From 795b6520692903a2a9c5207edf978bcfdc662fb2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: pdxlocations <benlipsey@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:03:11 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 1/4] export utf-8

---
 meshtastic/__main__.py | 26 +++++++++++++++++++-------
 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/meshtastic/__main__.py b/meshtastic/__main__.py
index ec755913..2474306f 100644
--- a/meshtastic/__main__.py
+++ b/meshtastic/__main__.py
@@ -751,13 +751,24 @@ def onConnected(interface):
                 interface.getNode(args.dest, False, **getNode_kwargs).commitSettingsTransaction()
                 print("Writing modified configuration to device")
 
-        if args.export_config:
+        if args.export_config is not None:
             if args.dest != BROADCAST_ADDR:
                 print("Exporting configuration of remote nodes is not supported.")
                 return
-            # export the configuration (the opposite of '--configure')
+
             closeNow = True
-            export_config(interface)
+            config_txt = export_config(interface)
+
+            if args.export_config == "-":
+                # Output to stdout (preserves legacy use of `> file.yaml`)
+                print(config_txt)
+            else:
+                try:
+                    with open(args.export_config, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+                        f.write(config_txt)
+                    print(f"Exported configuration to {args.export_config}")
+                except Exception as e:
+                    meshtastic.util.our_exit(f"ERROR: Failed to write config file: {e}")
 
         if args.ch_set_url:
             closeNow = True
@@ -1160,7 +1171,6 @@ def export_config(interface) -> str:
     config_txt = "# start of Meshtastic configure yaml\n"		#checkme - "config" (now changed to config_out)
                                                                         #was used as a string here and a Dictionary above
     config_txt += yaml.dump(configObj)
-    print(config_txt)
     return config_txt
 
 
@@ -1458,10 +1468,12 @@ def addImportExportArgs(parser: argparse.ArgumentParser) -> argparse.ArgumentPar
         help="Specify a path to a yaml(.yml) file containing the desired settings for the connected device.",
         action="append",
     )
-    group.add_argument(
+    parser.add_argument(
         "--export-config",
-        help="Export the configuration in yaml(.yml) format.",
-        action="store_true",
+        nargs="?",
+        const="-",  # default to "-" if no value provided
+        metavar="FILE",
+        help="Export device config as YAML (to stdout if no file given)"
     )
     return parser
 

From 58fc614fb71a988239b9cbefbfdc6a2fe597e748 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: pdxlocations <benlipsey@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:12:42 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 2/4] fix test

---
 meshtastic/tests/test_main.py | 3 ++-
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/meshtastic/tests/test_main.py b/meshtastic/tests/test_main.py
index 235829d4..67379c82 100644
--- a/meshtastic/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/meshtastic/tests/test_main.py
@@ -1738,7 +1738,8 @@ def test_main_export_config(capsys):
 fixed_position: true
 position_flags: 35"""
         export_config(mo)
-    out, err = capsys.readouterr()
+    out = export_config(mo)
+    err = ""
 
     # ensure we do not output this line
     assert not re.search(r"Connected to radio", out, re.MULTILINE)

From 2fa85bac1f6fd3333e3de8ba2e3733c5ebef3022 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: pdxlocations <benlipsey@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:21:15 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 3/4] typo

---
 meshtastic/__main__.py | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/meshtastic/__main__.py b/meshtastic/__main__.py
index 2474306f..fb129311 100644
--- a/meshtastic/__main__.py
+++ b/meshtastic/__main__.py
@@ -1468,7 +1468,7 @@ def addImportExportArgs(parser: argparse.ArgumentParser) -> argparse.ArgumentPar
         help="Specify a path to a yaml(.yml) file containing the desired settings for the connected device.",
         action="append",
     )
-    parser.add_argument(
+    group.add_argument(
         "--export-config",
         nargs="?",
         const="-",  # default to "-" if no value provided

From 0ae23eec7e347e9b35240f7e59ff434a5ff83d7c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: pdxlocations <benlipsey@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:34:44 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 4/4] don't think i needed that

---
 meshtastic/__main__.py | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/meshtastic/__main__.py b/meshtastic/__main__.py
index fb129311..dc090afb 100644
--- a/meshtastic/__main__.py
+++ b/meshtastic/__main__.py
@@ -751,7 +751,7 @@ def onConnected(interface):
                 interface.getNode(args.dest, False, **getNode_kwargs).commitSettingsTransaction()
                 print("Writing modified configuration to device")
 
-        if args.export_config is not None:
+        if args.export_config:
             if args.dest != BROADCAST_ADDR:
                 print("Exporting configuration of remote nodes is not supported.")
                 return