126 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
126 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Document Sharding Guide"
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---
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Comprehensive guide to BMad Method's document sharding system for managing large planning and architecture documents.
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## Table of Contents
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- [What is Document Sharding?](#what-is-document-sharding)
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- [When to Use Sharding](#when-to-use-sharding)
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- [How Sharding Works](#how-sharding-works)
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- [Using the Shard-Doc Tool](#using-the-shard-doc-tool)
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- [Workflow Support](#workflow-support)
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## What is Document Sharding?
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Document sharding splits large markdown files into smaller, organized files based on level 2 headings (`## Heading`). This enables:
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- **Selective Loading** - Workflows load only the sections they need
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- **Reduced Token Usage** - Massive efficiency gains for large projects
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- **Better Organization** - Logical section-based file structure
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- **Maintained Context** - Index file preserves document structure
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### Architecture
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```
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Before Sharding:
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docs/
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└── PRD.md (large 50k token file)
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After Sharding:
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docs/
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└── prd/
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├── index.md # Table of contents with descriptions
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├── overview.md # Section 1
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├── user-requirements.md # Section 2
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├── technical-requirements.md # Section 3
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└── ... # Additional sections
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```
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## When to Use Sharding
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### Ideal Candidates
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**Large Multi-Epic Projects:**
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- Very large complex PRDs
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- Architecture documents with multiple system layers
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- Epic files with 4+ epics (especially for Phase 4)
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- UX design specs covering multiple subsystems
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## How Sharding Works
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### Sharding Process
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1. **Tool Execution**: Run `npx @kayvan/markdown-tree-parser source.md destination/` - this is abstracted with the core shard-doc task which is installed as a slash command or manual task rule depending on your tools.
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2. **Section Extraction**: Tool splits by level 2 headings
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3. **File Creation**: Each section becomes a separate file
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4. **Index Generation**: `index.md` created with structure and descriptions
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### Workflow Discovery
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BMad workflows use a **dual discovery system**:
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1. **Try whole document first** - Look for `document-name.md`
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2. **Check for sharded version** - Look for `document-name/index.md`
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3. **Priority rule** - Whole document takes precedence if both exist - remove the whole document if you want the sharded to be used instead.
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## Using the Shard-Doc Tool
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### CLI Command
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```bash
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/bmad:core:tools:shard-doc
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```
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### Interactive Process
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```
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Agent: Which document would you like to shard?
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User: docs/PRD.md
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Agent: Default destination: docs/prd/
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Accept default? [y/n]
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User: y
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Agent: Sharding PRD.md...
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✓ Created 12 section files
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✓ Generated index.md
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✓ Complete!
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```
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### What Gets Created
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**index.md structure:**
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```markdown
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## Sections
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1. [Overview](./overview.md) - Project vision and objectives
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2. [User Requirements](./user-requirements.md) - Feature specifications
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3. [Epic 1: Authentication](./epic-1-authentication.md) - User auth system
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4. [Epic 2: Dashboard](./epic-2-dashboard.md) - Main dashboard UI
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...
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```
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**Individual section files:**
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- Named from heading text (kebab-case)
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- Contains complete section content
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- Preserves all markdown formatting
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- Can be read independently
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## Workflow Support
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### Universal Support
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**All BMM workflows support both formats:**
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- ✅ Whole documents
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- ✅ Sharded documents
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- ✅ Automatic detection
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- ✅ Transparent to user
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