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::apigateway_v1::ApiGatewayServiceClient(
google::cloud::apigateway_v1::MakeApiGatewayServiceConnection(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 overriding authentication credentials when using Google Cloud client libraries, specifically for the API Gateway service, with version information ranging from 2.11.0 to 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eClient libraries typically use Application Default Credentials, but this can be overridden using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e for specific authentication needs.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eA service account key file can be explicitly loaded to override default credentials, as demonstrated in the provided C++ code example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe webpage links to additional resources on authentication components and best practices for managing service account keys, offering further guidance.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe most recent release candidate version of the documentation is version 2.37.0-rc, and is documented with the same information, about overriding the authentication credentials as the rest of the documented versions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.31.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/latest/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.41.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.40.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.39.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.38.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.37.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.36.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.35.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.34.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.33.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.32.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.31.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.30.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.29.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.28.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.27.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.26.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.25.1/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.24.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.23.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.22.1/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.21.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.20.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.19.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.18.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.17.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.16.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.15.1/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.14.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.13.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.12.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.11.0/apigateway-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::apigateway_v1::ApiGatewayServiceClient(\n google::cloud::apigateway_v1::MakeApiGatewayServiceConnection(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."]]