Getting 403 Forbidden Error When Integrating RapidAPI with Android App

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1

Getting 403 error while connecting to RapidAPI service

I’m working on integrating a vocabulary lookup API from RapidAPI into my Android application. However, I keep getting a 403 Forbidden error when making requests.

Error details:

I/OkHttpClient: Request failed for https://lexicon-service-v1.p.rapidapi.com/...
    java.io.IOException: Unexpected code Response{protocol=http/1.1, code=403, message=Forbidden, url=https://lexicon-service-v1.p.rapidapi.com/definition/?word=example}
        at com.example.myapp.WordProcessor$1.onResponse(WordProcessor.java:62)
        at com.squareup.okhttp.Call$AsyncCall.execute(Call.java:177)
        at com.squareup.okhttp.internal.NamedRunnable.run(NamedRunnable.java:33)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1133)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:607)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.currentThread().getName());

My current implementation:

RapidApiConnect apiConnection = new RapidApiConnect("my-app-name", "unsure-about-project-key");
String searchTerm;

String apiHost = "lexicon-service-v1.p.rapidapi.com";
String MY_API_KEY = "my-actual-api-key-here";

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_word_processor);

    searchTerm = getIntent().getStringExtra("Search Term");
    Log.d("DEBUG", searchTerm);
    OkHttpClient httpClient = new OkHttpClient();

    Request apiRequest = new Request.Builder()
            .url("https://lexicon-service-v1.p.rapidapi.com/definition/?word=example")
            .get()
            .addHeader("x-rapidapi-host", apiHost)
            .addHeader("x-rapidapi-key", MY_API_KEY)
            .build();

    httpClient.newCall(apiRequest).enqueue(new Callback() {
        @Override
        public void onFailure(Request request, IOException e) {
            Log.d("DEBUG", "request failed");
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

        @Override
        public void onResponse(Response response) throws IOException {
            Log.d("DEBUG", "processing response");

            try (ResponseBody body = response.body()) {
                if (!response.isSuccessful()) {
                    Log.d("DEBUG", "bad response code");
                    throw new IOException("Unexpected code " + response);
                }

                Headers headers = response.headers();
                Log.d("DEBUG", "checking headers");
                for (int i = 0, size = headers.size(); i < size; i++) {
                    System.out.println(headers.name(i) + ": " + headers.value(i));
                }

                System.out.println(body.string());
            }
        }
    });
}

I think the 403 error happens because I’m not sure about the project key parameter. I can’t locate this information on the RapidAPI dashboard. Is this configuration issue or am I missing something in my code? This is my first time working with external APIs so any guidance would be helpful.

2

I ran into the same problems when I started using RapidAPI. You’re overthinking the project key thing - most RapidAPI services don’t need it. Your code looks fine, but here’s what to check: First, test your API key in RapidAPI’s dashboard tool to make sure it’s still valid. Second, check you’re subscribed to the right plan - some endpoints need paid subscriptions even if the API looks free. Third, you might be hitting rate limits during testing. I’d add some logging to see the exact response body for that 403 error - RapidAPI usually tells you exactly why it’s rejecting your request. Also make sure your endpoint URL matches their docs exactly, including version numbers.

3

check if ur API key has the right permissions for that endpoint. RapidAPI sometimes gives keys that work for some calls but not others. also, ditch that RapidApiConnect initialization - you’re mixing two connection methods and it’s probably causing conflicts. just use OkHttp with the headers you’ve got.

4

Sounds like an API key or subscription issue. I hit the same 403 errors with RapidAPI - turned out my free tier expired without warning. Check your subscription status in the RapidAPI dashboard. Sometimes the API looks available but you need to activate a plan first. Try making a test request directly from RapidAPI’s interface to see if it’s your code or account causing problems. Also noticed you’re using old OkHttp callback structure - might want to update to newer syntax. Your headers look fine though, so it’s probably not formatting.