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::videointelligence_v1::VideoIntelligenceServiceClient(
google::cloud::videointelligence_v1::
MakeVideoIntelligenceServiceConnection(options));
}
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-14 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis webpage provides documentation for various versions of the C++ Video Intelligence client library, ranging from version 2.11.0 up to the latest release candidate, 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe client libraries typically use Application Default Credentials for authentication, but these defaults can be overridden when needed.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override the default authentication by utilizing the UnifiedCredentialsOption and providing credentials, such as loading a service account key file, to authenticate.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe provided example demonstrates how to load a service account key file for authentication purposes, but it's noted that this is a simplified example and the best practices guide should be consulted for more detail.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAdditional information regarding the creation of \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects can be found in the linked Authentication Components documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.32.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/latest/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.41.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.40.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.39.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.38.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.37.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.36.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.35.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.34.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.33.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.32.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.31.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.30.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.29.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.28.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.27.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.26.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.25.1/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.24.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.23.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.22.1/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.21.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.20.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.19.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.18.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.17.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.16.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.15.1/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.14.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.13.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.12.0/videointelligence-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/videointelligence/2.11.0/videointelligence-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::videointelligence_v1::VideoIntelligenceServiceClient(\n google::cloud::videointelligence_v1::\n MakeVideoIntelligenceServiceConnection(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."]]