Skip to main content
Solved

reCAPTCHA - Status: Unknown after auto-migration

  • January 8, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 80 views

Forum|alt.badge.img

Hi all,

 

I have one V2 Tickbox for years. It got automatically migrated towards the end of 2025, and I finally got around to having a closer look at the Google Cloud environment, which is completely new for me.

 

Everything looks OK when accessed from the legacy google.com/recaptcha/admin reCAPTCHA administration. Also, the reCAPTCHA technically works, but I am not sure for how long. I have already enabled the free $300 testing period in Google Cloud and inserted the Credit Card details into the Google Cloud billing. But I am getting the following error when looking at Google Cloud → Security → reCAPTCHA administration page.

  • The overview of Keys lists my key with a “Status” displayed as a dark grey/black circle followed by “Unknown”
  • Once I open the detail at the “Overview” page, in the top right column, there is the dark circle with “Unknown” repeated and the below reads:
    “Something went wrong
    Unable to determine the status of your key. Try refreshing the page or checking back later.”
  • The same dark circle is next to the integration Frontend and Backend right below.

I am running on PHP if it helps.

My current implementation was very simple, and I don’t want to break it.

Frontend:

<script src='https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js'></script>
<div class="g-recaptcha" data-sitekey="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" data-callback="enableBtn"></div>

 

Backend (PHP):

$secret = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx";
$cresponse = $_POST["g-recaptcha-response"];
$cverify = file_get_contents("https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/siteverify?secret={$secret}&response={$cresponse}");
$captcha_success = json_decode($cverify);
if ($captcha_success->success == false) {
.....

 

Now, it seems the Google Cloud implies a simple modification of the URL in the frontend, no problem. But some super complicated implementation in the backend.

 

Is my problem really caused by the old/current implementation? I thought no changes to the code are required. Is the issue going to be fixed if I go ahead with the new implementation?

 

Any help is much appreciated.

Best answer by faube

Hi, if everything looks OK in google.com/recaptcha/admin , then you can be confident that your key is working properly.

 

We are working on a known issue affecting the key statuses for some automatically-migrated keys. It should be resolved soon.

 

 

3 replies

faube
Staff
Forum|alt.badge.img+7
  • Staff
  • Answer
  • January 8, 2026

Hi, if everything looks OK in google.com/recaptcha/admin , then you can be confident that your key is working properly.

 

We are working on a known issue affecting the key statuses for some automatically-migrated keys. It should be resolved soon.

 

 


Forum|alt.badge.img
  • Author
  • Bronze 1
  • January 14, 2026

Hi, if everything looks OK in google.com/recaptcha/admin , then you can be confident that your key is working properly.

 

We are working on a known issue affecting the key statuses for some automatically-migrated keys. It should be resolved soon.

 

 

Thanks, I appreciate your response.

I read a bit more about it and the documentation suggests I should be switching from google.com/recaptcha/api.js to google.com/recaptcha/enterprise.js for frontend. And on backend, I should be authenticating the response, and probably use the Google cloud API if I understand it correctly. This is a bit worrisome as I am stuck on a legacy PHP project and I would not even be able to implement the API.

I would prefer if this file_get_contents approach remained available. Do let us know once all this settles. At least it works for now. Good luck!


faube
Staff
Forum|alt.badge.img+7
  • Staff
  • January 14, 2026

Hello,

 

as explained in this automatic migration documentation page, “Your existing v2 or v3 site keys continue to work after migration. You don't need to change any code on your website.”

https://docs.cloud.google.com/recaptcha/docs/migration-overview

This is true for both frontend code (e.g. google.com/recaptcha/api.js) and backend code (e.g. www.google.com/recaptcha/api/siteverify)

 

While it is not required, updating frontend and backend code is recommended for the following reasons:

improved authentication and access management, improved integration with Google Cloud features like Platform logs, and access to additional reCAPTCHA features like Account defense and Password Defense.

Full info here:

https://docs.cloud.google.com/recaptcha/docs/using-features