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 version available is 2.37.0-rc, with numerous other versions, starting at 2.36.0 and going all the way to 2.11.0, available for browsing.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eClient libraries typically use Application Default Credentials for Google Cloud Services authentication, but this can be overridden if needed.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override the default authentication by providing the UnifiedCredentialsOption, such as explicitly loading a service account key file, as shown in the provided example code.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples of overriding authentication credentials are also provided for \u003ccode\u003epubsublite::AdminServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003epubsublite::TopicStatsServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor managing service account keys, the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide should be consulted for more details and information on Authentication Components can be found via the provided link.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.29.0keyboard_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/2.29.0/pubsublite_1_1AdminServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`pubsublite::TopicStatsServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/pubsublite/2.29.0/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."]]