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::speech_v1::AdaptationClient(
google::cloud::speech_v1::MakeAdaptationConnection(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 details how to override the default authentication credentials used by client libraries when interacting with Google Cloud Services, using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate version is 2.37.0-rc, and a range of previous versions from 2.36.0 down to 2.11.0 are documented, all with links provided for speech authentication overrides.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example provided demonstrates loading a service account key file explicitly, which can be done by utilizing \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::MakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples are provided for several client classes, including \u003ccode\u003espeech_v1::AdaptationClient\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003espeech_v1::SpeechClient\u003c/code\u003e, and \u003ccode\u003espeech_v2::SpeechClient\u003c/code\u003e, showing how to override credentials in each of them.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe document directs readers to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" and the "Authentication Components" guide for additional details and managing credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.15.1keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/latest/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.41.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.40.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.39.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.38.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.37.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.36.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.35.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.34.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.33.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.32.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.31.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.30.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.29.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.28.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.27.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.26.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.25.1/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.24.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.23.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.22.1/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.21.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.20.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.19.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.18.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.17.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.16.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.15.1/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.14.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.13.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.12.0/speech-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.11.0/speech-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::speech_v1::AdaptationClient(\n google::cloud::speech_v1::MakeAdaptationConnection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`speech_v1::AdaptationClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.15.1/speech_v1_1_1AdaptationClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`speech_v1::SpeechClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.15.1/speech_v1_1_1SpeechClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`speech_v2::SpeechClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/speech/2.15.1/speech_v2_1_1SpeechClient-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."]]