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 a guide on how to override default authentication credentials when using Google Cloud C++ client libraries, which typically rely on Application Default Credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest available version is \u003ccode\u003e2.37.0-rc\u003c/code\u003e, and there is a list of previous versions starting from \u003ccode\u003e2.36.0\u003c/code\u003e down to \u003ccode\u003e2.11.0\u003c/code\u003e for users to reference.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers can override the default credentials by providing a \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, such as loading a service account key file, which is demonstrated with example code.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe document provides links to examples for \u003ccode\u003evision_v1::ImageAnnotatorClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003evision_v1::ProductSearchClient\u003c/code\u003e, and directs the user to best practices for managing service account keys.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAdditional information about creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects can be found under the Authentication Components section.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.21.0keyboard_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/2.21.0/vision_v1_1_1ImageAnnotatorClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`vision_v1::ProductSearchClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.21.0/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."]]