Unless otherwise configured, the client libraries useApplication Default Credentialsto authenticate with Google Cloud Services. While this works for most applications, in some cases you may need to override this default. You can do so by providing theUnifiedCredentialsOptionThe following example shows how to explicitly load a service account key file:
[](std::string const& keyfile) {
auto is = std::ifstream(keyfile);
is.exceptions(std::ios::badbit); // Minimal error handling in examples
auto contents = std::string(std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(is.rdbuf()), {});
auto options =
google::cloud::Options{}.set<google::cloud::UnifiedCredentialsOption>(
google::cloud::MakeServiceAccountCredentials(contents));
return google::cloud::vision_v1::ImageAnnotatorClient(
google::cloud::vision_v1::MakeImageAnnotatorConnection(options));
}
Follow these links to find examples for other*Clientclasses:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis document provides guidance on overriding default authentication credentials when interacting with Google Cloud Services using C++ client libraries.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version of the C++ library is 2.37.0-rc, and a comprehensive list of prior versions, down to 2.11.0, is available for reference.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e allows developers to override Application Default Credentials, and an example is provided demonstrating how to load a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples for other client classes like \u003ccode\u003evision_v1::ImageAnnotatorClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003evision_v1::ProductSearchClient\u003c/code\u003e are linked for further exploration.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe document links to additional resources on managing service account keys and the authentication components for creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.12.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/latest/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.41.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.40.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.39.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.38.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.37.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.36.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.35.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.34.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.33.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.32.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.31.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.30.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.29.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.28.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.27.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.26.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.25.1/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.24.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.23.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.22.1/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.21.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.20.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.19.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.18.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.17.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.16.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.15.1/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.14.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.13.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.12.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.11.0/vision-override-authentication) \n\nHow to Override the Authentication Credentials\n==============================================\n\nUnless otherwise configured, the client libraries use [Application Default Credentials](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication#adc) to authenticate with Google Cloud Services. While this works for most applications, in some cases you may need to override this default. You can do so by providing the [UnifiedCredentialsOption](https://cloud.google.com/cpp/docs/reference/common/latest/structgoogle_1_1cloud_1_1UnifiedCredentialsOption.html) The following example shows how to explicitly load a service account key file: \n\n [](std::string const& keyfile) {\n auto is = std::ifstream(keyfile);\n is.exceptions(std::ios::badbit); // Minimal error handling in examples\n auto contents = std::string(std::istreambuf_iterator\u003cchar\u003e(is.rdbuf()), {});\n auto options =\n google::cloud::Options{}.set\u003cgoogle::cloud::UnifiedCredentialsOption\u003e(\n google::cloud::MakeServiceAccountCredentials(contents));\n return google::cloud::vision_v1::ImageAnnotatorClient(\n google::cloud::vision_v1::MakeImageAnnotatorConnection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`vision_v1::ImageAnnotatorClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.12.0/vision_v1_1_1ImageAnnotatorClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`vision_v1::ProductSearchClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.12.0/vision_v1_1_1ProductSearchClient-service-account-snippet)\n\nKeep in mind that we chose this as an example because it is relatively easy to understand. Consult the [Best practices for managing service account keys](https://cloud.google.com/iam/docs/best-practices-for-managing-service-account-keys) guide for more details.\n\n###### See Also\n\n[Authentication Components](https://cloud.google.com/cpp/docs/reference/common/latest/group__guac.html) - for more information on the factory functions to create [`google::cloud::Credentials`](https://cloud.google.com/cpp/docs/reference/common/latest/classgoogle_1_1cloud_1_1Credentials.html) objects."]]