diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 08d6cb0..b4a7bc5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,12 +2,30 @@
 
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
+## [1.1.0] - 2025-08-31
+
+### Fixed
+- `ClusterBuilder::generateInMemory()` no longer delegates to disk generation; now builds YAML purely in memory.
+
+### Added
+- `TalosCluster::genTalosconfig(string $cluster, string $endpoint, array $flags = [])` to generate and return a `talosconfig` string using a temporary `talosctl gen config` run (no persistence).
+- `ClusterBuilder::talosconfigInMemory(array $flags = [])` convenience wrapper for fetching an in‑memory `talosconfig` for the builder’s cluster/endpoint.
+- `ClusterBuilder::generateTo(string $dir)` to explicitly generate configs to a target directory.
+
+### Changed
+- `ClusterBuilder` constructor `outDir` parameter is now optional (`?string`); when omitted, `generate()` uses a temporary directory under the system temp path.
+- README updated to recommend in-memory generation + `GeneratedConfigs::writeTo()` and to document `generateTo()`.
+
 ## [1.0.0] - YYYY-MM-DD
 
 Initial stable release.
 
-- Fluent builder API for Talos machine configuration
-- Secrets generation + injection (TalosSecrets; TalosCluster::genSecrets, ClusterBuilder::secrets)
-- YAML sequence normalization to avoid `{}` where lists are expected
-- Integration validation with `talosctl validate` (required), CI matrix for Talos current + prior
-- 100 0.000000e+00st coverage, PHPStan clean, Pint clean
+### Added
+- Fluent builder API for Talos machine configuration (networking, control plane, etcd, install helpers).
+- Secrets workflow: `TalosCluster::genSecrets()`, `TalosSecrets` (serialize/deserialize), `ClusterBuilder::secrets(...)` injection.
+- YAML patching helpers: `set()`, `patchBoth()`, `patchFile()` with documented precedence.
+- Integration validation with `talosctl validate`; CI matrix for Talos current + prior minor.
+- Laravel integration: `TalosFactory`, service provider, facade.
+
+### Quality
+- 100% test coverage, PHPStan clean, Pint formatted.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5620c9e..c61168e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ $builder = new ClusterBuilder(
     talos: $talos,
     cluster: 'demo',
     endpoint: 'https://10.255.0.50:6443',
-    outDir: sys_get_temp_dir().'/talos-demo-'.uniqid(),
+    // outDir is optional; prefer in-memory + writeTo() or use generateTo($dir)
 );
 
 $dir = $builder
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ $dir = $builder
     ->cni(Cni::Flannel)
     ->additionalSans(['demo.local', '10.255.0.50'])
     ->manifests(['https://example.com/addons.yaml'])
-    ->generate();
+    ->generateTo(sys_get_temp_dir().'/talos-demo-'.uniqid());
 
 // Apply to a node (example)
 $talos->nodes(['10.255.0.50'])->applyConfig($dir.'/controlplane.yaml', insecure: true);
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ $payload = $secrets->toBase64Json();
 $secrets = TalosSecrets::fromBase64Json($payload);
 
 // 3) Regenerate configs with secrets
-$builder = new ClusterBuilder($talos, 'demo', 'https://10.255.0.50:6443', sys_get_temp_dir().'/demo-'.uniqid());
+$builder = new ClusterBuilder($talos, 'demo', 'https://10.255.0.50:6443');
 $dir = $builder
     ->secrets($secrets)
     ->network(dns: 'cluster.local', pod: ['10.42.0.0/16'], svc: ['10.43.0.0/16'])
@@ -123,6 +123,45 @@ $workerYaml = $configs->worker();
 // Optionally persist later
 $out = sys_get_temp_dir().'/talos-out-'.uniqid();
 $configs->writeTo($out);
+
+// Also get an in-memory talosconfig (not persisted)
+$talosconfig = $builder->talosconfigInMemory();
+```
+
+### Laravel Workflow (Secrets → In‑Memory Configs → talosconfig)
+
+Below is an example of the intended application flow when using this package inside a Laravel app. Secrets are generated once, encrypted and stored by your app, and later used to regenerate configs and a talosconfig entirely in memory.
