Connection guide

Connect BigQuery

BigQuery uses service account authentication. Create an account with BigQuery Data Viewer and Job User roles.

Create a service account

In Google Cloud Console, create unitylayer-bq-sa.

-- In Google Cloud Console:
-- 1. Navigate to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts
-- 2. Click "Create Service Account"
-- 3. Name it "unitylayer-bq-sa"
-- 4. Click "Create and Continue"

Assign IAM roles

Grant roles needed to read datasets and run queries.

-- Assign the following IAM roles to the service account:
-- 
-- 1. BigQuery Data Viewer
-- 2. BigQuery Job User
-- 3. BigQuery Metadata Viewer
-- 4. BigQuery Read Session User
-- 
-- In Google Cloud Console:
-- 1. Select your service account
-- 2. Click "Grant Access"
-- 3. Add each role listed above
-- 4. Click "Save"

Generate a JSON key

Download and store the key securely — it contains sensitive credentials.

-- In Google Cloud Console:
-- 1. Select your service account (unitylayer-bq-sa)
-- 2. Go to the "Keys" tab
-- 3. Click "Add Key" > "Create new key"
-- 4. Choose JSON format
-- 5. Click "Create"
-- 6. Download the JSON file securely

Test connection

Verify Unity Layer can list datasets and tables.

-- Validate the connection:
-- 1. Use the downloaded JSON key file in Unity Layer
-- 2. Test the connection from Unity Layer UI or CLI
-- 3. Verify that datasets and tables are accessible

When setup is complete, open Connect database in the data catalog to enter credentials and test the connection.