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::tasks_v2::CloudTasksClient(
google::cloud::tasks_v2::MakeCloudTasksConnection(options));
}
[[["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, with version-specific information.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate version is 2.37.0-rc, and the documentation lists version history down to version 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eClient libraries typically use Application Default Credentials for authentication, but this can be overridden when necessary.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override the default credentials by providing a \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, as demonstrated in the example using a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor more information and best practices regarding managing service account keys, it is recommended to consult the provided link to the guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.23.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/latest/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.41.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.40.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.39.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.38.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.37.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.36.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.35.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.34.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.33.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.32.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.31.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.30.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.29.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.28.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.27.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.26.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.25.1/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.24.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.23.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.22.1/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.21.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.20.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.19.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.18.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.17.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.16.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.15.1/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.14.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.13.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.12.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.11.0/tasks-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::tasks_v2::CloudTasksClient(\n google::cloud::tasks_v2::MakeCloudTasksConnection(options));\n }\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."]]