BMAD-METHOD/docs/how-to/shard-large-documents.md

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Document Sharding Guide

Use the shard-doc tool to split large markdown files into smaller, organized files for better context management.

When to Use This

• Very large complex PRDs
• Architecture documents with multiple system layers
• Epic files with 4+ epics (especially for Phase 4)
• UX design specs covering multiple subsystems

What is Document Sharding?

Document sharding splits large markdown files into smaller, organized files based on level 2 headings (## Heading). This enables:

• Selective Loading - Workflows load only the sections they need
• Reduced Token Usage - Massive efficiency gains for large projects
• Better Organization - Logical section-based file structure
• Maintained Context - Index file preserves document structure

Architecture

Before Sharding:
docs/
└── PRD.md (large 50k token file)

After Sharding:
docs/
└── prd/
    ├── index.md                    # Table of contents with descriptions
    ├── overview.md                 # Section 1
    ├── user-requirements.md        # Section 2
    ├── technical-requirements.md   # Section 3
    └── ...                         # Additional sections

Steps

1. Run the Shard-Doc Tool

/bmad:core:tools:shard-doc

2. Follow the Interactive Process

Agent: Which document would you like to shard?
User: docs/PRD.md

Agent: Default destination: docs/prd/
       Accept default? [y/n]
User: y

Agent: Sharding PRD.md...
       ✓ Created 12 section files
       ✓ Generated index.md
       ✓ Complete!

What You Get

index.md structure:

## Sections

1. [Overview](./overview.md) - Project vision and objectives
2. [User Requirements](./user-requirements.md) - Feature specifications
3. [Epic 1: Authentication](./epic-1-authentication.md) - User auth system
4. [Epic 2: Dashboard](./epic-2-dashboard.md) - Main dashboard UI
   ...

Individual section files:

• Named from heading text (kebab-case)
• Contains complete section content
• Preserves all markdown formatting
• Can be read independently

How Workflow Discovery Works

BMad workflows use a dual discovery system:

1. Try whole document first - Look for document-name.md
2. Check for sharded version - Look for document-name/index.md
3. Priority rule - Whole document takes precedence if both exist - remove the whole document if you want the sharded to be used instead

Workflow Support

All BMM workflows support both formats:

• Whole documents
• Sharded documents
• Automatic detection
• Transparent to user