diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/filter.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/filter.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..fff09e4d319cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/filter.py
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+##############################################################################
+# Copyright (c) 2013-2018, Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC.
+# Produced at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
+#
+# This file is part of Spack.
+# Created by Todd Gamblin, tgamblin@llnl.gov, All rights reserved.
+# LLNL-CODE-647188
+#
+# For details, see https://github.com/spack/spack
+# Please also see the NOTICE and LICENSE files for our notice and the LGPL.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation) version 2.1, February 1999.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the IMPLIED WARRANTY OF
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the terms and
+# conditions of the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+##############################################################################
+
+import argparse
+import collections
+import sys
+
+import spack
+import spack.cmd
+
+description = "filter specs based on their properties"
+section = "build"
+level = "long"
+
+
+def setup_parser(subparser):
+    install_status = subparser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
+    install_status.add_argument(
+        '--installed', dest='installed', default=None, action='store_true',
+        help='select installed specs'
+    )
+    install_status.add_argument(
+        '--not-installed', dest='installed', default=None,
+        action='store_false',
+        help='select specs that are not yet installed'
+    )
+
+    explicit_status = subparser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
+    explicit_status.add_argument(
+        '--explicit', dest='explicit', default=None, action='store_true',
+        help='select specs that were installed explicitly'
+    )
+    explicit_status.add_argument(
+        '--implicit', dest='explicit', default=None,
+        action='store_false',
+        help='select specs that are not installed or were installed implicitly'
+    )
+
+    subparser.add_argument(
+        '--output', default=sys.stdout, type=argparse.FileType('w'),
+        help='where to dump the result'
+    )
+
+    subparser.add_argument(
+        'specs', nargs=argparse.REMAINDER, help='specs to be filtered'
+    )
+
+
+def filter(parser, args):
+
+    Request = collections.namedtuple('Request', 'abstract,concrete')
+    specs = [Request(s, s.concretized())
+             for s in spack.cmd.parse_specs(args.specs)]
+
+    # Filter specs eagerly
+    if args.installed is True:
+        specs = [s for s in specs if s.concrete.package.installed]
+    elif args.installed is False:
+        specs = [s for s in specs if not s.concrete.package.installed]
+
+    if args.explicit is True:
+        specs = [s for s in specs if s.concrete._installed_explicitly()]
+    elif args.explicit is False:
+        specs = [s for s in specs if not s.concrete._installed_explicitly()]
+
+    for spec in specs:
+        args.output.write(str(spec.abstract) + '\n')
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/filter.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/filter.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..75f03d63a86fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/filter.py
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+##############################################################################
+# Copyright (c) 2013-2018, Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC.
+# Produced at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
+#
+# This file is part of Spack.
+# Created by Todd Gamblin, tgamblin@llnl.gov, All rights reserved.
+# LLNL-CODE-647188
+#
+# For details, see https://github.com/spack/spack
+# Please also see the NOTICE and LICENSE files for our notice and the LGPL.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation) version 2.1, February 1999.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the IMPLIED WARRANTY OF
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the terms and
+# conditions of the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+##############################################################################
+
+import pytest
+
+import spack.main
+
+spack_filter = spack.main.SpackCommand('filter')
+
+
+@pytest.mark.db
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures('database')
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('flags,specs,expected', [
+    ([], ['boost', 'mpileaks'], ['boost', 'mpileaks']),
+    (['--installed'],
+     ['boost', 'mpileaks^mpich', 'libelf'],
+     ['mpileaks^mpich', 'libelf']),
+    (['--not-installed'], ['boost', 'mpileaks^mpich', 'libelf'], ['boost']),
+    # The tests below appear to fail for reasons related to mocking
+    pytest.param(
+        ['--installed', '--explicit'],
+        ['boost', 'mpileaks^mpich', 'libelf'], ['mpileaks^mpich'],
+        marks=pytest.mark.xfail
+    ),
+    pytest.param(
+        ['--implicit'],
+        ['boost', 'mpileaks^mpich', 'libelf'], ['boost', 'libelf'],
+        marks=pytest.mark.xfail
+    ),
+])
+def test_filtering_specs(flags, specs, expected):
+    args = flags + specs
+    output = spack_filter(*args)
+
+    for item in expected:
+        assert item in output
+
+    for item in set(specs).difference(expected):
+        assert item not in output