diff --git a/cmd/hauler/cli/store.go b/cmd/hauler/cli/store.go
index ccc03f05..17fbc795 100644
--- a/cmd/hauler/cli/store.go
+++ b/cmd/hauler/cli/store.go
@@ -71,6 +71,15 @@ func addStoreSync(rso *flags.StoreRootOpts, ro *flags.CliRootOpts) *cobra.Comman
 		Short: "Sync content to the content store",
 		Args:  cobra.ExactArgs(0),
 		PreRunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			// --dry-run requires --products
+			if o.DryRun && len(o.Products) == 0 {
+				return fmt.Errorf("--dry-run requires --products")
+			}
+			// suppress log output during dry-run so YAML is the only stdout content
+			// must be set before any log calls to keep stdout clean for piping
+			if o.DryRun {
+				log.FromContext(cmd.Context()).SetLevel("fatal")
+			}
 			// warn if products or product-registry flag is used by the user
 			if cmd.Flags().Changed("products") {
 				log.FromContext(cmd.Context()).Warnf("!!! WARNING !!! [--products] will be updating its default registry in a future release.")
@@ -90,6 +99,10 @@ func addStoreSync(rso *flags.StoreRootOpts, ro *flags.CliRootOpts) *cobra.Comman
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			ctx := cmd.Context()
 
+			if o.DryRun {
+				return store.SyncCmd(ctx, o, nil, rso, ro)
+			}
+
 			s, err := o.Store(ctx)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
diff --git a/cmd/hauler/cli/store/sync.go b/cmd/hauler/cli/store/sync.go
index 72e57eaa..1efb6cf4 100644
--- a/cmd/hauler/cli/store/sync.go
+++ b/cmd/hauler/cli/store/sync.go
@@ -10,7 +10,12 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/authn"
+	gname "github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/name"
+	gv1 "github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/remote"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir"
+	ocispec "github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/specs-go/v1"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/action"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/yaml"
 
@@ -28,6 +33,72 @@ import (
 func SyncCmd(ctx context.Context, o *flags.SyncOpts, s *store.Layout, rso *flags.StoreRootOpts, ro *flags.CliRootOpts) error {
 	l := log.FromContext(ctx)
 
+	// Handle dry-run before any local side effects (temp dirs, store writes).
+	if o.DryRun {
+		for _, productName := range o.Products {
+			parts := strings.Split(productName, "=")
+			tag := strings.ReplaceAll(parts[1], "+", "-")
+
+			ProductRegistry := o.ProductRegistry
+			if o.ProductRegistry == "" {
+				ProductRegistry = consts.CarbideRegistry
+			}
+
+			manifestLoc := fmt.Sprintf("%s/hauler/%s-manifest.yaml:%s", ProductRegistry, parts[0], tag)
+			fileName := fmt.Sprintf("%s-manifest.yaml", parts[0])
+
+			parsedRef, err := gname.ParseReference(manifestLoc)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch product manifest for [%s]: %w", productName, err)
+			}
+			remoteImg, err := remote.Image(parsedRef,
+				remote.WithAuthFromKeychain(authn.DefaultKeychain),
+				remote.WithContext(ctx),
+			)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch product manifest for [%s]: %w", productName, err)
+			}
+			mf, err := remoteImg.Manifest()
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			// Select the layer whose AnnotationTitle matches the expected
+			// manifest filename, rather than assuming layer order.
+			var layerDigest *gv1.Hash
+			for _, desc := range mf.Layers {
+				if desc.Annotations[ocispec.AnnotationTitle] == fileName {
+					layerDigest = &desc.Digest
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			if layerDigest == nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("product manifest for [%s] has no layer with title %q", productName, fileName)
+			}
+			layer, err := remoteImg.LayerByDigest(*layerDigest)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			rc, err := layer.Compressed()
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			content, err := io.ReadAll(rc)
+			rc.Close()
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			// Ensure each manifest starts with a YAML document separator.
+			if !strings.HasPrefix(string(content), "---") {
+				content = append([]byte("---\n"), content...)
+			}
+			if _, err := os.Stdout.Write(content); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	tempOverride := rso.TempOverride
 
 	if tempOverride == "" {
@@ -56,19 +127,19 @@ func SyncCmd(ctx context.Context, o *flags.SyncOpts, s *store.Layout, rso *flags
 
 		manifestLoc := fmt.Sprintf("%s/hauler/%s-manifest.yaml:%s", ProductRegistry, parts[0], tag)
 		l.Infof("fetching product manifest from [%s]", manifestLoc)
+
 		img := v1.Image{
 			Name: manifestLoc,
 		}
 		err := storeImage(ctx, s, img, o.Platform, o.ExcludeExtras, rso, ro, "")
 		if err != nil {
-			return err
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch product manifest for [%s]: %w", productName, err)
 		}
 		err = ExtractCmd(ctx, &flags.ExtractOpts{StoreRootOpts: o.StoreRootOpts}, s, fmt.Sprintf("hauler/%s-manifest.yaml:%s", parts[0], tag))
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		fileName := fmt.Sprintf("%s-manifest.yaml", parts[0])
-
 		fi, err := os.Open(fileName)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/cmd/hauler/cli/store/sync_test.go b/cmd/hauler/cli/store/sync_test.go
index 8a4ecf1a..2a0e5985 100644
--- a/cmd/hauler/cli/store/sync_test.go
+++ b/cmd/hauler/cli/store/sync_test.go
@@ -6,9 +6,21 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"os"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/name"
+	gcrv1 "github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/empty"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/mutate"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/remote"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/static"
+	gvtypes "github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/types"
+	ocispec "github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/specs-go/v1"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
+
 	"hauler.dev/go/hauler/internal/flags"
+	"hauler.dev/go/hauler/pkg/consts"
 )
 
