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::trace_v1::TraceServiceClient(
google::cloud::trace_v1::MakeTraceServiceConnection(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 release candidate version is 2.37.0-rc, with multiple previous versions also listed, ranging down to version 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe client libraries use Application Default Credentials by default for Google Cloud Services authentication, but this can be overridden.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override the default credentials by providing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, demonstrated using a service account key file example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples for \u003ccode\u003etrace_v1::TraceServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003etrace_v2::TraceServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e are provided, showcasing how to implement service account credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIt's recommended to review the best practices guide for managing service account keys for detailed information on this topic.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.15.1keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/latest/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.41.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.40.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.39.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.38.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.37.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.36.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.35.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.34.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.33.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.32.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.31.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.30.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.29.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.28.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.27.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.26.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.25.1/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.24.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.23.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.22.1/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.21.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.20.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.19.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.18.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.17.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.16.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.15.1/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.14.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.13.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.12.0/trace-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.11.0/trace-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::trace_v1::TraceServiceClient(\n google::cloud::trace_v1::MakeTraceServiceConnection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`trace_v1::TraceServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.15.1/trace_v1_1_1TraceServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`trace_v2::TraceServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/trace/2.15.1/trace_v2_1_1TraceServiceClient-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."]]