About YAML Multi-Doc Splitter

Split a multi-document YAML file into separate documents. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the YAML collection.

Use Cases

• Kubernetes engineers splitting Helm chart output into files
• DevOps teams isolating resources from multi-doc manifests
• CI pipelines processing individual YAML documents separately
• Platform engineers extracting specific resources from bundles

Tips

• Split Kubernetes manifests into individual resource files
• Verify document boundaries with the --- separator count
• Export individual documents for targeted kubectl apply

Fun Facts

• The YAML multi-document separator '---' was part of the original YAML 1.0 specification in 2004, designed for streaming multiple data structures over a single channel.
• Kubernetes is the largest consumer of multi-document YAML files — a typical Helm chart can contain 10-30 documents in a single rendered output.
• YAML also supports a document end marker '...' which is rarely used but technically required to signal the end of a document before directives in the next.

FAQ

What's a multi-document YAML file?

A single file containing multiple YAML documents separated by `---`. Common in Kubernetes manifests (one Service + one Deployment in one apply) and Helm template output.

Why split them?

To apply documents individually, rename them for separate files (deployment.yaml, service.yaml), or filter just the Services/ConfigMaps from a big combined file.

Does the splitter preserve comments?

Yes — comments at the top of each document stay with that document after splitting.

Can I filter by kind or apiVersion?

Yes — the tool parses each document as YAML and lets you filter by any top-level key (kind, apiVersion, metadata.namespace). Output is only the matching documents.