fix: support specifying patch file without '@' symbol

Try to be more smart while parsing `--config-patch` (and similar) flags:

* we still support inline patches
* if the flag value doesn't look like a patch, try to use it as a
  filename directly

This avoids common confusion with `--config-patch=patch.yaml` returning
an error "expected a mapping node".

Also clarify/updated documentation for `talosctl edit` and `talosctl
patch`, as they only work for the machineconfig, there is no other
usecase now.

Signed-off-by: Andrey Smirnov <andrey.smirnov@siderolabs.com>

cmd/talosctl/cmd/talos/edit.go

@@ -178,11 +178,11 @@ func addEditingComment(in string) string {
 
 // editCmd represents the edit command.
 var editCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "edit <type> [<id>]",
-	Short: "Edit a resource from the default editor.",
+	Use:   "edit machineconfig",
+	Short: "Edit Talos node machine configuration with the default editor.",
 	Args:  cobra.RangeArgs(1, 2),
-	Long: `The edit command allows you to directly edit any API resource
-you can retrieve via the command line tools.
+	Long: `The edit command allows you to directly edit the machine configuration
+of a Talos node using your preferred text editor.
 
 It will open the editor defined by your TALOS_EDITOR,
 or EDITOR environment variables, or fall back to 'vi' for Linux

cmd/talosctl/cmd/talos/patch.go

@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ func patchFn(c *client.Client, patches []configpatcher.Patch) func(context.Conte
 
 // patchCmd represents the edit command.
 var patchCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "patch <type> [<id>]",
-	Short: "Update field(s) of a resource using a JSON patch.",
+	Use:   "patch machineconfig",
+	Short: "Patch machine configuration of a Talos node with a local patch.",
 	Args:  cobra.RangeArgs(1, 2),
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return WithClient(func(ctx context.Context, c *client.Client) error {

internal/integration/cli/apply-config.go

@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ func (suite *ApplyConfigSuite) TestApplyWithPatch() {
 	patchPath := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "patch.yaml")
 	suite.Require().NoError(os.WriteFile(patchPath, dummyAPPatch, 0o777))
 
-	suite.RunCLI([]string{"apply-config", "--nodes", node, "--config-patch", "@" + patchPath, "-f", configPath},
+	suite.RunCLI([]string{"apply-config", "--nodes", node, "--config-patch", patchPath, "-f", configPath},
 		base.StdoutEmpty(),
 		base.StderrNotEmpty(),
 		base.StderrShouldMatch(regexp.MustCompile("Applied configuration without a reboot")),
@@ -71,12 +71,15 @@ func (suite *ApplyConfigSuite) TestApplyWithPatch() {
 
 	suite.Require().NoError(os.WriteFile(patchPath, deleteDummyAPPatch, 0o777))
 
-	suite.RunCLI([]string{"apply-config", "--nodes", node, "--config-patch", "@" + patchPath, "-f", configPath},
+	suite.RunCLI([]string{"apply-config", "--nodes", node, "--config-patch", patchPath, "-f", configPath},
 		base.StdoutEmpty(),
 		base.StderrNotEmpty(),
 		base.StderrShouldMatch(regexp.MustCompile("Applied configuration without a reboot")),
 	)
 
+	// sleep a bit to let the config propagate
+	time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
+
 	suite.RunCLI([]string{"get", "--nodes", node, "links"},
 		base.StdoutShouldNotMatch(regexp.MustCompile("dummy-ap-patch")),
 		base.WithRetry(retry.Constant(15*time.Second, retry.WithUnits(time.Second))),

pkg/machinery/config/configpatcher/load.go

@@ -71,6 +71,10 @@ func LoadPatch(in []byte) (Patch, error) {
 }
 
 // LoadPatches loads the JSON patch either from value literal or from a file if the patch starts with '@'.
+//
+// It also tries to guess if the filename was given without '@' prefix.
+//
+//nolint:gocyclo
 func LoadPatches(in []string) ([]Patch, error) {
 	var result []Patch
 
@@ -81,14 +85,24 @@ func LoadPatches(in []string) ([]Patch, error) {
 			err      error
 		)
 
