diff --git a/Documentation/git-cat-file.adoc b/Documentation/git-cat-file.adoc
index d5890ae368..da92eed117 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-cat-file.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-cat-file.adoc
@@ -81,6 +81,15 @@ OPTIONS
 	end-of-line conversion, etc). In this case, `<object>` has to be of
 	the form `<tree-ish>:<path>`, or `:<path>`.
 
+--filter=<filter-spec>::
+--no-filter::
+	Omit objects from the list of printed objects. This can only be used in
+	combination with one of the batched modes. Excluded objects that have
+	been explicitly requested via any of the batch modes that read objects
+	via standard input (`--batch`, `--batch-check`) will be reported as
+	"filtered". Excluded objects in `--batch-all-objects` mode will not be
+	printed at all. No filters are supported yet.
+
 --path=<path>::
 	For use with `--textconv` or `--filters`, to allow specifying an object
 	name and a path separately, e.g. when it is difficult to figure out
@@ -340,6 +349,13 @@ the repository, then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format and print:
 <object> SP missing LF
 ------------
 
+If a name is specified on stdin that is filtered out via `--filter=`,
+then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format and print:
+
+------------
+<object> SP excluded LF
+------------
+
 If a name is specified that might refer to more than one object (an ambiguous short sha), then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format and print:
 
 ------------
diff --git a/builtin/cat-file.c b/builtin/cat-file.c
index 1261a3ce35..0e2176c449 100644
--- a/builtin/cat-file.c
+++ b/builtin/cat-file.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include "gettext.h"
 #include "hex.h"
 #include "ident.h"
+#include "list-objects-filter-options.h"
 #include "parse-options.h"
 #include "userdiff.h"
 #include "streaming.h"
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ enum batch_mode {
 };
 
 struct batch_options {
+	struct list_objects_filter_options objects_filter;
 	int enabled;
 	int follow_symlinks;
 	enum batch_mode batch_mode;
@@ -495,6 +497,13 @@ static void batch_object_write(const char *obj_name,
 			return;
 		}
 
+		switch (opt->objects_filter.choice) {
+		case LOFC_DISABLED:
+			break;
+		default:
+			BUG("unsupported objects filter");
+		}
+
 		if (use_mailmap && (data->type == OBJ_COMMIT || data->type == OBJ_TAG)) {
 			size_t s = data->size;
 			char *buf = NULL;
@@ -820,7 +829,8 @@ static int batch_objects(struct batch_options *opt)
 		struct object_cb_data cb;
 		struct object_info empty = OBJECT_INFO_INIT;
 
-		if (!memcmp(&data.info, &empty, sizeof(empty)))
+		if (!memcmp(&data.info, &empty, sizeof(empty)) &&
+		    opt->objects_filter.choice == LOFC_DISABLED)
 			data.skip_object_info = 1;
 
 		if (repo_has_promisor_remote(the_repository))
@@ -944,10 +954,13 @@ int cmd_cat_file(int argc,
 	int opt_cw = 0;
 	int opt_epts = 0;
 	const char *exp_type = NULL, *obj_name = NULL;
-	struct batch_options batch = {0};
+	struct batch_options batch = {
+		.objects_filter = LIST_OBJECTS_FILTER_INIT,
+	};
 	int unknown_type = 0;
 	int input_nul_terminated = 0;
 	int nul_terminated = 0;
+	int ret;
 
 	const char * const builtin_catfile_usage[] = {
 		N_("git cat-file <type> <object>"),
@@ -1008,6 +1021,7 @@ int cmd_cat_file(int argc,
 			    N_("run filters on object's content"), 'w'),
 		OPT_STRING(0, "path", &force_path, N_("blob|tree"),
 			   N_("use a <path> for (--textconv | --filters); Not with 'batch'")),
+		OPT_PARSE_LIST_OBJECTS_FILTER(&batch.objects_filter),
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
@@ -1022,6 +1036,14 @@ int cmd_cat_file(int argc,
 	if (use_mailmap)
 		read_mailmap(&mailmap);
 
+	switch (batch.objects_filter.choice) {
+	case LOFC_DISABLED:
+		break;
+	default:
+		usagef(_("objects filter not supported: '%s'"),
+		       list_object_filter_config_name(batch.objects_filter.choice));
+	}
+
 	/* --batch-all-objects? */
 	if (opt == 'b')
 		batch.all_objects = 1;
@@ -1076,7 +1098,8 @@ int cmd_cat_file(int argc,
 			usage_msg_opt(_("batch modes take no arguments"),
 				      builtin_catfile_usage, options);
 
-		return batch_objects(&batch);
+		ret = batch_objects(&batch);
+		goto out;
 	}
 
 	if (opt) {
@@ -1108,5 +1131,10 @@ int cmd_cat_file(int argc,
 
 	if (unknown_type && opt != 't' && opt != 's')
 		die("git cat-file --allow-unknown-type: use with -s or -t");
-	return cat_one_file(opt, exp_type, obj_name, unknown_type);
+
+	ret = cat_one_file(opt, exp_type, obj_name, unknown_type);
+
+out:
+	list_objects_filter_release(&batch.objects_filter);
+	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/t/t1006-cat-file.sh b/t/t1006-cat-file.sh
index 398865d6eb..9ce4eda6e6 100755
--- a/t/t1006-cat-file.sh
+++ b/t/t1006-cat-file.sh
@@ -1353,4 +1353,44 @@ test_expect_success PERL '--batch-command info is unbuffered by default' '
 	perl -e "$script" -- --batch-command $hello_oid "$expect" "info "
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'setup for objects filter' '
+	git init repo
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'objects filter with unknown option' '
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	fatal: invalid filter-spec ${SQ}unknown${SQ}
+	EOF
+	test_must_fail git -C repo cat-file --filter=unknown 2>err &&
+	test_cmp expect err
+'
+
+for option in blob:none blob:limit=1 object:type=tag sparse:oid=1234 tree:1 sparse:path=x
+do
+	test_expect_success "objects filter with unsupported option $option" '
+		case "$option" in
+		tree:1)
+			echo "usage: objects filter not supported: ${SQ}tree${SQ}" >expect
+			;;
+		sparse:path=x)
+			echo "fatal: sparse:path filters support has been dropped" >expect
+			;;
+		*)
+			option_name=$(echo "$option" | cut -d= -f1) &&
+			printf "usage: objects filter not supported: ${SQ}%s${SQ}\n" "$option_name" >expect
+			;;
+		esac &&
+		test_must_fail git -C repo cat-file --filter=$option 2>err &&
+		test_cmp expect err
+	'
+done
+
+test_expect_success 'objects filter: disabled' '
+	git -C repo cat-file --batch-check="%(objectname)" --batch-all-objects --no-filter >actual &&
+	sort actual >actual.sorted &&
+	git -C repo rev-list --objects --no-object-names --all >expect &&
+	sort expect >expect.sorted &&
+	test_cmp expect.sorted actual.sorted
+'
+
 test_done