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::retail_v2::CatalogServiceClient(
google::cloud::retail_v2::MakeCatalogServiceConnection(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 page provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials when using Google Cloud client libraries, which typically rely on Application Default Credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override the default authentication by utilizing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and providing service account details, such as loading a service account key file as demonstrated in the provided code example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate version for the documentation is 2.37.0-rc, while the content also covers multiple specific versions down to version 2.11.0, which are linked for reference.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples of how to override credentials for various \u003ccode\u003e*Client\u003c/code\u003e classes, including \u003ccode\u003eCatalogServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003eCompletionServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003ePredictionServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003eProductServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003eSearchServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, and \u003ccode\u003eUserEventServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, are provided.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor further information and best practices regarding service account key management, refer to the linked "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide, as well as the "Authentication Components" documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.13.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/latest/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.41.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.40.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.39.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.38.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.37.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.36.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.35.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.34.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.33.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.32.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.31.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.30.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.29.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.28.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.27.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.26.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.25.1/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.24.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.23.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.22.1/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.21.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.20.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.19.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.18.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.17.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.16.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.15.1/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.14.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.13.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.12.0/retail-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.11.0/retail-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::retail_v2::CatalogServiceClient(\n google::cloud::retail_v2::MakeCatalogServiceConnection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`retail_v2::CatalogServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.13.0/retail_v2_1_1CatalogServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`retail_v2::CompletionServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.13.0/retail_v2_1_1CompletionServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`retail_v2::PredictionServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.13.0/retail_v2_1_1PredictionServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`retail_v2::ProductServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.13.0/retail_v2_1_1ProductServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`retail_v2::SearchServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.13.0/retail_v2_1_1SearchServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`retail_v2::UserEventServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/retail/2.13.0/retail_v2_1_1UserEventServiceClient-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."]]