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::vision_v1::ImageAnnotatorClient(
google::cloud::vision_v1::MakeImageAnnotatorConnection(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 webpage provides documentation for various versions of the C++ Vision API, ranging from version 2.11.0 to the latest release candidate 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication method for the client libraries is Application Default Credentials, but this can be overridden when needed.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers can override the default authentication by utilizing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e to explicitly load a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples for using a service account key with \u003ccode\u003evision_v1::ImageAnnotatorClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003evision_v1::ProductSearchClient\u003c/code\u003e are provided on the page.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe page also directs users to a best practices guide for managing service account keys, as well as providing more information on authentication components.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.17.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/latest/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.41.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.40.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.39.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.38.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.37.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.36.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.35.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.34.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.33.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.32.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.31.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.30.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.29.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.28.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.27.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.26.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.25.1/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.24.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.23.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.22.1/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.21.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.20.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.19.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.18.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.17.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.16.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.15.1/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.14.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.13.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.12.0/vision-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.11.0/vision-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::vision_v1::ImageAnnotatorClient(\n google::cloud::vision_v1::MakeImageAnnotatorConnection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`vision_v1::ImageAnnotatorClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.17.0/vision_v1_1_1ImageAnnotatorClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`vision_v1::ProductSearchClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/2.17.0/vision_v1_1_1ProductSearchClient-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."]]