility; quarterly otherwise.

Related Links

Provider Policy Hub:

• /verify/openclaw-provider-policies/ — All providers comparison
• /posts/openclaw-provider-policy-check-2026/ — Breaking news, enforcement timeline

Contrast With:

• /verify/openclaw-anthropic-policy/ — Anthropic’s ban (similar pattern, different response)
• /verify/openclaw-openai-policy/ — OpenAI’s allowed status

Migration:

• /tools/opencode/ — Open-source harness with moving limited-time Zen offers
• /value/free-stack/ — Complete free tier guide
• /tools/self-hosting/ — Zero provider risk

Verification Ledger

✅ VERIFIED: High Evidence

Antigravity Section 6 Ban

• Source: Antigravity Additional Terms
• Quote: “using the Service in connection with products not provided by us”
• Date: 2026-02-25

February 2026 Mass Enforcement

• Source: Google AI Developer Forum, Varun Mohan X post
• Evidence: 403 ToS errors, documented suspensions
• Date: 2026-02-25

Gemini API — No Tool Ban

• Source: ai.google.dev/gemini-api/terms
• Method: Full-text search
• Result: No prohibitions found
• Date: 2026-02-25

Sources

Primary:

• Antigravity Terms — Section 6
• Gemini API Terms
• Varun Mohan X post

Enforcement:

• GitHub #14203
• Google AI Developer Forum

Last verified: 2026-02-25
Next review: 2026-03-25
Evidence level: High (official terms + mass enforcement + engineer confirmation)

Note: This file consolidates and replaces /verify/antigravity-terms/. Previous URL redirects here.