-		if strings.HasPrefix(patchString, "@") {
+		switch {
+		case strings.HasPrefix(patchString, "@"):
 			filename := patchString[1:]
 
 			contents, err = os.ReadFile(filename)
 			if err != nil {
 				return result, err
 			}
-		} else {
+		case !strings.ContainsAny(patchString, "\n ") &&
+			!strings.HasPrefix(patchString, "[") &&
+			!strings.HasPrefix(patchString, "{"):
+			// any valid patch supplied inline should contain either '\n' or space, or start with '[' or '{'
+			// so if none of this is true, assume it's a filename, but without '@' prefix
+			contents, err = os.ReadFile(patchString)
+			if err != nil {
+				return result, err
+			}
+		default:
 			contents = []byte(patchString)
 		}
 

pkg/machinery/config/configpatcher/load_test.go

@@ -112,3 +112,16 @@ func TestLoadMixedPatches(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Implements(t, (*configpatcher.StrategicMergePatch)(nil), patchList[1])
 	assert.IsType(t, jsonpatch.Patch{}, patchList[2])
 }
+
+func TestLoadStraightFilename(t *testing.T) {
+	patchList, err := configpatcher.LoadPatches([]string{
+		"testdata/strategic.yaml",
+		`[{"op":"replace","path":"/some","value": []}]`,
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Len(t, patchList, 2)
+
+	assert.Implements(t, (*configpatcher.StrategicMergePatch)(nil), patchList[0])
+	assert.IsType(t, jsonpatch.Patch{}, patchList[1])
+}

website/content/v1.12/reference/cli.md

@@ -940,19 +940,19 @@ talosctl dmesg [flags]
 
 ## talosctl edit
 
-Edit a resource from the default editor.
+Edit Talos node machine configuration with the default editor.
 
 ### Synopsis
 
-The edit command allows you to directly edit any API resource
-you can retrieve via the command line tools.
+The edit command allows you to directly edit the machine configuration
+of a Talos node using your preferred text editor.
 
 It will open the editor defined by your TALOS_EDITOR,
 or EDITOR environment variables, or fall back to 'vi' for Linux
 or 'notepad' for Windows.
 
 ```
-talosctl edit <type> [<id>] [flags]
+talosctl edit machineconfig [flags]
 ```
 
 ### Options
@@ -2572,10 +2572,10 @@ talosctl netstat [flags]
 
 ## talosctl patch
 
-Update field(s) of a resource using a JSON patch.
+Patch machine configuration of a Talos node with a local patch.
 
 ```
-talosctl patch <type> [<id>] [flags]
+talosctl patch machineconfig [flags]
 ```
 
 ### Options
@@ -3248,7 +3248,7 @@ A CLI for out-of-band management of Kubernetes nodes created by Talos
 * [talosctl copy](#talosctl-copy)	 - Copy data out from the node
 * [talosctl dashboard](#talosctl-dashboard)	 - Cluster dashboard with node overview, logs and real-time metrics
 * [talosctl dmesg](#talosctl-dmesg)	 - Retrieve kernel logs
-* [talosctl edit](#talosctl-edit)	 - Edit a resource from the default editor.
+* [talosctl edit](#talosctl-edit)	 - Edit Talos node machine configuration with the default editor.
 * [talosctl etcd](#talosctl-etcd)	 - Manage etcd
 * [talosctl events](#talosctl-events)	 - Stream runtime events
 * [talosctl gen](#talosctl-gen)	 - Generate CAs, certificates, and private keys
@@ -3265,7 +3265,7 @@ A CLI for out-of-band management of Kubernetes nodes created by Talos
 * [talosctl meta](#talosctl-meta)	 - Write and delete keys in the META partition
 * [talosctl mounts](#talosctl-mounts)	 - List mounts
 * [talosctl netstat](#talosctl-netstat)	 - Show network connections and sockets
-* [talosctl patch](#talosctl-patch)	 - Update field(s) of a resource using a JSON patch.
+* [talosctl patch](#talosctl-patch)	 - Patch machine configuration of a Talos node with a local patch.
 * [talosctl pcap](#talosctl-pcap)	 - Capture the network packets from the node.
 * [talosctl processes](#talosctl-processes)	 - List running processes
 * [talosctl read](#talosctl-read)	 - Read a file on the machine