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‘This Free desktop credential cannot access this API route’

You might be here because: “This Free desktop credential cannot access this API route” · “Use the Driftstack desktop app or upgrade to an API-enabled tier” · “403 forbidden with my desktop key” · “the key from the app gives 403 in my script” · “not included on the free plan” · “copied the app token and it stops working on some calls” · “free plan api” · “This operation is not permitted with a device-provisioned key”

Short answer

On the earlier Free plan the desktop app’s own sign-in credential reached only the routes the app itself uses; anywhere else the request was refused with HTTP 403 and “This Free desktop credential cannot access this API route. Use the Driftstack desktop app or upgrade to an API-enabled tier.” It was not a fault: the earlier Free plan had no API access, and this credential is not an API key. That plan is retired — its accounts moved to the Trial, which includes the API.

Check first

  • Which plan does Billing show? This sentence only ever applied to the earlier Free plan.
  • Are you calling the API with something copied out of the desktop app rather than a key from the dashboard’s API keys page? Only the app’s credential gets this refusal.
  • Which call is refused? Profiles, sessions, saved proxies, saved tasks and Help are allowed for this credential; anything else is not.

Likely causes and fixes

  1. A script or SDK using the app’s credential. The credential is a reusable token, so the server limits it to the routes the app uses rather than trusting where it came from. Fix: choose Starter, Pro or Team (dashboard → Billing → Choose a plan), then create an API key in the dashboard and use that.
  2. The full proxy check in the app. On the earlier Free plan the app reported the full check as not included and ran the quick check only, a few times a day; the app showed this as a check not run, not a failure. Every current plan and the Trial run the full check.
  3. Team invites, removing members, your AI provider key. These are refused to every desktop credential on every plan with “This operation is not permitted with a device-provisioned key. Use a dashboard session.” — do them in the dashboard.
  4. Paying by crypto from the app. Crypto orders are placed and read in the dashboard, and the app sends you there.
  5. Paid plan, still 403. Then it is a different refusal — a key scope, a suspended account or a team role — and this sentence does not appear. Read the response’s detail.

If it still fails

Press Talk to a person in this chat (or open Help) and include your account email, the plan Billing shows, the exact 403 detail, and whether the credential came from the desktop app or the dashboard’s API keys page. If you paid for a plan and the sentence still appears, a person checks that the plan is active.