Google: Service Account

Using service accounts is more complex than OAuth2. Before you begin:

Check if your node is compatible with Service Account.
Make sure you need to use service account. For most use cases, OAuth2 is a better option.
Read the Google documentation on Creating and managing service accounts.

Prerequisites

Follow the steps to Create a credential.
!!! note "Generic and specific credentials" If you create a credential by selecting Create new in the credentials dropdown in a node, Robbot Automation automatically creates the correct credential type for that node. If you select Credentials > New, you must browse for the credential type:
```
* To connect with a specific service, using resources and operations supported by Robbot Automation, choose that service. For example, to create a credential for use in the Gmail node, search for `Gmail`.
* To create a credential for a [custom API call](/integrations/custom-operations/), select **Google API**.
```
Note the Private Key from the node credential modal. You'll need this in the next section.

Select the hamburger menu > APIs & Services > Credentials. Google takes you to your Credentials page.
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Select + CREATE CREDENTIALS > Service account.
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Enter a name in Service account name, and an ID in Service account ID. Refer to Creating a service account for more information.
Select CREATE AND CONTINUE.
Based on your use-case, you may want to Select a role and Grant users access to this service account using the corresponding sections.
Select DONE.
Select your newly created service account under the Service Accounts section. Open the KEYS tab.
Select ADD KEY > Create new key.
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In the modal that appears, select JSON, then select CREATE. Google saves the file to your computer.
Enable each Google service API that you want to use: --8<-- "_snippets/credentials/google/enable-apis.md"

In Robbot Automation:

In the Service Account Email field, enter the email associated with your new Service Account (you can find this in the Details tab in Google Cloud).
Enter the Private Key from the downloaded JSON file. If you're running an Robbot Automation version older than 0.156.0: replace all instances of \n in the JSON file with new lines.
Optional: Click the toggle to enable Impersonate a User and enter the email.
Save your credentials.

A Service Account can't access Google Drive files and folders that weren't shared with its associated user email.