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 latest version available is 2.37.0-rc, with numerous older versions available ranging from 2.36.0 down to 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eClient libraries use Application Default Credentials for Google Cloud Services authentication, but these can be overridden using the UnifiedCredentialsOption.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOverriding default credentials can be done by providing a service account key file, as demonstrated in the provided example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples for other \u003ccode\u003e*Client\u003c/code\u003e classes, such as \u003ccode\u003evision_v1::ImageAnnotatorClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003evision_v1::ProductSearchClient\u003c/code\u003e, are available through provided links.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor detailed guidance on service account key management, the Best practices guide for managing service account keys is recommended.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version latestkeyboard_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/latest/vision_v1_1_1ImageAnnotatorClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`vision_v1::ProductSearchClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/vision/latest/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."]]