 // writeManifestFile writes yamlContent to a temp file, seeks back to the
@@ -439,3 +451,110 @@ spec:
 	}
 	assertArtifactInStore(t, s, "synced-remote.sh")
 }
+
+// --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// SyncCmd --dry-run tests
+// --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+// buildProductManifestImage constructs a synthetic OCI file-artifact image
+// containing yamlContent as a single layer. The image uses the same media
+// types and AnnotationTitle annotation that storeFile/AddArtifact produce,
+// so ExtractCmd extracts the layer to a file named fileName.
+func buildProductManifestImage(t *testing.T, fileName string, yamlContent []byte) gcrv1.Image {
+	t.Helper()
+	fileLayer := static.NewLayer(yamlContent, gvtypes.MediaType(consts.FileLayerMediaType))
+	img, err := mutate.Append(empty.Image, mutate.Addendum{
+		Layer: fileLayer,
+		Annotations: map[string]string{
+			ocispec.AnnotationTitle: fileName,
+		},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("buildProductManifestImage mutate.Append: %v", err)
+	}
+	img = mutate.MediaType(img, gvtypes.OCIManifestSchema1)
+	img = mutate.ConfigMediaType(img, gvtypes.MediaType(consts.FileLocalConfigMediaType))
+	return img
+}
+
+// TestSyncCmd_DryRun_Products_PrintsManifestToStdout verifies that when
+// DryRun is true the product manifest YAML is written to stdout without
+// writing anything to the local store — storeImage is never called.
+func TestSyncCmd_DryRun_Products_PrintsManifestToStdout(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := newTestContext(t)
+	t.Cleanup(func() { zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.InfoLevel) })
+
+	const productName = "testproduct"
+	const productVersion = "v1.0.0"
+	const manifestFileName = productName + "-manifest.yaml"
+
+	manifestYAML := []byte(`apiVersion: content.hauler.cattle.io/v1
+kind: Files
+metadata:
+  name: testproduct-files
+spec:
+  files:
+    - path: https://example.com/test.sh
+`)
+
+	// Seed the product registry with the manifest as a file-artifact OCI image.
+	host, rOpts := newLocalhostRegistry(t)
+	img := buildProductManifestImage(t, manifestFileName, manifestYAML)
+	imgTag, err := name.NewTag(
+		fmt.Sprintf("%s/hauler/%s:%s", host, manifestFileName, productVersion),
+		name.Insecure,
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("name.NewTag: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := remote.Write(imgTag, img, rOpts...); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("remote.Write product manifest image: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Redirect os.Stdout to capture what SyncCmd prints during dry-run.
+	oldStdout := os.Stdout
+	r, w, pipeErr := os.Pipe()
+	if pipeErr != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("os.Pipe: %v", pipeErr)
+	}
+	os.Stdout = w
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		os.Stdout = oldStdout
+		w.Close()
+		r.Close()
+	})
+
+	o := newSyncOpts(t.TempDir())
+	o.Products = []string{fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", productName, productVersion)}
+	o.ProductRegistry = host
+	o.DryRun = true
+	rso := defaultRootOpts(t.TempDir())
+	ro := defaultCliOpts()
+
+	// Pass nil store — dry-run must not touch the store at all.
+	syncErr := SyncCmd(ctx, o, nil, rso, ro)
+
+	// Close the write end before reading to unblock io.Copy.
+	w.Close()
+	var buf strings.Builder
+	if _, err := io.Copy(&buf, r); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read captured stdout: %v", err)
+	}
+	r.Close()
+	os.Stdout = oldStdout
+
+	if syncErr != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SyncCmd dry-run: %v", syncErr)
+	}
+
+	got := buf.String()
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(got, "---\n") {
+		t.Errorf("dry-run stdout should start with YAML document separator; got:\n%s", got)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "kind: Files") {
+		t.Errorf("dry-run stdout missing 'kind: Files'; got:\n%s", got)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "testproduct-files") {
+		t.Errorf("dry-run stdout missing manifest name 'testproduct-files'; got:\n%s", got)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/flags/sync.go b/internal/flags/sync.go
index 455808e2..36012231 100644
--- a/internal/flags/sync.go
+++ b/internal/flags/sync.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ type SyncOpts struct {
 	Tlog                         bool
 	Rewrite                      string
 	ExcludeExtras                bool
+	DryRun                       bool
 }
 
 func (o *SyncOpts) AddFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
@@ -41,4 +42,5 @@ func (o *SyncOpts) AddFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	f.BoolVar(&o.Tlog, "use-tlog-verify", false, "(Optional) Allow transparency log verification (defaults to false)")
 	f.StringVar(&o.Rewrite, "rewrite", "", "(EXPERIMENTAL & Optional) Rewrite artifact path to specified string")
 	f.BoolVar(&o.ExcludeExtras, "exclude-extras", false, "(Optional) Exclude cosign signatures, attestations, SBOMs, and OCI referrers when pulling images")
+	f.BoolVar(&o.DryRun, "dry-run", false, "(Optional) Output product manifest content to stdout instead of processing it (requires --products)")
 }