Getting Started with the Service Consumer Management API
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The page describes the steps that need to be completed before you
can start to use the Service Consumer Management API. It assumes that you already have a
Google Cloud project and a managed service
(such as a managed service created using Cloud Endpoints) in
that project, and that you understand
Tenancy Units.
Activating the service
While the Service Consumer Management API helps you to manage the usage of your own
managed services, it is also a service
itself. Therefore, before you can use it, you must activate the
Service Consumer Management API for the Google Cloud project that hosts your managed
service. This project is known as a service producer
project.
The simplest way to enable the Service Consumer Management API for your service
producer project is to use the
Google Cloud console.
Alternatively, you can enable it from the command line or programmatically. You
can find out more in
Enabling and Disabling Services.
Setting permissions
After the Service Consumer Management API is enabled for your service producer
project, you must create your own service identity and grant it permissions on
your resources so that it can create tenant projects in
your folders and set up the correct billing account on tenant projects. These
actions are executed by a service account owned by the Service Consumer Management
API, which is specified in the following format:
Ensure that you have a folder for holding your tenant projects: you'll need
to have an Organization
to create folders within your service producer project. If you don’t have a
folder, follow the instructions in
Creating and Managing Folders
to create one. Your folder will have an integer based FOLDER_ID.
On your folder, assign the Project Creator/Deleter role to the
Service Consumer Management API service account. Follow the instructions in
Configuring Access to Folders
to add the Project Creator and Project Deleter role, using GCM_SA as
the user.
Setting billing account permissions
Ensure that you have a billing account that can be shared for tenant
projects. If you don't have a billing account, see
Create, Modify, or Close a Billing Account
for instructions to create one.
Follow the
instructions
to add the Billing Account User role to GCM_SA.
Resource requirements
The Service Consumer Management API creates tenant projects on
your behalf, so ensure you have enough quota to create them.
See the project limits
documentation to know how many projects can be created by default and to
request increases to that limit.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Getting Started with the Service Consumer Management API\n\nThe page describes the steps that need to be completed before you\ncan start to use the Service Consumer Management API. It assumes that you already have a\nGoogle Cloud project and a [managed service](/service-infrastructure/docs/glossary#managed)\n(such as a managed service created using [Cloud Endpoints](/endpoints/docs)) in\nthat project, and that you understand\n[Tenancy Units](/service-infrastructure/docs/glossary#tenancy).\n\nActivating the service\n----------------------\n\nWhile the Service Consumer Management API helps you to manage the usage of your own\n[managed services](/service-infrastructure/docs/glossary#managed), it is also a service\nitself. Therefore, before you can use it, you must activate the\nService Consumer Management API for the Google Cloud project that hosts your managed\nservice. This project is known as a [service producer](/service-infrastructure/docs/glossary#producer)\nproject.\n\nThe simplest way to enable the Service Consumer Management API for your service\nproducer project is to use the\n[Google Cloud console](https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/api/serviceconsumermanagement.googleapis.com).\nAlternatively, you can enable it from the command line or programmatically. You\ncan find out more in\n[Enabling and Disabling Services](/service-usage/docs/enable-disable).\n\nSetting permissions\n-------------------\n\nAfter the Service Consumer Management API is enabled for your service producer\nproject, you must create your own service identity and grant it permissions on\nyour resources so that it can create [tenant projects](/service-infrastructure/docs/glossary#tenant) in\nyour folders and set up the correct billing account on tenant projects. These\nactions are executed by a service account owned by the Service Consumer Management\nAPI, which is specified in the following format: \n\n```\nservice-PROJECT_NUMBER@service-consumer-management.iam.gserviceaccount.com\n```\n\nwhere *PROJECT_NUMBER* is the project number for your service producer project\nthat activated the Service Consumer Management service.\n\nThe remainder of this guide uses *GCM_SA* to represent the\nService Consumer Management API service account.\n\nYou can use the following commands to generate the service identity.\n\n1. Login with your user account.\n\n```\ngcloud auth login\n```\n\n1. Generate the service identity.\n\n```\ngcloud beta services identity create --service=serviceconsumermanagement.googleapis.com --project=PROJECT_ID\n```\n\n### Setting folder permissions\n\n1. Ensure that you have a folder for holding your tenant projects: you'll need\n to have an [Organization](/resource-manager/docs/creating-managing-organization)\n to create folders within your service producer project. If you don't have a\n folder, follow the instructions in\n [Creating and Managing Folders](/resource-manager/docs/creating-managing-folders#create-folder)\n to create one. Your folder will have an integer based *FOLDER_ID*.\n\n2. On your folder, assign the **Project Creator/Deleter** role to the\n Service Consumer Management API service account. Follow the instructions in\n [Configuring Access to Folders](/resource-manager/docs/creating-managing-folders#configuring_access_to_folders)\n to add the **Project Creator** and **Project Deleter** role, using *GCM_SA* as\n the user.\n\n### Setting billing account permissions\n\n1. Ensure that you have a billing account that can be shared for tenant\n projects. If you don't have a billing account, see\n [Create, Modify, or Close a Billing Account](/billing/docs/how-to/manage-billing-account)\n for instructions to create one.\n\n2. Follow the\n [instructions](/billing/docs/how-to/billing-access)\n to add the **Billing Account User** role to *GCM_SA*.\n\nResource requirements\n---------------------\n\n- The Service Consumer Management API creates [tenant projects](/service-infrastructure/docs/glossary#tenant) on your behalf, so ensure you have enough quota to create them.\n- See the [project limits](https://cloud.google.com/resource-manager/docs/limits#project-limits) documentation to know how many projects can be created by default and to request increases to that limit."]]
