diff --git a/CveXplore/VERSION b/CveXplore/VERSION
index 5f0596e5..1b7f80e7 100644
--- a/CveXplore/VERSION
+++ b/CveXplore/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.3.24.dev12
\ No newline at end of file
+0.3.24.dev13
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CveXplore/core/database_maintenance/main_updater.py b/CveXplore/core/database_maintenance/main_updater.py
index 6177cea0..f9645642 100644
--- a/CveXplore/core/database_maintenance/main_updater.py
+++ b/CveXplore/core/database_maintenance/main_updater.py
@@ -133,7 +133,9 @@ def update(self, update_source: str | list = None):
             f"Update Total duration: {timedelta(seconds=time.time() - start_time)}"
         )
 
-    def populate(self, populate_source: str | list = None):
+    def populate(
+        self, populate_source: str | list = None, limit: int = None, get_id: str = None
+    ):
         """
         Method used for updating the database
         """
@@ -173,7 +175,12 @@ def populate(self, populate_source: str | list = None):
                         x for x in self.sources if x["name"] == populate_source
                     ][0]
                     up = update_this_source["updater"]()
-                    up.populate()
+                    # this method could be used for testing purposes and is able to limit the amount of entries
+                    # that are going to be fetched from the cves and cpe NIST API endpoints, either by count or by id
+                    if populate_source == "cpe" or populate_source == "cve":
+                        up.populate(limit=limit, get_id=get_id)
+                    else:
+                        up.update()
                 except IndexError:
                     raise UpdateSourceNotFound(
                         f"Provided source: {populate_source} could not be found...."
diff --git a/CveXplore/core/database_maintenance/sources_process.py b/CveXplore/core/database_maintenance/sources_process.py
index 5984516f..a5819444 100644
--- a/CveXplore/core/database_maintenance/sources_process.py
+++ b/CveXplore/core/database_maintenance/sources_process.py
@@ -104,7 +104,9 @@ def process_the_item(self, item: dict = None):
 
         return cpe
 
-    def process_downloads(self, sites: list | None = None):
+    def process_downloads(
+        self, sites: list | None = None, limit: int = None, get_id: str = None
+    ):
         """
         Method to download and process files
         """
@@ -121,13 +123,20 @@ def process_downloads(self, sites: list | None = None):
 
         if self.do_process:
             if not self.is_update:
-                try:
-                    total_results = self.api_handler.get_count(
-                        self.api_handler.datasource.CPE
-                    )
-                except ApiMaxRetryError:
-                    # failed to get the count; set total_results to 0 and continue
-                    total_results = 0
+                if limit is None and get_id is None:
+                    try:
+                        total_results = self.api_handler.get_count(
+                            self.api_handler.datasource.CPE
+                        )
+                    except ApiMaxRetryError:
+                        # failed to get the count; set total_results to 0 and continue
+                        total_results = 0
+                else:
+                    if get_id is None:
+                        total_results = limit
+                    else:
+                        limit = 1
+                        total_results = 1
 
                 self.logger.info(f"Preparing to download {total_results} CPE entries")
 
@@ -137,7 +146,9 @@ def process_downloads(self, sites: list | None = None):
                     position=0,
                     leave=True,
                 ) as pbar:
-                    for entry in self.api_handler.get_all_data(data_type="cpe"):
+                    for entry in self.api_handler.get_all_data(
+                        data_type="cpe", limit=limit, get_id=get_id
+                    ):
                         # do something here with the results...
                         for data_list in tqdm(
                             entry, desc=f"Processing batch", leave=False
@@ -261,7 +272,7 @@ def populate(self, **kwargs):
 
         self.dropCollection(self.feed_type.lower())
 
-        self.process_downloads()
+        self.process_downloads(**kwargs)
 
         self.database_indexer.create_indexes(collection=self.feed_type.lower())
 
diff --git a/CveXplore/core/nvd_nist/nvd_nist_api.py b/CveXplore/core/nvd_nist/nvd_nist_api.py
index 0a05c6d2..5e235f2a 100644
--- a/CveXplore/core/nvd_nist/nvd_nist_api.py
+++ b/CveXplore/core/nvd_nist/nvd_nist_api.py
@@ -261,9 +261,17 @@ def get_all_data(
         data_type: str,
         last_mod_start_date: datetime = None,
         last_mod_end_date: datetime = None,
+        limit: int = None,
+        get_id: str = None,
     ):
         resource = {}
 
+        if get_id is not None:
+            if self.datasource.CVE:
+                resource = {"cveId": get_id}
+            if self.datasource.CPE:
+                resource = {"cpeNameId": get_id}
+
         if last_mod_start_date is not None and last_mod_end_date is not None:
             self.logger.debug(f"Getting all updated {data_type}s....")
             resource = self.check_date_range(
@@ -274,15 +282,20 @@ def get_all_data(
         else:
             self.logger.debug(f"Getting all {data_type}s...")
 
-        try:
-            data = self.get_count(
-                getattr(self.datasource, data_type.upper()),
-                last_mod_start_date=last_mod_start_date,
-                last_mod_end_date=last_mod_end_date,
-            )
-        except ApiMaxRetryError:
-            # failed to get the count; set data to 0 and continue
-            data = 0
+        if limit is None:
+            try:
+                data = self.get_count(
+                    getattr(self.datasource, data_type.upper()),
+                    last_mod_start_date=last_mod_start_date,
+                    last_mod_end_date=last_mod_end_date,
+                )
+            except ApiMaxRetryError:
+                # failed to get the count; set data to 0 and continue
+                data = 0
+        else:
+            data = limit
+            if get_id is None:
+                resource = {"resultsPerPage": limit}
 
         if isinstance(data, int):
             for each_data in ApiData(