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::functions_v1::CloudFunctionsServiceClient(
google::cloud::functions_v1::MakeCloudFunctionsServiceConnection(
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 document provides versioned documentation for overriding authentication credentials in Google Cloud C++ client libraries, with the latest version being 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe libraries typically use Application Default Credentials, but this can be overridden by using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eA service account key file can be loaded to override the default credentials, as demonstrated in the example provided using \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples for overriding credentials in other \u003ccode\u003e*Client\u003c/code\u003e classes, such as \u003ccode\u003efunctions_v1::CloudFunctionsServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003efunctions_v2::FunctionServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, are available via provided links.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eRefer to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide and "Authentication Components" for more detailed information on managing credentials and creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.24.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/latest/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.41.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.40.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.39.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.38.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.37.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.36.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.35.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.34.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.33.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.32.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.31.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.30.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.29.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.28.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.27.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.26.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.25.1/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.24.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.23.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.22.1/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.21.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.20.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.19.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.18.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.17.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.16.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.15.1/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.14.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.13.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.12.0/functions-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.11.0/functions-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::functions_v1::CloudFunctionsServiceClient(\n google::cloud::functions_v1::MakeCloudFunctionsServiceConnection(\n options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`functions_v1::CloudFunctionsServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.24.0/functions_v1_1_1CloudFunctionsServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`functions_v2::FunctionServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/functions/2.24.0/functions_v2_1_1FunctionServiceClient-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."]]