How to Resolve Antigravity's 168-Hour Lockout and Recover Your Account

Have you ever seen an unexpected "168-hour lockout" message in your Antigravity dashboard? It's one of those moments that can make your heart skip a beat. The good news is that this security feature exists to protect your account, and there are clear, actionable steps you can take to resolve it. The sections below explain what tends to trigger the lockout, what you can do to get it lifted sooner, and how to bring your account and projects back in full.

What Is Antigravity's 168-Hour Lockout?

Antigravity's 168-hour lockout is an automated security mechanism designed to protect your account when potential security concerns are detected. When your account is locked, you'll be unable to perform critical operations like:

Creating or modifying API keys and tokens
Launching new projects
Making important configuration changes
Deploying applications
Purchasing additional credits or modifying resource allocations

The 168 hours—approximately one week—gives you time to investigate what happened and take corrective action. However, you can still view existing projects and access read-only information about your account.

Why Does the Lockout Happen?

Abnormal API Usage Spike

The most common trigger is a sudden surge in API calls or resource consumption. This can happen when:

A buggy script enters an infinite loop in production
Misconfigured code repeatedly calls the same endpoint
Your infrastructure is under a DDoS attack, triggering defensive lockouts
A third-party integration malfunctions and hammers your API quota

Antigravity's security system detects these patterns as potential account compromise and locks you out to prevent further damage.

Unrecognized Login or Device Access

If Antigravity detects login attempts from unfamiliar locations, multiple simultaneous geographic logins, or new devices accessing your account, it may trigger a lockout as protection against credential theft.

Suspected Terms of Service Violations

Antigravity's terms prohibit:

Resource exploitation or "aggressive API hammering"
Interfering with other users' services
Using the platform for spam, malware, or data harvesting
Automated scraping or data mining activities

If the system flags suspicious behavior matching these patterns, a lockout is initiated while your account is reviewed.

Unexpected Credit Depletion

Large, unexplained credit charges in a short timeframe—especially if different from your normal spending patterns—can trigger a security review and lockout.

What You Can and Cannot Do During Lockout

What You CAN Do

✓ View existing projects and code (read-only access) ✓ Review your account and billing information ✓ Access Antigravity documentation and help resources ✓ Contact support (and you absolutely should) ✓ Review your account activity logs

What You CANNOT Do

✗ Create new projects ✗ Generate, rotate, or update API keys ✗ Deploy applications or push updates ✗ Purchase additional credits ✗ Modify environment variables or secrets ✗ Transfer project ownership or modify permissions

How to Get Your Lockout Lifted Faster

Step 1: Investigate What Triggered It

Start by examining your Antigravity dashboard, specifically the Account & Security section:

When did the lockout occur? Note the exact date and time
Check your usage stats – Was there an unusual spike in API calls or credit consumption?
Review login activity – Do you see any suspicious access from unfamiliar locations or devices?

If you have the Antigravity CLI installed, you can pull detailed activity logs:

# Retrieve account activity logs in JSON format
antigravity account logs --limit=100 --format=json --since="2026-03-29"
 
# Check for any errors or warnings
antigravity account logs --filter=error,warning

Look for patterns: repeated failed requests, calls to endpoints you don't recognize, or timestamps that don't match your activity.

Step 2: Identify and Fix the Root Cause

Once you've identified what happened, take corrective action:

If it's a code issue:

Review recent deployments for infinite loops, missing error handling, or unintended recursive calls
Test the problematic code in a local environment
Check for external API integrations that might be misconfigured

If it's an access issue:

Change your password immediately
Review connected devices and revoke any you don't recognize
Check if API keys have been exposed in version control or logs

If it's a quota issue:

Review your spending patterns
Set lower credit limits per project
Implement API rate limiting in your code

Step 3: Contact Antigravity Support

This step is crucial. Reaching out to support can cut your lockout time from 168 hours down to 24-48 hours. Send an email to Antigravity's support team with:

Subject: "Account Lockout Resolution Request - [Your Account Name/Email]"

Body should include:

Hello Antigravity Support,

My account was locked on [date and time]. I have investigated the cause
and identified the following:

Root Cause: [brief explanation]
Actions Taken: [what you've done to fix it]
Prevention Plan: [how you'll prevent this in the future]

I request a review of my account and would appreciate any additional
security recommendations.

