Non-interactive EE_Initialize() fails on shinyapps.io (prompts interactive OAuth)

[cauricht]

Issue Description

Deploying an R Shiny app to shinyapps.io using Earth Engine via rgee, I'm encountering an issue with non-interactive authentication:

App deployment unexpectedly falls back to interactive OAuth, prompting for a verification code.

Non-interactive authentication works locally but fails when deployed to shinyapps.io.

Reproducible Example

Local test (works fine):

library(reticulate)
reticulate::py_run_string(
  "import ee; ee.Initialize(project='able-device-311600-453303'); print(ee.data.getAssetRoots())"
)

Returns expected asset roots locally:

[{'type': 'Table', 'id': 'projects/able-device-311600-453303/assets/Bool_area_3577'}]

shinyapps.io setup (failing):

.Renviron configuration:

GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="/srv/connect/apps/AusPlots_S2/credentials/able-device-311600-453303-dcb943459adc.json"

EE initialization within the deployed app:

library(rgee)
ee_Initialize(
  user = "able-device-311600@able-device-311600-453303.iam.gserviceaccount.com",
  credentials = "persistent",
  project = "able-device-311600-453303",
  drive = FALSE,
  gcs = FALSE,
  quiet = TRUE,
  auth_mode = "appdefault"
)

Upon deployment, the app ignores provided credentials and attempts interactive OAuth, causing deployment to fail.

Checks already done

• Cleared cached credentials before deployment.
• Confirmed local non-interactive authentication is working correctly.
• Verified service account permissions and asset sharing.
• Attempted the logic provided in the shiny_rgee_template example, encountering the same issue.
• Noted the official rgee demo (cesar-aybar.shinyapps.io/rgee_app_demo) is also currently failing, possibly indicating a broader authentication issue?

Expected Behavior

Non-interactive authentication succeeds using provided credentials on shinyapps.io deployment without prompting for interactive OAuth.

Actual Behavior

Interactive OAuth prompt prevents successful app deployment.

Environment

• R version: 4.4.2 (2024-10-31 ucrt)
• rgee version: 1.1.7
• reticulate version: 1.40.0
• Shiny version: 1.9.1
• Deployment target: shinyapps.io

Any guidance or workarounds to resolve this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
Chris