diff --git a/plugins/modules/assemble_cluster_template.py b/plugins/modules/assemble_cluster_template.py
index 2a5f507d..7710c6d5 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/assemble_cluster_template.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/assemble_cluster_template.py
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-
 # Copyright 2023 Cloudera, Inc.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
@@ -44,6 +41,7 @@
   src:
     description:
       - An already existing directory of cluster template files.
+      - TODO Local or remote
     type: path
     required: True
     aliases:
@@ -118,16 +116,23 @@
   cloudera.cluster.assemble_cluster_template:
     src: examples
     dest: /opt/cloudera/cluster-template.json
-    
+
 - name: Assemble a cluster template from selected files (on the controller)
   cloudera.cluster.assemble_cluster_template:
     src: examples
     dest: /opt/cloudera/cluster-template.json
     regexp: "base|nifi"
+    
+- name: Assemble a cluster template from files on the target host
+  cloudera.cluster.assemble_cluster_template:
+    src: /tmp/examples
+    dest: /opt/cloudera/cluster-template.json
+    remote_src: yes
 """
 
 RETURN = r"""#"""
 
+import json
 import os
 import re
 import tempfile
@@ -137,9 +142,13 @@
 
 
 class AssembleClusterTemplate(object):
+    MERGED = {}
+    IDEMPOTENT_IDS = ["refName", "name", "clusterName", "hostName", "product"]
+    UNIQUE_IDS = ["repositories"]
+
     def __init__(self, module):
-        self.module = module 
-        
+        self.module = module
+
         # Set parameters
         self.src = self.module.params["src"]
         self.dest = self.module.params["dest"]
@@ -161,15 +170,66 @@ def __init__(self, module):
         # Execute the logic
         self.process()
 
-    def process_fragment(self, fh) -> bytes:
-        updated = bytearray(fh.read())
-        updated.extend("\n-------\n".encode())
-        return updated
-
-    def complete_assembly(self, assembled_file):
-        pass
+    def update_object(self, base, template, breadcrumbs=""):
+        if isinstance(base, dict) and isinstance(template, dict):
+            self.update_dict(base, template, breadcrumbs)
+            return True
+        elif isinstance(base, list) and isinstance(template, list):
+            self.update_list(base, template, breadcrumbs)
+            return True
+        return False
+
+    def update_dict(self, base, template, breadcrumbs=""):
+        for key, value in template.items():
+            crumb = breadcrumbs + "/" + key
+
+            if key in self.IDEMPOTENT_IDS:
+                if base[key] != value:
+                    self.module.warn(
+                        f"Objects with distinct IDs should not be merged: {crumb}"
+                    )
+                continue
 
-    def _assemble_fragments(self, assembled_file):
+            if key not in base:
+                base[key] = value
+            elif not self.update_object(base[key], value, crumb) and base[key] != value:
+                self.module.warn(
+                    f"Value being overwritten for key [{crumb}]; Old: [{base[key]}], New: [{value}]"
+                )
+                base[key] = value
+
+            if key in self.UNIQUE_IDS:
+                base[key] = list(set(base[key]))
+
+    def update_list(self, base, template, breadcrumbs=""):
+        for item in template:
+            if isinstance(item, dict):
+                for attr in self.IDEMPOTENT_IDS:
+                    if attr in item:
+                        idempotent_id = attr
+                        break
+                else:
+                    idempotent_id = None
+                if idempotent_id:
+                    namesake = [
+                        i for i in base if i[idempotent_id] == item[idempotent_id]
+                    ]
+                    if namesake:
+                        self.update_dict(
+                            namesake[0],
+                            item,
+                            breadcrumbs
+                            + "/["
+                            + idempotent_id
+                            + "="
+                            + item[idempotent_id]
+                            + "]",
+                        )
+                        continue
+            base.append(item)
+        base.sort(key=lambda x: json.dumps(x, sort_keys=True))
+
+    def assemble_fragments(self, assembled_file):
         # By file name sort order
         for f in sorted(os.listdir(self.src)):
             # Filter by regexp
@@ -183,17 +243,18 @@ def _assemble_fragments(self, assembled_file):
             ):
                 continue
 
-            with open(fragment, "rb") as fragment_file:
-                content = self.process_fragment(fragment_file)
-
-            # Write the resulting bytes
-            if content is not None:
-                assembled_file.write(content)
+            with open(fragment, "r", encoding="utf-8") as fragment_file:
+                try:
+                    self.update_object(self.MERGED, json.loads(fragment_file.read()))
+                except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
+                    self.module.fail_json(
+                        msg=f"JSON parsing error: {to_text(e.msg)}", error=to_native(e)
+                    )
 
-        # Finalize any remaining assembly
-        self.complete_assembly(assembled_file)
+        # Write out the final assembly
+        json.dump(self.MERGED, assembled_file, indent=2, sort_keys=False)
 
-        # Close the assembled file handle
+        # Close the assembled file handle; will not delete for atomic_move
         assembled_file.close()
 
     def process(self):
@@ -212,18 +273,13 @@ def process(self):
                     msg=f"Regular expression, {self.regexp} is invalid: {to_native(e)}"
                 )
 
-        # Assemble fragments
+        # Assemble the src files into output file
+        # No deletion on close; atomic_move "removes" the file
         with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(
-            dir=self.module.tmpdir, delete=False
-        ) as assembled:           
+            mode="w", encoding="utf-8", dir=self.module.tmpdir, delete=False
+        ) as assembled:
             # Process fragments into temporary file
-            self._assemble_fragments(assembled)
-
-            # Confirm the assembled file is closed
-            if not assembled.closed:
-                self.module.fail_json(
-                    msg=f"Assembled file, {assembled.name}, not closed after fragment processing"
-                )
+            self.assemble_fragments(assembled)
 
             # Generate hashes for assembled file
             assembled_sha1 = self.module.sha1(assembled.name)
@@ -242,9 +298,7 @@ def process(self):
 
             if assembled_sha1 != dest_sha1:
                 if self.backup and dest_sha1 is not None:
-                    self.output.update(
-                        backup_file=self.module.backup_local(self.dest)
-                    )
+                    self.output.update(backup_file=self.module.backup_local(self.dest))
 
                 self.module.atomic_move(
                     assembled.name, self.dest, unsafe_writes=self.unsafe_writes