Unless otherwise configured, the client libraries use Application Default Credentials 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 The 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::essentialcontacts_v1::EssentialContactsServiceClient(
google::cloud::essentialcontacts_v1::
MakeEssentialContactsServiceConnection(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 2025-03-05 UTC."],[[["The latest version available is 2.37.0-rc, with numerous preceding versions, such as 2.36.0, 2.35.0, and so on, listed for reference, down to the oldest version of 2.12.0."],["Client libraries typically authenticate with Google Cloud Services using Application Default Credentials, which can be overridden when needed."],["Authentication can be overridden by using the UnifiedCredentialsOption and providing a service account key file."],["The provided code example demonstrates loading a service account key file for authentication, but users should consult the best practices guide for service account key management."],["For detailed information on creating `google::cloud::Credentials` objects, refer to the Authentication Components documentation."]]],[]]