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 document provides guidance on overriding default authentication credentials when using Google Cloud client libraries, which is necessary in scenarios where Application Default Credentials are not suitable.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest available version for the documentation is 2.37.0-rc, with a range of historical versions from 2.36.0 down to 2.11.0 also documented.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override the default credentials by using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and supplying custom authentication details, such as loading a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe provided example code demonstrates how to explicitly load a service account key file to authenticate, using the function \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor more details on managing service account keys, and for further information on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects, refer to the linked documentation on best practices and authentication components.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.31.0keyboard_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."]]