diff --git a/src/utils/file.js b/src/utils/file.js
index d560ed2c..7b3af268 100644
--- a/src/utils/file.js
+++ b/src/utils/file.js
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+import fs from "fs";
+import path from "path";
+
 const FILE_EXTENSION_TO_PROGRAMMING_LANGUAGE_MAP = {
     in: "fortran",
     sh: "shell",
@@ -28,3 +31,30 @@ export function formatFileSize(size, decimals = 2) {
     const units = ["Bytes", "KB", "MB", "GB", "TB", "PB", "EB", "ZB", "YB"];
     return parseFloat((size / 1024 ** index).toFixed(decimals)) + " " + units[index];
 }
+
+/** Get list of paths for files in a directory and filter by file extensions if provided.
+ * @param {string} dirPath - Path to current directory, i.e. $PWD
+ * @param {string[]} fileExtensions - File extensions to filter, e.g. `.yml`
+ * @param {boolean} resolvePath - whether to resolve the paths of files
+ * @returns {string[]} - Array of file paths
+ */
+export function getFilesInDirectory(dirPath, fileExtensions = [], resolvePath = true) {
+    let fileNames = fs.readdirSync(dirPath);
+    if (fileExtensions.length) {
+        fileNames = fileNames.filter((dirItem) => fileExtensions.includes(path.extname(dirItem)));
+    }
+    if (resolvePath) return fileNames.map((fileName) => path.resolve(dirPath, fileName));
+    return fileNames;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get list of directories contained in current directory.
+ * @param {string} currentPath - current directory
+ * @return {*}
+ */
+export function getDirectories(currentPath) {
+    return fs
+        .readdirSync(currentPath, { withFileTypes: true })
+        .filter((dirent) => dirent.isDirectory())
+        .map((dirent) => dirent.name);
+}
diff --git a/src/utils/filter.js b/src/utils/filter.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..254b42a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/filter.js
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+import lodash from "lodash";
+
+/**
+ * Check if one path matches regular expression or exact string.
+ * @param {{path: string}} pathObject - Entity or object with path property
+ * @param {Array<{path: string}|{regex: RegExp}>} filterObjects - Filter conditions
+ * @return {boolean}
+ */
+function isPathSupported(pathObject, filterObjects) {
+    return filterObjects.some((filterObj) => {
+        if (filterObj.path) {
+            return filterObj.path === pathObject.path;
+        }
+        if (filterObj.regex) {
+            return filterObj.regex.test(pathObject.path);
+        }
+        return false;
+    });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Check if _all_ paths in concatenated path match filtering conditions.
+ * @param {{path: string}} pathObject - Path object with concatenated path (multipath)
+ * @param {string} multiPathSeparator - String sequence used for concatenation of paths
+ * @param {Array<{path: string}|{regex: RegExp}>} filterObjects - Filter conditions
+ * @return {boolean}
+ */
+function isMultiPathSupported(pathObject, multiPathSeparator, filterObjects) {
+    const expandedPaths = pathObject.path.split(multiPathSeparator).map((p) => ({ path: p }));
+    return expandedPaths.every((expandedPath) => isPathSupported(expandedPath, filterObjects));
+}
+
+/**
+ * Filter list of entity paths or entities by paths and regular expressions.
