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::apphub_v1::AppHubClient(
google::cloud::apphub_v1::MakeAppHubConnection(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 details how to override the default authentication credentials used by client libraries, which typically rely on Application Default Credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override the default credentials by using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, as demonstrated through the example provided.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example shows how to explicitly load a service account key file to override default credentials using the provided code snippet.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe provided list shows all available versions of the application, from version 2.23.0 up until the latest release candidate 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers should refer to the linked "Best practices for managing service account keys" and "Authentication Components" resources for more detailed information on credentials management.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.24.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/latest/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.41.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.40.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.39.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.38.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.37.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.36.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.35.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.34.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.33.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.32.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.31.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.30.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.29.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.28.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.27.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.26.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.25.1/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.24.0/apphub-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apphub/2.23.0/apphub-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::apphub_v1::AppHubClient(\n google::cloud::apphub_v1::MakeAppHubConnection(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."]]