diff --git a/app/kumactl/cmd/apply/apply.go b/app/kumactl/cmd/apply/apply.go
index b2cd7c9e3ff0..473e3050d6fc 100644
--- a/app/kumactl/cmd/apply/apply.go
+++ b/app/kumactl/cmd/apply/apply.go
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@ package apply
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -28,6 +30,8 @@ const (
 	timeout = 10 * time.Second
 )
 
+var yamlExt = []string{".yaml", ".yml"}
+
 type applyContext struct {
 	*kumactl_cmd.RootContext
 
@@ -63,66 +67,55 @@ $ kumactl apply -f https://example.com/resource.yaml
 
 			var b []byte
 			var err error
+			var resources []model.Resource
 
 			if ctx.args.file == "-" {
 				b, err = io.ReadAll(cmd.InOrStdin())
 				if err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
-			} else {
-				if strings.HasPrefix(ctx.args.file, "http://") || strings.HasPrefix(ctx.args.file, "https://") {
-					client := &http.Client{
-						Timeout: timeout,
-					}
-					req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", ctx.args.file, nil)
-					if err != nil {
-						return errors.Wrap(err, "error creating new http request")
-					}
-					resp, err := client.Do(req)
-					if err != nil {
-						return errors.Wrap(err, "error with GET http request")
-					}
-					if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
-						return errors.Wrap(err, "error while retrieving URL")
-					}
-					defer resp.Body.Close()
-					b, err = io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
-					if err != nil {
-						return errors.Wrap(err, "error while reading provided file")
-					}
-				} else {
-					b, err = os.ReadFile(ctx.args.file)
-					if err != nil {
-						return errors.Wrap(err, "error while reading provided file")
-					}
+				if len(b) == 0 {
+					return fmt.Errorf("no resource(s) passed to apply")
 				}
-			}
-			if len(b) == 0 {
-				return fmt.Errorf("no resource(s) passed to apply")
-			}
-			var resources []model.Resource
-			rawResources := yaml.SplitYAML(string(b))
-			for _, rawResource := range rawResources {
-				if len(rawResource) == 0 {
-					continue
+				r, err := bytesToResources(ctx, cmd, b)
+				if err != nil {
+					return errors.Wrap(err, "error parsing file to resources")
 				}
-				bytes := []byte(rawResource)
-				if len(ctx.args.vars) > 0 {
-					bytes = template.Render(rawResource, ctx.args.vars)
+				resources = append(resources, r...)
+			} else if strings.HasPrefix(ctx.args.file, "http://") || strings.HasPrefix(ctx.args.file, "https://") {
+				client := &http.Client{
+					Timeout: timeout,
 				}
-				res, err := rest_types.YAML.UnmarshalCore(bytes)
+				req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", ctx.args.file, nil)
 				if err != nil {
-					return errors.Wrap(err, "YAML contains invalid resource")
+					return errors.Wrap(err, "error creating new http request")
 				}
-				if err, msg := mesh.ValidateMetaBackwardsCompatible(res.GetMeta(), res.Descriptor().Scope); err.HasViolations() {
-					return err.OrNil()
-				} else if msg != "" {
-					if _, printErr := fmt.Fprintln(cmd.ErrOrStderr(), msg); printErr != nil {
-						return printErr
-					}
+				resp, err := client.Do(req)
+				if err != nil {
+					return errors.Wrap(err, "error with GET http request")
+				}
+				if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+					return errors.Wrap(err, "error while retrieving URL")
+				}
+				defer resp.Body.Close()
+				b, err = io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+				if err != nil {
+					return errors.Wrap(err, "error while reading provided file")
+				}
+				r, err := bytesToResources(ctx, cmd, b)
+				if err != nil {
+					return errors.Wrap(err, "error parsing file to resources")
 				}
-				resources = append(resources, res)
+				resources = append(resources, r...)
+			} else {
+				// Process local yaml files
+				r, err := localFileToResources(ctx, cmd)
+				if err != nil {
+					return errors.Wrap(err, "error processing file")
+				}
+				resources = append(resources, r...)
 			}
+
 			var rs store.ResourceStore
 			if !ctx.args.dryRun {
 				rs, err = pctx.CurrentResourceStore()
@@ -158,7 +151,96 @@ $ kumactl apply -f https://example.com/resource.yaml
 	return cmd
 }
 
-func upsert(ctx context.Context, typeRegistry registry.TypeRegistry, rs store.ResourceStore, res model.Resource) ([]string, error) {
+// localFileToResources reads and converts a local file into a list of model.Resource
+// the local file could be a directory, in which case it processes all the yaml files in the directory
+func localFileToResources(ctx *applyContext, cmd *cobra.Command) ([]model.Resource, error) {
+	var resources []model.Resource
+	file, err := os.Open(ctx.args.file)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "error while opening provided file")
+	}
+	defer file.Close()
+	orgDir, _ := filepath.Split(ctx.args.file)
+
+	fileInfo, err := file.Stat()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "error getting stats for the provided file")
+	}
+
+	var yamlFiles []string
+	if fileInfo.IsDir() {
+		for {
+			names, err := file.Readdirnames(10)
+			if err != nil {
+				if err == io.EOF {
+					break
+				} else {
+					return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "error reading file names in directory")
+				}
+			}
+			for _, n := range names {
+				if slices.Contains(yamlExt, filepath.Ext(n)) {
+					yamlFiles = append(yamlFiles, n)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	} else {
+		if slices.Contains(yamlExt, filepath.Ext(fileInfo.Name())) {
+			yamlFiles = append(yamlFiles, fileInfo.Name())
+		}
+		// TODO should this check be added?
+		//else {
+		//	return nil, fmt.Errorf("error the specified input file extension isn't yaml")
+		//}
+	}
+	var b []byte
+	for _, f := range yamlFiles {
+		joined := filepath.Join(orgDir, f)
+		b, err = os.ReadFile(joined)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, fmt.Sprintf("error while reading the provided file [%s]", f))
+		}
+		r, err := bytesToResources(ctx, cmd, b)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, fmt.Sprintf("error parsing file [%s] to resources", f))
+		}
+		resources = append(resources, r...)
+	}
+	if len(resources) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no resource(s) passed to apply")
+	}
+	return resources, nil
+}
+
+// bytesToResources converts a slice of bytes into a slice of model.Resource
+func bytesToResources(ctx *applyContext, cmd *cobra.Command, fileBytes []byte) ([]model.Resource, error) {
+	var resources []model.Resource
+	rawResources := yaml.SplitYAML(string(fileBytes))
+	for _, rawResource := range rawResources {
+		if len(rawResource) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		bytes := []byte(rawResource)
+		if len(ctx.args.vars) > 0 {
+			bytes = template.Render(rawResource, ctx.args.vars)
+		}
+		res, err := rest_types.YAML.UnmarshalCore(bytes)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "YAML contains invalid resource")
+		}
+		if err, msg := mesh.ValidateMetaBackwardsCompatible(res.GetMeta(), res.Descriptor().Scope); err.HasViolations() {
+			return nil, err.OrNil()
+		} else if msg != "" {
+			if _, printErr := fmt.Fprintln(cmd.ErrOrStderr(), msg); printErr != nil {
+				return nil, printErr
+			}
+		}
+		resources = append(resources, res)
+	}
+	return resources, nil
+}
+
+func upsert(ctx context.Context, typeRegistry registry.TypeRegistry, rs store.ResourceStore, res model.Resource) error {
 	newRes, err := typeRegistry.NewObject(res.Descriptor().Name)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err