+ * @param {Object[]} entitiesOrPaths - Array of objects defining entity path
+ * @param {Array<{ path: string }|{ regex: string }|{ regex: RegExp }>} filterObjects - Array of path or regular expression objects
+ * @param {string} multiPathSeparator - string by which paths should be split
+ * @return {Object[]} - filtered entity path objects or entities
+ */
+export function filterEntityList({ entitiesOrPaths, filterObjects = [], multiPathSeparator = "" }) {
+    const filterObjects_ = filterObjects.map((o) => (o.regex ? { regex: new RegExp(o.regex) } : o));
+
+    let filtered;
+    if (multiPathSeparator) {
+        filtered = entitiesOrPaths.filter((e) =>
+            isMultiPathSupported(e, multiPathSeparator, filterObjects_),
+        );
+    } else {
+        filtered = entitiesOrPaths.filter((e) => isPathSupported(e, filterObjects_));
+    }
+
+    return lodash.uniqBy(filtered, "path");
+}
diff --git a/src/utils/index.js b/src/utils/index.js
index 51d365d5..c1978d00 100644
--- a/src/utils/index.js
+++ b/src/utils/index.js
@@ -3,7 +3,13 @@ import { convertToCompactCSVArrayOfObjects, safeMakeArray } from "./array";
 import { cloneClass, extendClass, extendClassStaticProps, extendThis } from "./class";
 import { deepClone } from "./clone";
 import { refreshCodeMirror } from "./codemirror";
-import { formatFileSize, getProgrammingLanguageFromFileExtension } from "./file";
+import {
+    formatFileSize,
+    getDirectories,
+    getFilesInDirectory,
+    getProgrammingLanguageFromFileExtension,
+} from "./file";
+import { filterEntityList } from "./filter";
 import { addUnit, removeUnit, replaceUnit, setNextLinks, setUnitsHead } from "./graph";
 import {
     calculateHashFromObject,
@@ -78,4 +84,7 @@ export {
     JsYamlTypes,
     JsYamlAllSchemas,
     renderTextWithSubstitutes,
+    filterEntityList,
+    getFilesInDirectory,
+    getDirectories,
 };
diff --git a/tests/utils/filter.tests.js b/tests/utils/filter.tests.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..18d6eab3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/utils/filter.tests.js
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import { expect } from "chai";
+
+import { filterEntityList } from "../../src/utils/filter";
+
+describe("entity filter", () => {
+    const entities = [
+        { name: "A", path: "/root/entity/a" },
+        { name: "B", path: "/root/entity/b" },
+        { name: "C", path: "/root/entity/c" },
+        { name: "D", path: "/root/entity/d" },
+    ];
+
+    it("should filter an entity list with paths", () => {
+        const filterObjects = [{ path: "/root/entity/b" }, { path: "/root/entity/c" }];
+        const filtered = filterEntityList({ filterObjects, entitiesOrPaths: entities });
+        const expected = [
+            { name: "B", path: "/root/entity/b" },
+            { name: "C", path: "/root/entity/c" },
+        ];
+        expect(filtered).to.have.deep.members(expected);
+    });
+
+    it("should filter an entity list with regular expressions", () => {
+        const filterObjects = [{ regex: /\/root\/entity\/[bc]/ }];
+        const filtered = filterEntityList({ filterObjects, entitiesOrPaths: entities });
+        const expected = [
+            { name: "B", path: "/root/entity/b" },
+            { name: "C", path: "/root/entity/c" },
+        ];
+        expect(filtered).to.have.deep.members(expected);
+    });
+
+    it("should filter an entity list with both paths and regular expressions", () => {
+        const filterObjects = [{ path: "/root/entity/b" }, { regex: /\/root\/entity\/[c]/ }];
+        const filtered = filterEntityList({ filterObjects, entitiesOrPaths: entities });
+        const expected = [
+            { name: "B", path: "/root/entity/b" },
+            { name: "C", path: "/root/entity/c" },
+        ];
+        expect(filtered).to.have.deep.members(expected);
+    });
+
+    it("should filter an entity list containing concatenated paths", () => {
+        const filterObjects = [{ path: "/root/entity/b" }, { path: "/root/entity/c" }];
+        const multiPathEntities = [
+            { name: "AB", path: "/root/entity/a::/root/entity/b" },
+            { name: "BC", path: "/root/entity/b::/root/entity/c" },
+        ];
+        const multiPathSeparator = "::";
+        const filtered = filterEntityList({
+            filterObjects,
+            entitiesOrPaths: multiPathEntities,
+            multiPathSeparator,
+        });
+        const expected = [{ name: "BC", path: "/root/entity/b::/root/entity/c" }];
+        expect(filtered).to.have.deep.members(expected);
+    });
+
+    it("should filter an entity list containing concatenated paths using regex", () => {
+        const filterObjects = [{ path: "/root/entity/b" }, { regex: /\/root\/entity\/[c]/ }];
+        const multiPathEntities = [
+            { name: "AB", path: "/root/entity/a::/root/entity/b" },
+            { name: "BC", path: "/root/entity/b::/root/entity/c" },
+        ];
+        const multiPathSeparator = "::";
+        const filtered = filterEntityList({
+            filterObjects,
+            entitiesOrPaths: multiPathEntities,
+            multiPathSeparator,
+        });
+        const expected = [{ name: "BC", path: "/root/entity/b::/root/entity/c" }];
+        expect(filtered).to.have.deep.members(expected);
+    });
+});