1. Prepare Your Sourdough Dough: Ensure your sourdough dough has completed its bulk fermentation and is ready for shaping. It should be bubbly, elastic, and have increased significantly in volume.

2. Choose Your Inclusion(s): Decide which flavor combination you want to use. For example, if making chocolate chip sourdough, have your chocolate chips ready. For savory, have your herbs, cheese, and garlic prepped.

3. Gently Stretch or Laminate the Dough: On a lightly floured surface, gently stretch your dough into a large rectangle. Aim for a thickness of about 1/2 to 3/4 inch. This creates a large surface area for distributing your inclusions.

4. Evenly Distribute Inclusions: Sprinkle your chosen inclusions evenly over the stretched dough. For chocolate chips, spread them across the surface. For savory options like rosemary, garlic, and Parmesan, scatter them generously. Don’t overload it, but ensure good coverage.

5. Fold and Incorporate: Carefully fold the dough over itself in thirds, like a letter. Then, gently stretch it again and fold it in thirds once more. This helps to distribute the inclusions throughout the dough without tearing it. You might need to do a few gentle folds and stretches. The goal is to get the inclusions mixed in without deflating the dough too much.

6. Shape Your Loaf: Once the inclusions are well distributed, proceed with your usual final shaping technique for your sourdough loaf (e.g., boule or batard).

7. Proof and Bake: Place your shaped dough into a proofing basket (banneton) for its final proof, then bake according to your standard sourdough recipe instructions. Look for a deep golden-brown crust and a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.