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 document provides a guide on how to override the default authentication credentials used by client libraries when interacting with Google Cloud Services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version available for reference is 2.37.0-rc, but multiple previous versions from 2.36.0 down to 2.14.0 are accessible as well.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOverriding the default credentials involves providing a \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, which can be achieved by loading a service account key file, as demonstrated in the provided example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe document references the use of \u003ca href=\"https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication#adc\"\u003eApplication Default Credentials\u003c/a\u003e for authentication, and offers a link to the best practices guide for managing service account keys.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor further information on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects, refer to the \u003ca href=\"https://cloud.google.com/cpp/docs/reference/common/latest/group__guac.html\"\u003eAuthentication Components\u003c/a\u003e section.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.35.0keyboard_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."]]