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::webrisk_v1::WebRiskServiceClient(
google::cloud::webrisk_v1::MakeWebRiskServiceConnection(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\u003eThe latest version available is 2.37.0-rc, with a variety of past versions accessible, ranging from 2.36.0 down to 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBy default, client libraries utilize Application Default Credentials for authenticating with Google Cloud Services, but this can be overridden if necessary.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe UnifiedCredentialsOption allows users to explicitly set authentication credentials, such as loading a service account key file, for more specific authentication needs.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor details on how to create Credentials objects, you can reference the Authentication Components section.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhile there is an example of how to override the Authentication Credentials, it is recommended to look at the Best Practices guide when dealing with service accounts.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.36.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/latest/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.41.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.40.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.39.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.38.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.37.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.36.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.35.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.34.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.33.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.32.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.31.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.30.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.29.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.28.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.27.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.26.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.25.1/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.24.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.23.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.22.1/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.21.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.20.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.19.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.18.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.17.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.16.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.15.1/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.14.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.13.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.12.0/webrisk-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/webrisk/2.11.0/webrisk-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::webrisk_v1::WebRiskServiceClient(\n google::cloud::webrisk_v1::MakeWebRiskServiceConnection(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."]]