diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 2257d37..931aa25 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "dask[complete]>=2024.3.0", # Includes dask expressions.
     "deprecated",
     "healpy",
-    "hipscat >=0.3.0",
+    "hipscat >=0.3.4",
     "ipykernel", # Support for Jupyter notebooks
     "numpy",
     "pandas",
diff --git a/src/hipscat_import/margin_cache/margin_cache_arguments.py b/src/hipscat_import/margin_cache/margin_cache_arguments.py
index 4f30ae6..8c22d4a 100644
--- a/src/hipscat_import/margin_cache/margin_cache_arguments.py
+++ b/src/hipscat_import/margin_cache/margin_cache_arguments.py
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 import warnings
-from dataclasses import dataclass
-from typing import Any, Dict, Union
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Union
 
 import healpy as hp
 from hipscat.catalog import Catalog
 from hipscat.catalog.margin_cache.margin_cache_catalog_info import MarginCacheCatalogInfo
 from hipscat.io.validation import is_valid_catalog
+from hipscat.pixel_math.healpix_pixel import HealpixPixel
 
 from hipscat_import.runtime_arguments import RuntimeArguments
 
@@ -35,6 +36,9 @@ class MarginCacheArguments(RuntimeArguments):
     """the path to the hipscat-formatted input catalog."""
     input_storage_options: Union[Dict[Any, Any], None] = None
     """optional dictionary of abstract filesystem credentials for the INPUT."""
+    debug_filter_pixel_list: List[HealpixPixel] = field(default_factory=list)
+    """debug setting. if provided, we will first filter the catalog to the pixels
+    provided. this can be useful for creating a margin over a subset of a catalog."""
 
     def __post_init__(self):
         self._check_arguments()
@@ -49,8 +53,12 @@ def _check_arguments(self):
         self.catalog = Catalog.read_from_hipscat(
             self.input_catalog_path, storage_options=self.input_storage_options
         )
+        if len(self.debug_filter_pixel_list) > 0:
+            self.catalog = self.catalog.filter_from_pixel_list(self.debug_filter_pixel_list)
+            if len(self.catalog.get_healpix_pixels()) == 0:
+                raise ValueError("debug_filter_pixel_list has created empty catalog")
 
-        highest_order = self.catalog.partition_info.get_highest_order()
+        highest_order = int(self.catalog.partition_info.get_highest_order())
         margin_pixel_k = highest_order + 1
         if self.margin_order > -1:
             if self.margin_order < margin_pixel_k:
@@ -85,4 +93,5 @@ def additional_runtime_provenance_info(self) -> dict:
             "input_catalog_path": self.input_catalog_path,
             "margin_threshold": self.margin_threshold,
             "margin_order": self.margin_order,
+            "debug_filter_pixel_list": self.debug_filter_pixel_list,
         }
diff --git a/tests/hipscat_import/margin_cache/test_arguments_margin_cache.py b/tests/hipscat_import/margin_cache/test_arguments_margin_cache.py
index 57564ce..546fad0 100644
--- a/tests/hipscat_import/margin_cache/test_arguments_margin_cache.py
+++ b/tests/hipscat_import/margin_cache/test_arguments_margin_cache.py
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 """Tests of margin cache generation arguments"""
 
 import pytest
+from hipscat.io import write_metadata
+from hipscat.pixel_math.healpix_pixel import HealpixPixel
 
 from hipscat_import.margin_cache.margin_cache_arguments import MarginCacheArguments
 
-# pylint: disable=protected-access
-
 
 def test_empty_required(tmp_path):
     """*Most* required arguments are provided."""
@@ -64,6 +64,42 @@ def test_margin_order_invalid(small_sky_source_catalog, tmp_path):
         )
 
 
+def test_debug_filter_pixel_list(small_sky_source_catalog, tmp_path):
+    """Ensure we can generate catalog with a filtereed list of pixels, and
+    that we raise an exception when the filter results in an empty catalog."""
+    args = MarginCacheArguments(
+        margin_threshold=5.0,
+        input_catalog_path=small_sky_source_catalog,
+        output_path=tmp_path,
+        output_artifact_name="catalog_cache",
+        margin_order=4,
+        debug_filter_pixel_list=[HealpixPixel(0, 11)],
+    )
+
+    assert len(args.catalog.get_healpix_pixels()) == 13
+
+    args = MarginCacheArguments(
+        margin_threshold=5.0,
+        input_catalog_path=small_sky_source_catalog,
+        output_path=tmp_path,
+        output_artifact_name="catalog_cache",
+        margin_order=4,
+        debug_filter_pixel_list=[HealpixPixel(1, 44)],
+    )
+
+    assert len(args.catalog.get_healpix_pixels()) == 4
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="debug_filter_pixel_list"):
+        MarginCacheArguments(
+            margin_threshold=5.0,
+            input_catalog_path=small_sky_source_catalog,
+            output_path=tmp_path,
+            output_artifact_name="catalog_cache",
+            margin_order=4,
+            debug_filter_pixel_list=[HealpixPixel(0, 5)],
+        )
+
+
 def test_margin_threshold_warns(small_sky_source_catalog, tmp_path):
     """Ensure we give a warning when margin_threshold is greater than margin_order resolution"""
 
@@ -99,7 +135,12 @@ def test_provenance_info(small_sky_source_catalog, tmp_path):
         output_path=tmp_path,
         output_artifact_name="catalog_cache",
         margin_order=4,
+        debug_filter_pixel_list=[HealpixPixel(1, 44)],
     )
 
     runtime_args = args.provenance_info()["runtime_args"]
     assert "margin_threshold" in runtime_args
+
+    write_metadata.write_provenance_info(
+        catalog_base_dir=args.catalog_path, dataset_info=args.to_catalog_info(20_000), tool_args=runtime_args
+    )