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::tasks_v2::CloudTasksClient(
google::cloud::tasks_v2::MakeCloudTasksConnection(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\u003eThe latest version available is 2.37.0-rc, with numerous other versions from 2.36.0 down to 2.11.0 also being accessible.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe content explains how to override default authentication credentials, which typically rely on Application Default Credentials, using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can load a service account key file explicitly by creating a \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Options\u003c/code\u003e object and setting the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e with the service account key file contents using \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example code demonstrates how to load a service account key file and use it for authentication, and it is suggested that you should reference the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide for more details.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe document "Authentication Components" is provided for additional information about creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.22.1keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/latest/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.41.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.40.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.39.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.38.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.37.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.36.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.35.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.34.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.33.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.32.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.31.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.30.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.29.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.28.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.27.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.26.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.25.1/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.24.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.23.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.22.1/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.21.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.20.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.19.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.18.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.17.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.16.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.15.1/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.14.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.13.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.12.0/tasks-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/tasks/2.11.0/tasks-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::tasks_v2::CloudTasksClient(\n google::cloud::tasks_v2::MakeCloudTasksConnection(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."]]