+
+```php
+use ArioLabs\Talos\TalosFactory;
+use ArioLabs\Talos\TalosSecrets;
+use ArioLabs\Talos\Builders\ClusterBuilder;
+
+// 1) Generate secrets and store (encrypt before saving)
+$talos = (new TalosFactory(['log' => false]))->for();
+$secrets = $talos->genSecrets();
+$payload = $secrets->toBase64Json(); // encrypt this string with app key, store in DB
+
+// ... later in a request/job: load + decrypt
+$secrets = TalosSecrets::fromBase64Json($payload);
+
+// 2) Regenerate configs in memory
+$builder = new ClusterBuilder($talos, 'demo', 'https://10.255.0.50:6443');
+$configs = $builder
+    ->secrets($secrets)
+    ->network(dns: 'cluster.local', pod: ['10.42.0.0/16'], svc: ['10.43.0.0/16'])
+    ->generateInMemory();
+
+$controlplaneYaml = $configs->controlplane();
+$workerYaml = $configs->worker();
+
+// 3) Obtain a talosconfig (in memory) for subsequent operations
+$talosconfig = $builder->talosconfigInMemory();
+
+// Optionally persist if needed
+$dir = storage_path('talos/'.uniqid());
+$configs->writeTo($dir);
+file_put_contents($dir.'/talosconfig', $talosconfig);
 ```
 
 ## Fluent Builder Reference
@@ -152,6 +191,10 @@ $configs->writeTo($out);
   - `patchFile(string $relativeYaml, array $patch)` → per-file overrides
 - Secrets
   - `secrets(TalosSecrets $secrets)` → injects cluster/machine secrets
+  - `generateInMemory()` → return `GeneratedConfigs` without touching disk
+  - `talosconfigInMemory(array $flags = [])` → return talosconfig content as a string
+  - `generateTo(string $dir)` → generate configs to a specific directory
+  - Constructor `outDir` is optional; if omitted, `generate()` uses a temp directory
 
 ## Patching Precedence
 
diff --git a/src/Builders/ClusterBuilder.php b/src/Builders/ClusterBuilder.php
index 3b7dc10..0f226f5 100644
--- a/src/Builders/ClusterBuilder.php
+++ b/src/Builders/ClusterBuilder.php
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 use ArioLabs\Talos\Enums\Cni;
 use ArioLabs\Talos\TalosCluster;
 use InvalidArgumentException;
+use Symfony\Component\Yaml\Yaml;
 
 final class ClusterBuilder
 {
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ public function __construct(
         private TalosCluster $talos,
         private string $cluster,
         private string $endpoint,
-        private string $outDir,
+        private ?string $outDir = null,
     ) {}
 
     /** @param  array<int, string>  $sans */
@@ -459,11 +460,19 @@ public function etcdExtraArgs(array $args): static
     }
 
     public function generate(): string
+    {
+        $dir = $this->outDir ?? mb_rtrim(sys_get_temp_dir(), '/').'/talos-gen-'.uniqid();
+
+        return $this->generateTo($dir);
+    }
+
+    /** Generate configs to a specific directory (explicit disk output). */
+    public function generateTo(string $dir): string
     {
         if ($this->secrets !== null) {
-            $dir = $this->talos->genConfigWithSecrets($this->cluster, $this->endpoint, $this->outDir, $this->secrets, $this->flags);
+            $dir = $this->talos->genConfigWithSecrets($this->cluster, $this->endpoint, $dir, $this->secrets, $this->flags);
         } else {
-            $dir = $this->talos->genConfig($this->cluster, $this->endpoint, $this->outDir, $this->flags);
+            $dir = $this->talos->genConfig($this->cluster, $this->endpoint, $dir, $this->flags);
         }
         // Apply accumulated machine-level patches (e.g., network settings) to both configs first
         if ($this->machinePatches) {
@@ -479,15 +488,90 @@ public function generate(): string
 
     public function generateInMemory(): \ArioLabs\Talos\GeneratedConfigs
     {
-        $dir = $this->generate();
-        $cp = $dir.'/controlplane.yaml';
-        $wk = $dir.'/worker.yaml';
-        $cpYaml = is_file($cp) ? (string) file_get_contents($cp) : '';
-        $wkYaml = is_file($wk) ? (string) file_get_contents($wk) : '';
+        // Build configs purely in memory from accumulated patches.
+        // Start from empty base and merge machine-level patches into both files.
+        $cp = [];
+        $wk = [];
+
+        if ($this->machinePatches) {
+            $cp = $this->deepMerge($cp, $this->machinePatches);
+            $wk = $this->deepMerge($wk, $this->machinePatches);
+        }
+
+        // Apply any per-file overrides next.
+        foreach ($this->patches as $file => $patch) {
+            if ($file === 'controlplane.yaml') {
+                $cp = $this->deepMerge($cp, $patch);
+            } elseif ($file === 'worker.yaml') {
+                $wk = $this->deepMerge($wk, $patch);
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Normalize and dump as YAML strings.
