Render Command

The render command generates machine configuration files for all nodes using local files (topf.yaml and patch files). With --online, it queries live nodes for their actual running Talos version before generating configs.

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
--output, -o	./output	Directory to write the generated config files
--online	false	Query live nodes for their running Talos version
--nodes-filter	-	Regex pattern to filter which nodes to render (global flag)

Behavior

For each node, render assembles the full machine configuration using:

1. The Talos version for config generation (fallback chain: running version from --online → talosVersion from topf.yaml → bundled Talos version)
2. The schematicId from topf.yaml (falls back to the default no-extensions schematic)
3. All applicable patches from all/, <role>/, and node/<host>/

Each node's config is written to <output>/<hostname>.yaml. If config generation fails for a node (e.g. a template error), the error is reported and the other nodes are still processed.

Online mode

With --online, topf connects to each node and retrieves the actually running Talos version. This ensures the generated config uses the correct version contract for the node's current state — useful when nodes may be at different versions.

Without --online, the Talos version is resolved from topf.yaml (or the bundled version), which is sufficient when all nodes are at the same known version.

Example Usage

# Render all node configs to ./output
topf render

# Render using the actual running Talos versions
topf render --online

# Render to a custom directory
topf render -o /tmp/configs

# Render only control-plane nodes
topf render --nodes-filter "cp-.*"

Inspecting Generated Configs

render writes one <hostname>.yaml file per node so you can inspect the final merged configuration before applying it to the cluster. Errors from template rendering (e.g. missing variables, syntax errors) are reported per-node, making it easy to pinpoint issues.