# Authentication

The recommended way to authenticate to the Google Cloud PHP library is to use
[Application Default Credentials (ADC)](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/application-default-credentials),
which discovers your credentials automatically, based on the environment where your code is running.
To review all of your authentication options, see Project and Credential lookup.

For more information about authentication at Google, see [the authentication guide](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication). 
Specific instructions and environment variables for each individual service are linked from the README documents listed below for each service.

## Project and Credential Lookup

The Google Cloud PHP library provides several mechanisms to configure your system without 
providing **Project ID** and **Service Account Credentials** directly in code.

**Project ID** is discovered in the following order:

1. Specify project ID in code
2. Discover project ID in environment variables 
3. Discover GCE project ID

**Credentials** are discovered in the following order:

1. Credentials specified in code
2. Path to credential file in environment variables
3. Credentials specified in a local ADC file
4. Credentials from an attached service account (for code running on Google Cloud Platform)

### Google Cloud Platform environments

While running on Google Cloud Platform environments such as Google Compute Engine, Google App Engine and
Google Kubernetes Engine, no extra work is needed. The **Project ID** and **Credentials** and are 
discovered automatically from the attached service account. Code should be written as if already authenticated.

For more information, see
[Set up ADC for Google Cloud services](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/provide-credentials-adc#attached-sa).

### Environment Variables

**NOTE**: This library uses [`getenv`](https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.getenv.php), so if your environemnt 
variables are set in PHP, they must use [`putenv`](https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.putenv.php),

```php
putenv("GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=" . __DIR__ . '/your-credentials-file.json');
```
The **Project ID** and **Credentials JSON** can be placed in environment variables instead of declaring them directly in code.

Here are the environment variables that Google Cloud PHP checks for project ID:

1. `GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT`
2. `GCLOUD_PROJECT` (deprecated)

Here are the environment variables that Google Cloud PHP checks for credentials:

1. `GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS` - Path to JSON file

The JSON file can contain credentials created for
[workload identity federation](https://cloud.google.com/iam/docs/workload-identity-federation),
[workforce identity federation](https://cloud.google.com/iam/docs/workforce-identity-federation), or a
[service account key](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/provide-credentials-adc#local-key).

Note: Service account keys are a security risk if not managed correctly. You should
[choose a more secure alternative to service account keys](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication#auth-decision-tree)
whenever possible.

### Client Authentication

Each Google Cloud PHP client may be authenticated in code when creating a client library instance.

Most clients use the `credentials` option for providing credentials as a constructor option:

```php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use Google\Cloud\VideoIntelligence\V1\VideoIntelligenceServiceClient;

// Authenticating with keyfile data.
$video = new VideoIntelligenceServiceClient([
    'credentials' => json_decode(file_get_contents('/path/to/credential-file.json'), true)
]);

// Authenticating with a keyfile path.
$video = new VideoIntelligenceServiceClient([
    'credentials' => '/path/to/credential-file.json'
]);
```

However, some clients use the `keyFile` or `keyFilePath` option: 

```php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use Google\Cloud\Storage\StorageClient;

// Authenticating with keyfile data.
$storage = new StorageClient([
    'keyFile' => json_decode(file_get_contents('/path/to/keyfile.json'), true)
]);

// Authenticating with a keyfile path.
$storage = new StorageClient([
    'keyFilePath' => '/path/to/keyfile.json'
]);

// Providing the Google Cloud project ID.
$storage = new StorageClient([
    'projectId' => 'myProject'
]);
```

Check the [client documentation][php-ref-docs] for the client library you're using.

[php-ref-docs]: https://cloud.google.com/php/docs/reference

### Local ADC file

This option allows for an easy way to authenticate in a local environment during development. 
If credentials are not provided in code or in environment variables, then your user credentials can be discovered
from your local ADC file.

To set up a local ADC file:

1. [Download, install, and initialize the Cloud SDK](https://cloud.google.com/sdk)
2. Create your local ADC file:
   
```sh
gcloud auth application-default login
```

3. Write code as if already authenticated.

**NOTE:** Because this method relies on your user credentials, it is _not_ recommended for running in production.

For more information about setting up authentication for a local development environment, see
[Set up Application Default Credentials](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/provide-credentials-adc#local-dev).

## Troubleshooting

If you're having trouble authenticating open a [Github Issue](https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-php/issues/new?title=Authentication+question) to get help.  Also consider searching or asking [questions](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/google-cloud-platform+php) on [StackOverflow](http://stackoverflow.com).