+        $cpYaml = Yaml::dump($this->normalizeSequences($cp), 8, 2);
+        $wkYaml = Yaml::dump($this->normalizeSequences($wk), 8, 2);
 
         return new \ArioLabs\Talos\GeneratedConfigs($cpYaml, $wkYaml);
     }
 
+    /** Convenience: generate a talosconfig string for this builder's
+     *  cluster/endpoint using a temporary gen-config run (no persistence).
+     *
+     * @param  array<int|string, string|bool>  $flags
+     */
+    public function talosconfigInMemory(array $flags = []): string
+    {
+        return $this->talos->genTalosconfig($this->cluster, $this->endpoint, $flags);
+    }
+
+    /** @param  array<int|string, mixed>  $a
+     *  @param  array<int|string, mixed>  $b
+     *  @return array<int|string, mixed> */
+    private function deepMerge(array $a, array $b): array
+    {
+        foreach ($b as $k => $v) {
+            if (is_array($v) && isset($a[$k]) && is_array($a[$k])) {
+                $a[$k] = $this->deepMerge($a[$k], $v);
+            } else {
+                $a[$k] = $v;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return $a;
+    }
+
+    /** Normalize known sequence-typed keys: if empty, omit them so the YAML dumper doesn't emit '{}'.
+     *  Keeps empty map-typed keys (e.g., registries: {}) untouched.
+     *
+     *  @param  array<int|string, mixed>  $data
+     *  @return array<int|string, mixed> */
+    private function normalizeSequences(array $data): array
+    {
+        $sequenceKeys = [
+            'certSANs',
+            'extraManifests',
+            'inlineManifests',
+            'podSubnets',
+            'serviceSubnets',
+            'advertisedSubnets',
+            'nameservers',
+            'interfaces',
+        ];
+
+        foreach ($data as $k => $v) {
+            if (is_array($v)) {
+                if ($v === [] && in_array((string) $k, $sequenceKeys, true)) {
+                    unset($data[$k]);
+
+                    continue;
+                }
+                $data[$k] = $this->normalizeSequences($v);
+            }
+        }
+
+        return $data;
+    }
+
     /** @param  array<int|string, mixed>  $patch */
     private function mergeMachinePatch(array $patch): void
     {
diff --git a/src/TalosCluster.php b/src/TalosCluster.php
index b53bf78..babeddd 100644
--- a/src/TalosCluster.php
+++ b/src/TalosCluster.php
@@ -209,6 +209,38 @@ public function genSecrets(): TalosSecrets
         return TalosSecrets::fromArray($data);
     }
 
+    /** Generate a talosconfig and return its contents as a string.
+     *  Uses a temporary directory by default; pass $outDir to control the path.
+     *  No persistent files are left behind.
+     *
+     * @param  array<int|string, string|bool>  $flags
+     */
+    public function genTalosconfig(string $cluster, string $endpoint, array $flags = [], ?string $outDir = null): string
+    {
+        $tmp = $outDir ?: (mb_rtrim(sys_get_temp_dir(), '/').'/talos-tmp-'.uniqid());
+        @mkdir($tmp, 0775, true);
+
+        // Reuse genConfig to invoke talosctl with any flags provided.
+        $dir = $this->genConfig($cluster, $endpoint, $tmp, $flags);
+        $path = $dir.'/talosconfig';
+
+        $content = is_file($path) ? (string) file_get_contents($path) : '';
+
+        // Best-effort cleanup
+        if (is_file($path)) {
+            @unlink($path);
+        }
+        // Remove other files if present
+        foreach (['controlplane.yaml', 'worker.yaml'] as $f) {
+            if (is_file($dir.'/'.$f)) {
+                @unlink($dir.'/'.$f);
+            }
+        }
+        @rmdir($dir);
+
+        return $content;
+    }
+
     /** @param array<int|string, string|bool> $flags */
     public function genConfigWithSecrets(string $cluster, string $endpoint, string $outputDir, TalosSecrets $secrets, array $flags = []): string
     {
diff --git a/tests/Fakes/ProcessRunnerWritingFake.php b/tests/Fakes/ProcessRunnerWritingFake.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd13369
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Fakes/ProcessRunnerWritingFake.php
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Tests\Fakes;
+
+use ArioLabs\Talos\Support\Runner;
+use Closure;
+
+final class ProcessRunnerWritingFake implements Runner
+{
+    public array $calls = [];
+
+    public function __construct(
+        private string $talosconfigContent = "kind: talosconfig\n",
+        private string $cpContent = "controlplane: true\n",
