diff --git a/examples/k8s-apply/template-manifest-object.yaml b/examples/k8s-apply/template-manifest-object.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f88963d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/k8s-apply/template-manifest-object.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+apiVersion: scaffolder.backstage.io/v1beta3
+kind: Template
+metadata:
+  name: deploy-resources-object
+  title: Deploy Resources using object
+  description: Deploy Resource to Kubernetes
+spec:
+  owner: guest
+  type: service
+  # these are the steps which are rendered in the frontend with the form input
+  parameters: []
+  steps:
+    - id: template
+      name: Generating component
+      action: fetch:template
+      input:
+        url: ./skeleton
+    - id: apply
+      name: apply-manifest
+      action: cnoe:kubernetes:apply
+      input:
+        namespaced: true
+        manifestObject:
+          apiVersion: v1
+          kind: ConfigMap
+          metadata:
+            name: game-demo
+          data:
+            # property-like keys; each key maps to a simple value
+            player_initial_lives: "3"
+            ui_properties_file_name: "user-interface.properties"
+
+            # file-like keys
+            game.properties: |
+              enemy.types=aliens,monsters
+              player.maximum-lives=5
+            user-interface.properties: |
+              color.good=purple
+              color.bad=yellow
+              allow.textmode=true
+        clusterName: local
diff --git a/examples/k8s-apply/template-manifest-string.yaml b/examples/k8s-apply/template-manifest-string.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..312f557
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/k8s-apply/template-manifest-string.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+apiVersion: scaffolder.backstage.io/v1beta3
+kind: Template
+metadata:
+  name: deploy-resources-string
+  title: Deploy Resources using literal string
+  description: Deploy Resource to Kubernetes
+spec:
+  owner: guest
+  type: service
+  # these are the steps which are rendered in the frontend with the form input
+  parameters: []
+  steps:
+    - id: template
+      name: Generating component
+      action: fetch:template
+      input:
+        url: ./skeleton
+    - id: apply
+      name: apply-manifest
+      action: cnoe:kubernetes:apply
+      input:
+        namespaced: true
+        manifestString: |
+          apiVersion: v1
+          kind: ConfigMap
+          metadata:
+            name: game-demo
+          data:
+            # property-like keys; each key maps to a simple value
+            player_initial_lives: "3"
+            ui_properties_file_name: "user-interface.properties"
+
+            # file-like keys
+            game.properties: |
+              enemy.types=aliens,monsters
+              player.maximum-lives=5
+            user-interface.properties: |
+              color.good=purple
+              color.bad=yellow
+              allow.textmode=true
+        clusterName: local
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/plugins/k8s-apply.ts b/packages/backend/src/plugins/k8s-apply.ts
index 0810cb1..bd3ea31 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/plugins/k8s-apply.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/plugins/k8s-apply.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { createTemplateAction, executeShellCommand} from '@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-node';
 import { dumpYaml } from '@kubernetes/client-node';
-import YAML from 'yaml';
+import yaml from 'js-yaml';
 import { Config } from '@backstage/config';
 import { resolveSafeChildPath } from '@backstage/backend-common';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
@@ -57,17 +57,27 @@ export const createKubernetesApply = (config: Config) => {
     },
     async handler(ctx) {
       let obj: any;
+      let manifestPath = resolveSafeChildPath(ctx.workspacePath, 'to-be-applied.yaml');
       if (ctx.input.manifestString) {
-        obj = YAML.parse(ctx.input.manifestString);
+        obj = yaml.load(ctx.input.manifestString)
+        fs.writeFileSync(manifestPath, ctx.input.manifestString, {
+          encoding: 'utf8',
+          mode: '600',
+        });
       } else if (ctx.input.manifestObject) {
         obj = ctx.input.manifestObject;
+        fs.writeFileSync(manifestPath, yaml.dump(ctx.input.manifestObject), {
+          encoding: 'utf8',
+          mode: '600',
+        });
       } else {
         const filePath = resolveSafeChildPath(
           ctx.workspacePath,
           ctx.input.manifestPath!,
         );
         const fileContent = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
-        obj = YAML.parse(fileContent);
+        manifestPath = filePath
+        obj = yaml.load(fileContent);
       }
 
       if (ctx.input.clusterName) {
@@ -122,10 +132,7 @@ export const createKubernetesApply = (config: Config) => {
           encoding: 'utf8',
           mode: '600',
         });
-        const manifestPath = resolveSafeChildPath(
-          ctx.workspacePath,
-          ctx.input.manifestPath!,
-        );
+
         if (obj.metadata.generateName !== undefined) {
           await executeShellCommand({
             command: 'kubectl',
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/plugins/sanitize.ts b/packages/backend/src/plugins/sanitize.ts
index 94d7037..03a87b1 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/plugins/sanitize.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/plugins/sanitize.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,15 @@ export const createSanitizeResource = () => {
           },
         },
       },
+      output: {
+        type: 'object',
+        properties: {
+          sanitized: {
+            type: 'string',
+            description: 'The sanitized yaml string'
+          }
+        }
+      }
     },
     async handler(ctx) {
       const obj = yaml.load(ctx.input.document);