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::apigateway_v1::ApiGatewayServiceClient(
google::cloud::apigateway_v1::MakeApiGatewayServiceConnection(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\u003eThis page provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials when using Google Cloud client libraries, specifically focusing on the \u003ccode\u003eApiGateway\u003c/code\u003e service.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate version for the \u003ccode\u003eApiGateway\u003c/code\u003e service is 2.37.0-rc, with a historical list of versions down to 2.11.0 also being available.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication method utilizes Application Default Credentials, but can be overridden using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe provided code example demonstrates how to explicitly load a service account key file to override default credentials using the \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e function.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor further information, the page recommends consulting the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide and provides a link to \u003ccode\u003eAuthentication Components\u003c/code\u003e documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.23.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/latest/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.41.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.40.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.39.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.38.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.37.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.36.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.35.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.34.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.33.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.32.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.31.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.30.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.29.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.28.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.27.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.26.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.25.1/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.24.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.23.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.22.1/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.21.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.20.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.19.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.18.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.17.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.16.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.15.1/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.14.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.13.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.12.0/apigateway-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/apigateway/2.11.0/apigateway-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::apigateway_v1::ApiGatewayServiceClient(\n google::cloud::apigateway_v1::MakeApiGatewayServiceConnection(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."]]