Thank you,
[Your Name]
[Your Account Email]

Support typically responds within 24-48 hours. Be honest and thorough—transparency helps them expedite your case.

Step 4: File an Appeal If Necessary

If you believe the lockout was triggered by a false positive, you have the right to appeal:

Subject: Appeal - Account Lockout Review Request

Dear Antigravity Support,

I am writing to formally appeal the 168-hour account lockout applied to
my account on [date/time].

After thorough investigation, I have determined:
- The spike in usage was due to [legitimate explanation]
- I have since [taken corrective action]
- I have no history of policy violations

I respectfully request a manual review of this decision.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]

Appeals are reviewed within 3-5 business days. While waiting, Antigravity may grant temporary access restrictions relief.

Recovering Your Account After Lockout Release

Step 1: Secure Your Account Immediately

Once the lockout is lifted, your security is the priority:

1. Change Your Password

Use a strong, unique password (mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols)
Don't reuse passwords from other accounts

2. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (if not already enabled)

antigravity account enable-2fa

3. Regenerate All API Keys

Delete old keys
Generate new keys with a clear naming scheme
Update your environment variables

4. Audit Connected Devices

Review your login history
Revoke access for unrecognized devices
Consider setting up IP whitelisting if available

Step 2: Verify Your Projects Are Functioning

Test each project to ensure nothing was affected during the lockout:

# List all your projects
antigravity projects list
 
# Check the status of a specific project
antigravity project status --project-id=YOUR_PROJECT_ID
 
# Review recent logs for errors
antigravity logs --project-id=YOUR_PROJECT_ID --last=50 --level=error

If you see "Invalid API Key" errors, update your environment variables with your newly generated keys:

# Update environment variable
export ANTIGRAVITY_API_KEY="YOUR_NEW_API_KEY"
 
# Verify the connection
antigravity auth test

Step 3: Resume Pending Deployments

If you had deployments queued during the lockout, deploy them now:

# Deploy your latest code
antigravity deploy --project-id=YOUR_PROJECT_ID --verbose
 
# Monitor deployment progress
antigravity deploy logs --project-id=YOUR_PROJECT_ID --follow

Monitor the deployment logs carefully. If you see rate-limiting errors, you may need to implement exponential backoff in your code.

Preventing Future Lockouts

Monitor Your API Usage Actively

Set up regular usage reviews. Most Antigravity accounts show usage patterns that should be stable month-to-month. Deviation is a warning sign.

Best practices:

Set budget alerts at 50%, 75%, and 90% of your monthly quota
Implement API request logging in your application
Create a dashboard that tracks API calls by endpoint
Test load under realistic conditions before production deployment

Implement Proper Code Review Processes

Before any production deployment, verify:

No infinite loops – Ensure all loops have exit conditions
Proper error handling – Catch and log exceptions before they cascade
Rate limiting – Throttle API calls appropriately
Resource limits – Set timeouts on all API calls

// Good: With rate limiting and timeout
async function fetchDataSafely(apiKey, endpoint) {
  const controller = new AbortController();
  const timeout = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 5000); // 5 second timeout
 
  try {
    const response = await fetch(endpoint, {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}` },
      signal: controller.signal
    });
    return response.json();
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('API call failed:', error);
    return null;
  } finally {
    clearTimeout(timeout);
  }
}

Manage Credit Quotas Per Project

Set spending limits at the project level, not just account-wide. This prevents a single runaway project from consuming your entire monthly budget:

# Set a credit limit for a specific project
antigravity project set-quota --project-id=YOUR_PROJECT_ID --monthly-limit=100

For more details on quota management, check out our guide on credit and quota troubleshooting.

Key Takeaways

Antigravity's lockout system protects your account and your work. If it happens to you:

Stay calm – It's a security feature, not a permanent ban
Investigate thoroughly – Look at usage logs and activity history
Contact support – Don't wait the full 168 hours
Fix the root cause – Whether it's code, access, or usage patterns
Strengthen security – Regenerate keys, enable 2FA, monitor going forward

By following these steps, most lockouts are resolved within 2 days, and your account is stronger for it. If you need additional help troubleshooting, our setup errors FAQ covers related scenarios in depth.

Remember: Antigravity's support team wants to help you succeed. Reach out whenever you're stuck—that's what they're there for.