+        private string $wkContent = "worker: true\n",
+    ) {}
+
+    public function run(array $args, ?Closure $onChunk = null): array
+    {
+        $this->calls[] = $args;
+        // Find output directory in args (after --output)
+        $outIndex = array_search('--output', $args, true);
+        if ($outIndex !== false && isset($args[$outIndex + 1])) {
+            $dir = (string) $args[$outIndex + 1];
+            @mkdir($dir, 0775, true);
+            file_put_contents($dir.'/talosconfig', $this->talosconfigContent);
+            file_put_contents($dir.'/controlplane.yaml', $this->cpContent);
+            file_put_contents($dir.'/worker.yaml', $this->wkContent);
+        }
+
+        return [0, '', ''];
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Feature/InMemoryPatchFileFeatureTest.php b/tests/Feature/InMemoryPatchFileFeatureTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a88972a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Feature/InMemoryPatchFileFeatureTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+use ArioLabs\Talos\Builders\ClusterBuilder;
+use ArioLabs\Talos\TalosCluster;
+use Symfony\Component\Yaml\Yaml;
+use Tests\Fakes\ProcessRunnerFake;
+
+it('applies per-file patches in generateInMemory() and normalizes sequences', function (): void {
+    $runner = new ProcessRunnerFake();
+    $talos = new TalosCluster($runner);
+
+    $b = new ClusterBuilder($talos, 'demo', '10.0.0.1');
+
+    // Add an empty sequence to exercise normalization + nested merge on both CP/WK
+    $b->set('cluster.apiServer.certSANs', []);
+
+    // Per-file patches with nested structures to hit recursive deepMerge
+    $b->patchFile('controlplane.yaml', [
+        'cluster' => [
+            'network' => [
+                'dnsDomain' => 'cluster.local',
+            ],
+        ],
+    ]);
+    $b->patchFile('worker.yaml', [
+        'machine' => [
+            'network' => [
+                'nameservers' => ['1.1.1.1'],
+            ],
+        ],
+    ]);
+
+    $configs = $b->generateInMemory();
+
+    $cp = Yaml::parse($configs->controlplane()) ?: [];
+    $wk = Yaml::parse($configs->worker()) ?: [];
+
+    expect($cp['cluster']['network']['dnsDomain'] ?? null)->toBe('cluster.local');
+    expect($wk['machine']['network']['nameservers'] ?? [])->toBe(['1.1.1.1']);
+
+    // certSANs was an empty sequence; it should be omitted after normalization
+    expect(isset($cp['cluster']['apiServer']['certSANs']))->toBeFalse();
+});
diff --git a/tests/Feature/TalosconfigInMemoryFromBuilderTest.php b/tests/Feature/TalosconfigInMemoryFromBuilderTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1596b5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Feature/TalosconfigInMemoryFromBuilderTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+use ArioLabs\Talos\Builders\ClusterBuilder;
+use ArioLabs\Talos\TalosCluster;
+use Tests\Fakes\ProcessRunnerWritingFake;
+
+it('fetches talosconfig via builder talosconfigInMemory()', function (): void {
+    $runner = new ProcessRunnerWritingFake("kind: talosconfig\n");
+    $talos = new TalosCluster($runner);
+
+    $b = new ClusterBuilder($talos, 'demo', 'https://10.0.0.1:6443');
+    $cfg = $b->talosconfigInMemory();
+
+    expect($cfg)->toContain('kind: talosconfig');
+});
diff --git a/tests/TalosconfigGenerationTest.php b/tests/TalosconfigGenerationTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3761e5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/TalosconfigGenerationTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+use ArioLabs\Talos\TalosCluster;
+use Tests\Fakes\ProcessRunnerWritingFake;
+
+it('generates talosconfig in memory and cleans up temp files', function (): void {
+    $runner = new ProcessRunnerWritingFake(talosconfigContent: "kind: talosconfig\nclusters: []\n");
+    $talos = new TalosCluster($runner);
+
+    $dir = sys_get_temp_dir().'/talos-tmp-test-'.uniqid();
+    // Ensure directory does not exist yet
+    @rmdir($dir);
+
+    $content = $talos->genTalosconfig('demo', 'https://10.0.0.1:6443', outDir: $dir);
+
+    expect($content)->toContain('kind: talosconfig');
+    // Files should be removed by genTalosconfig
+    expect(is_file($dir.'/talosconfig'))->toBeFalse();
+    expect(is_file($dir.'/controlplane.yaml'))->toBeFalse();
+    expect(is_file($dir.'/worker.yaml'))->toBeFalse();
+    // Best-effort rmdir — directory may or may not be removed depending on FS; assert no files
+});