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::pubsublite::AdminServiceClient(
google::cloud::pubsublite::MakeAdminServiceConnection(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\u003eThe latest available version is 2.37.0-rc, with numerous other versions also documented and accessible, ranging down to 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eClient libraries typically use Application Default Credentials (ADC) for authentication with Google Cloud Services, but this default can be overridden.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe UnifiedCredentialsOption allows for custom authentication, such as loading a service account key file, and the provided example demonstrates how to use it.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThere are specific examples provided for how to override authentication in \u003ccode\u003epubsublite::AdminServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003epubsublite::TopicStatsServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe documentation links to best practices for managing service account keys and also provides further information on Authentication Components and Credentials objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.16.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/latest/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.41.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.40.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.39.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.38.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.37.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.36.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.35.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.34.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.33.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.32.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.31.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.30.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.29.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.28.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.27.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.26.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.25.1/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.24.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.23.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.22.1/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.21.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.20.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.19.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.18.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.17.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.16.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.15.1/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.14.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.13.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.12.0/pubsublite-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.11.0/pubsublite-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::pubsublite::AdminServiceClient(\n google::cloud::pubsublite::MakeAdminServiceConnection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`pubsublite::AdminServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.16.0/pubsublite_1_1AdminServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`pubsublite::TopicStatsServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.16.0/pubsublite_1_1TopicStatsServiceClient-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."]]