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Registering a Google Cloud project for Earth Engine#

A bare Google Cloud project cannot call Earth Engine. Until the project is registered for Earth Engine use, every API call — whether from the Code Editor, the Python earthengine-api, or the earthlens GEE backend — fails with:

EEException: Project <PROJECT_ID> is not registered to use Earth Engine.
Visit https://console.cloud.google.com/earth-engine/configuration?project=<PROJECT_ID> to register your project.
See https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/guides/access for more details.

This page is the step-by-step for getting past that. It assumes you already have (or are about to create) a Cloud project; for the full service-account walkthrough that this is part of, see Service account setup, and for background see the Introduction.

Where the "Noncommercial" choice actually is. It is not on the Cloud Console console.cloud.google.com/earth-engine page — that page only displays a project's registration status. The wizard that lets you pick the noncommercial vs. commercial track is the Earth Engine registration flow at https://code.earthengine.google.com/register.

Prerequisites#

Need Why Check
A Google account You register as someone —
A Cloud project (or create one in the wizard) Registration attaches to a project ID https://console.cloud.google.com/projectcreate
Owner or Editor role on that project The wizard won't let you register a project you can't administer https://console.cloud.google.com/iam-admin/iam
Earth Engine API enabled on the project The project won't appear / will error in the wizard otherwise https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/library/earthengine.googleapis.com
(Commercial track only) a billing account attached Commercial use is billed https://console.cloud.google.com/billing

Enabling the API from the CLI, if you prefer:

gcloud config set project <PROJECT_ID>
gcloud services enable earthengine.googleapis.com

Step 1 — Open the Earth Engine registration wizard#

Go to https://code.earthengine.google.com/register.

Make sure the top-right account switcher shows the Google account that owns/edits the project. If the page looks blank or read-only, you're not signed in (or signed in as the wrong account) — fix that first. An incognito window signed directly into the right account is the reliable way to rule out a stale session.

Step 2 — Choose the usage track#

The wizard's first question is "Register a Noncommercial or Commercial Cloud project" with two options:

  • Unpaid usage → Noncommercial — free. For research, education, journalism, non-profits/NGOs/IGOs, government public-interest work, and individual/hobbyist projects. Requires picking an eligibility sub-category (see step 3). No billing account required.
  • Paid usage → Commercial — for any for-profit or operational use. Requires a billing account; billed per Earth Engine commercial pricing (tiered subscription).

If you only see a paid/commercial option and no unpaid choice at all, that almost always means you're not signed in, signed in as the wrong account, or the account/region has been flagged — retry in an incognito window signed directly into the account.

Step 3 — Pick the eligibility category (noncommercial track)#

If you chose Noncommercial, the wizard asks what kind of use it is. Typical categories:

  • Academia & research — university / research-institute work.
  • Educator or student — teaching or coursework.
  • Government — public-sector agencies.
  • Nonprofit — registered NGOs / IGOs / non-profits.
  • Individual / personal / hobbyist — not affiliated with an institution; tighter quotas than the institutional categories.

Pick the one that fits, and fill in the short form (institution name, a one-line description of what you'll use Earth Engine for). Be accurate — misrepresenting commercial use as noncommercial violates the terms.

Step 4 — Attach a Cloud project#

The wizard then asks which Cloud project to register:

  • Pick your existing project from the dropdown (it must have the Earth Engine API enabled — step shown in Prerequisites — and you must be Owner/Editor), or
  • Create a new project right there in the wizard.

Confirm. The project ID you attach here is the one you'll pass to ee.Initialize(..., project="<PROJECT_ID>") and to the earthlens GEE backend.

Step 5 — Submit and wait#

Submit the form.

  • Most noncommercial institutional categories are approved effectively instantly.
  • Some categories (or borderline cases) go to a short manual review — usually hours to a day or two. You'll get an email.
  • Commercial registration is tied to your billing setup and agreement acceptance.

When done, the project's status at https://console.cloud.google.com/earth-engine shows as registered, and the registration link in the original error stops applying.

Step 6 — Verify#

A standalone check with earthengine-api (ships with the earthlens[gee] extra, or pip install earthengine-api):

import ee

PROJECT = "<PROJECT_ID>"            # the project you just registered
ee.Authenticate()                   # one-time browser login (laptop)
ee.Initialize(project=PROJECT)

print(ee.Image("USGS/SRTMGL1_003").bandNames().getInfo())  # -> ['elevation']

['elevation'] means the project is registered and reachable. If you still get Project ... is not registered, the registration hasn't propagated yet (wait, re-check the status page) or you registered a different project than the one in project=.

For a non-interactive (service-account) verification — and the rest of the setup — continue with Service account setup.

Common problems#

Symptom Cause Fix
Register page is blank / read-only Not signed in, or wrong Google account Sign in as the project owner; try incognito
Only a commercial/paid option appears Stale session, flagged account, or region restriction Incognito window signed directly into the account; if it persists, contact Earth Engine support
Project not in the wizard's dropdown Earth Engine API not enabled, or you lack Owner/Editor Enable earthengine.googleapis.com; get the IAM role
Project ... is not registered after submitting Registration still propagating, or you initialized a different project ID Wait and re-check the status page; confirm the project= value matches
Previously had noncommercial access, now denied Eligibility lapsed Re-verify at https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/guides/access#configuring_noncommercial_access

References#