From d70063e887f5d58f7dbcc8d88944e547880ecff2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: CamrynCarter <camryn.carter@ranchergovernment.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:09:29 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] default output to stdout

---
 cmd/hauler/cli/store.go                 |  6 +++---
 cmd/hauler/cli/store/create_manifest.go | 28 ++++++++++++++++---------
 internal/flags/create.go                |  2 +-
 3 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)

diff --git a/cmd/hauler/cli/store.go b/cmd/hauler/cli/store.go
index 53e7f6f..e9f8889 100644
--- a/cmd/hauler/cli/store.go
+++ b/cmd/hauler/cli/store.go
@@ -517,13 +517,13 @@ func addStoreCreateManifest(rso *flags.StoreRootOpts, ro *flags.CliRootOpts) *co
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "manifest",
 		Short: "Create a hauler content manifest from the store's metadata",
-		Example: `  # generate a manifest for the default store into ./store-manifest.yaml
+		Example: `  # print a manifest for the default store to stdout
 	hauler store create manifest
 
-	# generate a manifest for a specific store into ./my-store-manifest.yaml
+	# print a manifest for a specific store to stdout
 	hauler store create manifest --store /path/to/my-store
 
-	# generate a manifest for a specific store into a custom path
+	# write a manifest for a specific store to a file
 	hauler store create manifest --store /path/to/store --output my-manifest.yaml`,
 		Args: cobra.ExactArgs(0),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
diff --git a/cmd/hauler/cli/store/create_manifest.go b/cmd/hauler/cli/store/create_manifest.go
index 0905ad8..f791465 100644
--- a/cmd/hauler/cli/store/create_manifest.go
+++ b/cmd/hauler/cli/store/create_manifest.go
@@ -55,10 +55,16 @@ type manifestDoc struct {
 // CreateManifestCmd walks the store's OCI index (and the manifests/configs it
 // references) to reconstruct a hauler content manifest capable of recreating the
 // store's contents via `hauler store sync`. It groups discovered content into
-// Images/Charts/Files documents and writes them to o.Output.
+// Images/Charts/Files documents and writes them to o.Output, or to stdout when
+// o.Output is empty.
 func CreateManifestCmd(ctx context.Context, o *flags.CreateManifestOpts, s *store.Layout) error {
 	l := log.FromContext(ctx)
 
+	toStdout := o.Output == ""
+	if toStdout {
+		l.SetLevel("fatal")
+	}
+
 	var images []manifestImage
 	var charts []manifestChart
 	var files []manifestFile
@@ -184,11 +190,6 @@ func CreateManifestCmd(ctx context.Context, o *flags.CreateManifestOpts, s *stor
 
 	base := filepath.Base(s.Root)
 
-	output := o.Output
-	if output == "" {
-		output = base + "-manifest.yaml"
-	}
-
 	var out strings.Builder
 	if len(images) > 0 {
 		if err := writeDoc(&out, "", consts.ImagesContentKind, base+"-images", struct {
@@ -216,12 +217,19 @@ func CreateManifestCmd(ctx context.Context, o *flags.CreateManifestOpts, s *stor
 		}
 	}
 
-	if err := os.WriteFile(output, []byte(out.String()), 0o644); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("writing manifest to [%s]: %w", output, err)
+	if toStdout {
+		if _, err := os.Stdout.Write([]byte(out.String())); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		return nil
 	}
 
-	outPath := output
-	if abs, err := filepath.Abs(output); err == nil {
+	if err := os.WriteFile(o.Output, []byte(out.String()), 0o644); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("writing manifest to [%s]: %w", o.Output, err)
+	}
+
+	outPath := o.Output
+	if abs, err := filepath.Abs(o.Output); err == nil {
 		outPath = abs
 	}
 	l.Infof("wrote manifest with [%d] image(s), [%d] chart(s), [%d] file(s) to [%s]", len(images), len(charts), len(files), outPath)
diff --git a/internal/flags/create.go b/internal/flags/create.go
index f97e5f8..b0d7ad2 100644
--- a/internal/flags/create.go
+++ b/internal/flags/create.go
@@ -11,5 +11,5 @@ type CreateManifestOpts struct {
 func (o *CreateManifestOpts) AddFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	f := cmd.Flags()
 
-	f.StringVarP(&o.Output, "output", "o", "", "(Optional) Path to write the generated manifest to (default \"$STORENAME-manifest.yaml\")")
+	f.StringVarP(&o.Output, "output", "o", "", "(Optional) Path to write the generated manifest to (defaults to stdout)")
 }