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 C++ client libraries.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate version is 2.37.0-rc, with a range of versions down to 2.11.0 available for reference.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eApplication Default Credentials are used by default, but users can override this behavior by utilizing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eA service account key file can be loaded to override default credentials, and an example of how to do so is provided in the documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor detailed guidance on managing service account keys, users are advised to consult the provided "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.26.0keyboard_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."]]