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::appengine_v1::ApplicationsClient(
google::cloud::appengine_v1::MakeApplicationsConnection(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 documents various versions of the App Engine override authentication, with the latest version being 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eClient libraries typically use Application Default Credentials, but you can override this using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, such as loading a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe provided example demonstrates how to explicitly load a service account key file to override default credentials, and this can be used across many client classes.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe page also includes a list of example links for overriding credentials with different App Engine client classes, such as \u003ccode\u003eApplicationsClient\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003eAuthorizedCertificatesClient\u003c/code\u003e, and more.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe best practice guide for managing service account keys is linked, which will give more information on managing these credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version latestkeyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/latest/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.41.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.40.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.39.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.38.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.37.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.36.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.35.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.34.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.33.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.32.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.31.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.30.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.29.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.28.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.27.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.26.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.25.1/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.24.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.23.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.22.1/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.21.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.20.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.19.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.18.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.17.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.16.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.15.1/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.14.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.13.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.12.0/appengine-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/2.11.0/appengine-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::appengine_v1::ApplicationsClient(\n google::cloud::appengine_v1::MakeApplicationsConnection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`appengine_v1::ApplicationsClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/latest/appengine_v1_1_1ApplicationsClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`appengine_v1::AuthorizedCertificatesClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/latest/appengine_v1_1_1AuthorizedCertificatesClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`appengine_v1::AuthorizedDomainsClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/latest/appengine_v1_1_1AuthorizedDomainsClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`appengine_v1::DomainMappingsClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/latest/appengine_v1_1_1DomainMappingsClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`appengine_v1::FirewallClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/latest/appengine_v1_1_1FirewallClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`appengine_v1::InstancesClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/latest/appengine_v1_1_1InstancesClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`appengine_v1::ServicesClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/latest/appengine_v1_1_1ServicesClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`appengine_v1::VersionsClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/appengine/latest/appengine_v1_1_1VersionsClient-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."]]