diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 39e986483..1da33396a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Inspired from [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/)
 - Added `aggregations` to `/nodes/_usage/{metric}` requests and responses ([#615](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-api-specification/pull/615))
 - Added missing `status` to `/_search/template` response ([#702](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-api-specification/pull/702))
 - Added `_type` to `rank_eval` API specs ([#704](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-api-specification/pull/704))
+- Added request body to `_search_shards` API specs ([#704](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-api-specification/pull/704))
 
 ### Removed
 - Removed unsupported `_common.mapping:SourceField`'s `mode` field and associated `_common.mapping:SourceFieldMode` enum ([#652](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-api-specification/pull/652))
diff --git a/spec/namespaces/_core.yaml b/spec/namespaces/_core.yaml
index 6b032fc2f..283c64e50 100644
--- a/spec/namespaces/_core.yaml
+++ b/spec/namespaces/_core.yaml
@@ -1041,6 +1041,8 @@ paths:
         - $ref: '#/components/parameters/search_shards::query.local'
         - $ref: '#/components/parameters/search_shards::query.preference'
         - $ref: '#/components/parameters/search_shards::query.routing'
+      requestBody:
+        $ref: '#/components/requestBodies/search_shards'
       responses:
         '200':
           $ref: '#/components/responses/search_shards@200'
@@ -2021,6 +2023,8 @@ paths:
         - $ref: '#/components/parameters/search_shards::query.local'
         - $ref: '#/components/parameters/search_shards::query.preference'
         - $ref: '#/components/parameters/search_shards::query.routing'
+      requestBody:
+        $ref: '#/components/requestBodies/search_shards'
       responses:
         '200':
           $ref: '#/components/responses/search_shards@200'
@@ -2690,6 +2694,46 @@ components:
                 type: string
             description: The search definition template and its parameters.
       required: true
+    search_shards:
+      content:
+        application/json:
+          schema:
+            type: object
+            properties:
+              query:
+                description: Defines the search query to filter shards. Supports any query that is valid for the `_search` endpoint.
+                type: object
+                additionalProperties:
+                  type: object
+              indices_boost:
+                description: Allows increasing the relevance of specific indices in the search.
+                type: object
+                additionalProperties:
+                  type: number
+              allow_partial_search_results:
+                description: Indicates whether partial search results are allowed if some shards are unavailable.
+                type: boolean
+              _source:
+                description: Specifies which fields to include in the `_source` response or excludes specific fields.
+                oneOf:
+                  - type: boolean
+                  - type: array
+                    items:
+                      type: string
+              from:
+                description: The starting offset (default 0) for paginated results.
+                type: integer
+              size:
+                description: The maximum number of results to return (default 10).
+                type: integer
+              sort:
+                description: A list of fields and directions for sorting the results.
+                type: array
+                items:
+                  type: object
+                  additionalProperties:
+                    type: string
+            description: Defines the parameters that can be used in the `search_shards` endpoint request. See documentation for supported query syntax.
     termvectors:
       content:
         application/json:
diff --git a/tests/default/_core/search_shards.yaml b/tests/default/_core/search_shards.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ac3d70b51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/default/_core/search_shards.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+$schema: ../../../json_schemas/test_story.schema.yaml
+
+description: Test _search_shards APIs.
+prologues:
+  - path: /_bulk
+    method: POST
+    parameters:
+      refresh: true
+    request:
+      content_type: application/x-ndjson
+      payload:
+        - {create: {_index: movies, _id: movie1}}
+        - {director: Quentin Tarantino, title: Pulp Fiction, year: 1994}
+        - {create: {_index: movies, _id: movie2}}
+        - {director: Christopher Nolan, title: Inception, year: 2010}
+epilogues:
+  - path: /movies
+    method: DELETE
+    status: [200, 404]
+
+chapters:
+  - synopsis: Verify the distribution of shards for the index.
+    path: /_search_shards
+    method: GET
+    response:
+      status: 200
+  
+  - synopsis: Check routing behavior based on search criteria.
+    path: /_search_shards
+    method: POST
+    request:
+      payload:
+        query:
+          match:
+            title: "To Kill a Mockingbird"
+    response:
+      status: 200
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/default/indices/search_shards.yaml b/tests/default/indices/search_shards.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f6102a5bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/default/indices/search_shards.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+$schema: ../../../json_schemas/test_story.schema.yaml
+
+description: Test _search_shards APIs.
+prologues:
+  - path: /_bulk
+    method: POST
+    parameters:
+      refresh: true
+    request:
+      content_type: application/x-ndjson
+      payload:
+        - {create: {_index: movies, _id: movie1}}
+        - {director: Quentin Tarantino, title: Pulp Fiction, year: 1994}
+        - {create: {_index: movies, _id: movie2}}
+        - {director: Christopher Nolan, title: Inception, year: 2010}
+epilogues:
+  - path: /movies
+    method: DELETE
+    status: [200, 404]
+
+chapters:
+  - synopsis: Verify the distribution of shards for the index.
+    path: /{index}/_search_shards
+    parameters:
+      index: movies
+    method: GET
+    response:
+      status: 200
+  
+  - synopsis: Check routing behavior based on search criteria.
+    path: /{index}/_search_shards
+    parameters:
+      index: movies
+    method: POST
+    request:
+      payload:
+        query:
+          match:
+            title: "To Kill a Mockingbird"
+    response:
+      status: 200
\ No newline at end of file