diff --git a/app/ghcup-gen/Main.hs b/app/ghcup-gen/Main.hs
index 7f80d11..74fbc03 100644
--- a/app/ghcup-gen/Main.hs
+++ b/app/ghcup-gen/Main.hs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import           GHCup.Types
 import           GHCup.Types.JSON               ( )
 import           GHCup.Utils.Logger
 
+import           Data.Char                      ( toLower )
 #if !MIN_VERSION_base(4,13,0)
 import           Data.Semigroup                 ( (<>) )
 #endif
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ import           Options.Applicative     hiding ( style )
 import           System.Console.Pretty
 import           System.Exit
 import           System.IO                      ( stdout )
+import           Text.Regex.Posix
 import           Validate
 
 import qualified Data.ByteString               as B
@@ -32,7 +34,7 @@ data Options = Options
   }
 
 data Command = ValidateYAML ValidateYAMLOpts
-             | ValidateTarballs ValidateYAMLOpts
+             | ValidateTarballs ValidateYAMLOpts TarballFilter
 
 
 data Input
@@ -63,6 +65,22 @@ data ValidateYAMLOpts = ValidateYAMLOpts
 validateYAMLOpts :: Parser ValidateYAMLOpts
 validateYAMLOpts = ValidateYAMLOpts <$> optional inputP
 
+tarballFilterP :: Parser TarballFilter
+tarballFilterP = option readm $
+  long "tarball-filter" <> short 'u' <> metavar "<tool>-<version>" <> value def
+    <> help "Only check certain tarballs (format: <tool>-<version>)"
+  where
+    def = TarballFilter Nothing (makeRegex ("" :: String))
+    readm = do
+      s <- str
+      case span (/= '-') s of
+        (_, []) -> fail "invalid format, missing '-' after the tool name"
+        (t, v) | [tool] <- [ tool | tool <- [minBound..maxBound], low (show tool) == low t ] ->
+          TarballFilter <$> pure (Just tool) <*> makeRegexOptsM compIgnoreCase execBlank (drop 1 v)
+        _ -> fail "invalid tool"
+    low = fmap toLower
+
+
 opts :: Parser Options
 opts = Options <$> com
 
@@ -78,11 +96,9 @@ com = subparser
      )
   <> (command
        "check-tarballs"
-       (   ValidateTarballs
-       <$> (info
-             (validateYAMLOpts <**> helper)
-             (progDesc "Validate all tarballs (download and checksum)")
-           )
+       (info
+         ((ValidateTarballs <$> validateYAMLOpts <*> tarballFilterP) <**> helper)
+         (progDesc "Validate all tarballs (download and checksum)")
        )
      )
   )
@@ -100,13 +116,13 @@ main = do
               B.getContents >>= valAndExit validate
             ValidateYAMLOpts { vInput = Just (FileInput file) } ->
               B.readFile file >>= valAndExit validate
-          ValidateTarballs vopts -> case vopts of
+          ValidateTarballs vopts tarballFilter -> case vopts of
             ValidateYAMLOpts { vInput = Nothing } ->
-              B.getContents >>= valAndExit validateTarballs
+              B.getContents >>= valAndExit (validateTarballs tarballFilter)
             ValidateYAMLOpts { vInput = Just StdInput } ->
-              B.getContents >>= valAndExit validateTarballs
+              B.getContents >>= valAndExit (validateTarballs tarballFilter)
             ValidateYAMLOpts { vInput = Just (FileInput file) } ->
-              B.readFile file >>= valAndExit validateTarballs
+              B.readFile file >>= valAndExit (validateTarballs tarballFilter)
   pure ()
 
  where
diff --git a/app/ghcup-gen/Validate.hs b/app/ghcup-gen/Validate.hs
index 38a6e39..c3f689c 100644
--- a/app/ghcup-gen/Validate.hs
+++ b/app/ghcup-gen/Validate.hs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ module Validate where
 import           GHCup
 import           GHCup.Download
 import           GHCup.Types
+import           GHCup.Types.Optics
 import           GHCup.Utils.Dirs
 import           GHCup.Utils.Logger
 import           GHCup.Utils.Version.QQ
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ import           Control.Monad.Trans.Reader     ( runReaderT )
 import           Control.Monad.Trans.Resource   ( runResourceT
                                                 , MonadUnliftIO
                                                 )
+import           Data.Containers.ListUtils      ( nubOrd )
 import           Data.IORef
 import           Data.List
 import           Data.String.Interpolate
@@ -30,6 +32,7 @@ import           Optics
 import           System.Exit
 import           System.IO
 import           Text.ParserCombinators.ReadP
+import           Text.Regex.Posix
 
 import qualified Data.ByteString               as B
 import qualified Data.Map.Strict               as M
@@ -157,6 +160,11 @@ validate dls = do
   isBase (Base _) = True
   isBase _        = False
 
