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::recommender_v1::RecommenderClient(
google::cloud::recommender_v1::MakeRecommenderConnection(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 webpage provides documentation for various versions of the C++ Recommender client library, ranging from version 2.11.0 to the latest release candidate 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe documentation explains how to override the default authentication credentials using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e when interacting with Google Cloud services, allowing for the specification of custom credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eA practical example demonstrates how to load a service account key file to override the default credentials for the Recommender client.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers are directed to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide for more comprehensive information on handling service account keys.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe "Authentication Components" section offers additional information on the factory functions for creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.28.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/latest/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.41.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.40.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.39.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.38.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.37.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.36.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.35.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.34.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.33.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.32.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.31.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.30.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.29.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.28.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.27.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.26.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.25.1/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.24.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.23.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.22.1/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.21.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.20.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.19.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.18.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.17.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.16.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.15.1/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.14.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.13.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.12.0/recommender-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/recommender/2.11.0/recommender-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::recommender_v1::RecommenderClient(\n google::cloud::recommender_v1::MakeRecommenderConnection(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."]]