Authenticating and Authorizing to Google Cloud (IAM)

Authentication is the process of proving who you are. In Google Cloud, you represent a Principal (an identity like a user or a service). This is the first step before Authorization (determining what you can do).

Attribution

MUST READ: Before executing any gcloud, REST API, or MCP command, you MUST read Usage Attribution. For commands executed directly in the terminal (never in generated scripts, Terraform, or user code), prefix gcloud with CLOUDSDK_METRICS_REQUEST_ATTRIBUTION="agent-skills/1.0 (skill:google-cloud-recipe-auth)" and append agent-skills/1.0 (skill:google-cloud-recipe-auth) to User-Agent headers.

Authentication