+data TarballFilter = TarballFilter
+  { tfTool    :: Maybe Tool
+  , tfVersion :: Regex
+  }
+
 validateTarballs :: ( Monad m
                     , MonadLogger m
                     , MonadThrow m
@@ -164,23 +172,20 @@ validateTarballs :: ( Monad m
                     , MonadUnliftIO m
                     , MonadMask m
                     )
-                 => GHCupDownloads
+                 => TarballFilter
+                 -> GHCupDownloads
                  -> m ExitCode
-validateTarballs dls = do
+validateTarballs (TarballFilter tool versionRegex) dls = do
   ref <- liftIO $ newIORef 0
 
   flip runReaderT ref $ do
-     -- download/verify all binary tarballs
-    let
-      dlbis = nub $ join $ (M.elems dls) <&> \versions ->
-        join $ (M.elems versions) <&> \vi ->
-          join $ (M.elems $ _viArch vi) <&> \pspecs ->
-            join $ (M.elems pspecs) <&> \pverspecs -> (M.elems pverspecs)
-    forM_ dlbis $ downloadAll
-
-    let dlsrc = nub $ join $ (M.elems dls) <&> \versions ->
-          join $ (M.elems versions) <&> maybe [] (: []) . _viSourceDL
-    forM_ dlsrc $ downloadAll
+     -- download/verify all tarballs
+    let dlis = nubOrd $ dls ^.. each
+          %& indices (maybe (const True) (==) tool) %> each
+          %& indices (matchTest versionRegex . T.unpack . prettyVer)
+          % (viSourceDL % _Just `summing` viArch % each % each % each)
+    when (null dlis) $ $(logError) [i|no tarballs selected by filter|] *> addError
+    forM_ dlis $ downloadAll
 
     -- exit
     e <- liftIO $ readIORef ref
@@ -191,13 +196,13 @@ validateTarballs dls = do
         pure ExitSuccess
 
  where
+  runLogger = myLoggerT LoggerConfig { lcPrintDebug = True
+                                     , colorOutter  = B.hPut stderr
+                                     , rawOutter    = (\_ -> pure ())
+                                     }
   downloadAll dli = do
     dirs <- liftIO getDirs
     let settings = AppState (Settings True False Never Curl False GHCupURL) dirs defaultKeyBindings
-    let runLogger = myLoggerT LoggerConfig { lcPrintDebug = True
-                                           , colorOutter  = B.hPut stderr
-                                           , rawOutter    = (\_ -> pure ())
-                                           }
 
     r <-
       runLogger
diff --git a/ghcup.cabal b/ghcup.cabal
index 78772c3..ef77118 100644
--- a/ghcup.cabal
+++ b/ghcup.cabal
@@ -431,6 +431,7 @@ executable ghcup-gen
     , optics
     , optparse-applicative
     , pretty-terminal
+    , regex-posix
     , resourcet
     , safe-exceptions
     , string-interpolate
diff --git a/lib/GHCup/Types.hs b/lib/GHCup/Types.hs
index bb4ca18..761ca10 100644
--- a/lib/GHCup/Types.hs
+++ b/lib/GHCup/Types.hs
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ data Tool = GHC
           | Cabal
           | GHCup
           | HLS
-  deriving (Eq, GHC.Generic, Ord, Show)
+  deriving (Eq, GHC.Generic, Ord, Show, Enum, Bounded)
 
 
 -- | All necessary information of a tool version, including
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ data DownloadInfo = DownloadInfo
   , _dlSubdir :: Maybe TarDir
   , _dlHash   :: Text
   }
-  deriving (Eq, GHC.Generic, Show)
+  deriving (Eq, Ord, GHC.Generic, Show)
 
 
 
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ data DownloadInfo = DownloadInfo
 -- | How to descend into a tar archive.
 data TarDir = RealDir (Path Rel)
             | RegexDir String     -- ^ will be compiled to regex, the first match will "win"
-            deriving (Eq, GHC.Generic, Show)
+            deriving (Eq, Ord, GHC.Generic, Show)
 
 
 -- | Where to fetch GHCupDownloads from.