diff --git a/src/cli/commands/daemon.js b/src/cli/commands/daemon.js
index 076a6d9fbe..751b0b3611 100644
--- a/src/cli/commands/daemon.js
+++ b/src/cli/commands/daemon.js
@@ -10,11 +10,22 @@ module.exports = {
 
   describe: 'Start a long-running daemon process',
 
-  handler () {
+  builder: {
+    'enable-sharding-experiment': {
+      type: 'boolean',
+      defaultt: false
+    },
+    'enable-pubsub-experiment': {
+      type: 'booleam',
+      default: false
+    }
+  },
+
+  handler (argv) {
     console.log('Initializing daemon...')
 
     const repoPath = utils.getRepoPath()
-    httpAPI = new HttpAPI(repoPath)
+    httpAPI = new HttpAPI(process.env.IPFS_PATH, argv)
 
     httpAPI.start((err) => {
       if (err && err.code === 'ENOENT') {
diff --git a/src/cli/commands/files/add.js b/src/cli/commands/files/add.js
index e133056c16..af5cad18af 100644
--- a/src/cli/commands/files/add.js
+++ b/src/cli/commands/files/add.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ const pull = require('pull-stream')
 const paramap = require('pull-paramap')
 const zip = require('pull-zip')
 const toPull = require('stream-to-pull-stream')
+const utils = require('../../utils')
 
 const WRAPPER = 'wrapper/'
 
@@ -56,6 +57,14 @@ module.exports = {
       alias: 'w',
       type: 'boolean',
       default: false
+    },
+    'enable-sharding-experiment': {
+      type: 'boolean',
+      defaultt: false
+    },
+    'shard-split-threshold': {
+      type: 'integer',
+      default: 1000
     }
   },
 
@@ -63,7 +72,12 @@ module.exports = {
     const inPath = checkPath(argv.file, argv.recursive)
     const index = inPath.lastIndexOf('/') + 1
     const options = {
-      strategy: argv.trickle ? 'trickle' : 'balanced'
+      strategy: argv.trickle ? 'trickle' : 'balanced',
+      shardSplitThreshold: argv.enableShardingExperiment ? argv.shardSplitThreshold : Infinity
+    }
+
+    if (argv.enableShardingExperiment && utils.isDaemonOn()) {
+      throw new Error('Error: Enabling the sharding experiment should be done on the daemon')
     }
     const ipfs = argv.ipfs
 
diff --git a/src/core/components/files.js b/src/core/components/files.js
index b84cff3fef..a5e28e7f7e 100644
--- a/src/core/components/files.js
+++ b/src/core/components/files.js
@@ -18,10 +18,14 @@ const Duplex = require('stream').Duplex
 
 module.exports = function files (self) {
   const createAddPullStream = (options) => {
+    const opts = Object.assign({}, {
+      shardSplitThreshold: self._options.EXPERIMENTAL.sharding ? 1000 : Infinity
+    }, options)
+
     return pull(
       pull.map(normalizeContent),
       pull.flatten(),
-      importer(self._ipldResolver, options),
+      importer(self._ipldResolver, opts),
       pull.asyncMap(prepareFile.bind(null, self))
     )
   }
diff --git a/src/core/index.js b/src/core/index.js
index 042d7731e5..f0b7c0c815 100644
--- a/src/core/index.js
+++ b/src/core/index.js
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ class IPFS extends EventEmitter {
     if (this._options.EXPERIMENTAL.pubsub) {
       this.log('EXPERIMENTAL pubsub is enabled')
     }
+    if (this._options.EXPERIMENTAL.sharding) {
+      this.log('EXPERIMENTAL sharding is enabled')
+    }
     this.state = require('./state')(this)
 
     boot(this)
diff --git a/src/http-api/index.js b/src/http-api/index.js
index 3fb36e73b2..0c93b889e2 100644
--- a/src/http-api/index.js
+++ b/src/http-api/index.js
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ function HttpApi (repo, config) {
             start: true,
             config: config,
             EXPERIMENTAL: {
-              pubsub: true
+              pubsub: true,
+              sharding: config && config.enableShardingExperiment
             }
           })
         } catch (err) {
diff --git a/test/core/files-sharding.spec.js b/test/core/files-sharding.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5c0d2609f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/core/files-sharding.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+/* eslint max-nested-callbacks: ["error", 8] */
+/* eslint-env mocha */
+'use strict'
+
+const chai = require('chai')
+const dirtyChai = require('dirty-chai')
+const expect = chai.expect
+chai.use(dirtyChai)
+const pull = require('pull-stream')
+
+const IPFS = require('../../src/core')
+const createTempRepo = require('../utils/create-repo-node.js')
+
+describe('files dir', () => {
+  const files = []
+  for (let i = 0; i < 1005; i++) {
+    files.push({
+      path: 'test-folder/' + i,
+      content: new Buffer('some content ' + i)
+    })
+  }
+
+  describe('without sharding', () => {
+    let ipfs
+
+    before((done) => {
+      ipfs = new IPFS({
+        repo: createTempRepo(),
+        config: {
+          Bootstrap: []
+        }
+      })
+      ipfs.once('start', done)
+    })
+
+    after((done) => {
+      ipfs.stop(done)
+    })
+
+    it('should be able to add dir without sharding', (done) => {
+      pull(
+        pull.values(files),
+        ipfs.files.createAddPullStream(),
+        pull.collect((err, results) => {
+          expect(err).to.not.exist()
+          const last = results[results.length - 1]
+          expect(last.path).to.be.eql('test-folder')
+          expect(last.hash).to.be.eql('QmWWM8ZV6GPhqJ46WtKcUaBPNHN5yQaFsKDSQ1RE73w94Q')
+          done()
+        })
+      )
+
+      after((done) => {
+        ipfs.stop(() => done()) // ignore stop errors
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe('with sharding', () => {
+    let ipfs
+
+    before((done) => {
+      ipfs = new IPFS({
+        repo: createTempRepo(),
+        config: {
+          Bootstrap: []
+        },
+        EXPERIMENTAL: {
+          sharding: true
+        }
+      })
+      ipfs.once('start', done)
+    })
+
+    after((done) => {
+      ipfs.stop(() => done()) // ignore stop errors
+    })
+
+    it('should be able to add dir with sharding', (done) => {
+      pull(
+        pull.values(files),
+        ipfs.files.createAddPullStream(),
+        pull.collect((err, results) => {
+          expect(err).to.not.exist()
+          const last = results[results.length - 1]
+          expect(last.path).to.be.eql('test-folder')
+          expect(last.hash).to.be.eql('QmZjYC1kWrLmiRYbEmGSo2PEpMixzT2k2xoCKSBzt8KDcy')
+          done()
+        })
+      )
+    })
+  })
+})