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::commerce_consumer_procurement_v1::
ConsumerProcurementServiceClient(
google::cloud::commerce_consumer_procurement_v1::
MakeConsumerProcurementServiceConnection(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++ client library, ranging from version 2.14.0 to the latest release candidate 2.37.0-rc, specifically for overriding authentication credentials in commerce-related services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication method for the client libraries is Application Default Credentials, but this can be overridden when needed using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eA service account key file can be used to explicitly load service account credentials, as demonstrated in the provided C++ code example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe "Authentication Components" section provides further information on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects, and the user is encouraged to view the Best practices for managing service account keys documentation for more guidance.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.21.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/latest/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.41.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.40.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.39.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.38.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.37.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.36.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.35.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.34.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.33.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.32.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.31.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.30.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.29.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.28.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.27.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.26.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.25.1/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.24.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.23.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.22.1/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.21.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.20.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.19.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.18.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.17.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.16.0/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.15.1/commerce-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/commerce/2.14.0/commerce-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::commerce_consumer_procurement_v1::\n ConsumerProcurementServiceClient(\n google::cloud::commerce_consumer_procurement_v1::\n MakeConsumerProcurementServiceConnection(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."]]