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AskTable connects to Google BigQuery with a Service Account key. There are two steps: create a service account with read-only permissions in Google Cloud and download its JSON key, then paste the key into AskTable.

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1. Create a Service Account key

1

Open the service accounts page

Open the Google Cloud Console, select the target project at the top, go to IAM & Admin → Service Accounts, click Create Service Account, and give it a name (for example, asktable-readonly).
2

Grant BigQuery permissions

Grant the service account the following two roles — the minimum required for AskTable’s read-only queries:
RolePurpose
BigQuery Data Viewer (roles/bigquery.dataViewer)Read table data and metadata
BigQuery Job User (roles/bigquery.jobUser)Submit query jobs
To expose only specific datasets, skip the project-level Data Viewer role: in the BigQuery console, click Share → Add Principal on the target dataset and grant Data Viewer to the service account there. Job User still needs to be granted at the project level.
3

Create a JSON key

Open the service account you just created, switch to the Keys tab, click Add Key → Create new key, and choose JSON. Your browser downloads a .json key file — this file is the only credential you need for the next step.
Two situations prevent key creation: BigQuery sandbox projects (without billing enabled) do not support service account keys, and some organization policies (iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation) disable key creation — contact your Google Cloud administrator if you hit an error.

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2. Connect in AskTable

In the left main navigation, click More, then click Data Sources in the data workspace sidebar and click Add Data in the top right. Under the Big Data category, select Google BigQuery and fill in the connection details:
FieldDescription
Data nameOptional. Leave blank to auto-generate.
Service Account JSONPaste the full content of the key file, or click Upload JSON file to select the downloaded .json file and fill it in automatically
There is no host, port, or project ID to fill in — AskTable detects the GCP project from the key automatically. Click Add Now. AskTable tests the connection automatically. On success, you proceed to table selection — BigQuery datasets appear as the schema level there.
The key is stored encrypted in AskTable and is never echoed back by any page or API. To rotate the key later, paste a new one in the connection settings on the data source detail page; leaving it blank keeps the current key unchanged.

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Troubleshooting

SymptomCause and fix
Invalid credential formatThe pasted content is not complete JSON, or is missing the project_id / client_email / private_key fields. Re-copy the entire key file.
Connection test fails with an authentication errorThe key has been revoked or deleted. Create a new key in Google Cloud.
Connection test fails with a permission errorThe service account is missing the BigQuery Job User role and cannot submit queries.
A dataset is missing on the table selection pageThe service account lacks BigQuery Data Viewer on that dataset — grant it as described in step 1.

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Next steps