diff --git a/cli/recipe/upgrade.go b/cli/recipe/upgrade.go
index 627d46b8..59613d6c 100644
--- a/cli/recipe/upgrade.go
+++ b/cli/recipe/upgrade.go
@@ -29,9 +29,22 @@ semver-like convention. In this case, all possible tags will be listed and it
 is up to the end-user to decide.
 `,
 	ArgsUsage: "<recipe>",
+	Flags: []cli.Flag{
+		PatchFlag,
+		MinorFlag,
+		MajorFlag,
+	},
 	Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
 		recipe := internal.ValidateRecipe(c)
 
+		bumpType := btoi(Major)*4 + btoi(Minor)*2 + btoi(Patch)
+		if bumpType != 0 {
+			// a bitwise check if the number is a power of 2
+			if (bumpType & (bumpType - 1)) != 0 {
+				logrus.Fatal("you can only use one of: --major, --minor, --patch.")
+			}
+		}
+
 		for _, service := range recipe.Config.Services {
 			catlVersions, err := catalogue.VersionsOfService(recipe.Name, service.Name)
 			if err != nil {
@@ -104,31 +117,48 @@ is up to the end-user to decide.
 			}
 
 			logrus.Debugf("detected compatible upgradable tags '%s' for '%s'", compatibleStrings, service.Name)
-
-			msg := fmt.Sprintf("upgrade to which tag? (service: %s, tag: %s)", service.Name, tag)
-			if !tagcmp.IsParsable(img.(reference.NamedTagged).Tag()) {
-				tag := img.(reference.NamedTagged).Tag()
-				logrus.Warning(fmt.Sprintf("unable to determine versioning semantics of '%s', listing all tags", tag))
-				msg = fmt.Sprintf("upgrade to which tag? (service: %s, tag: %s)", service.Name, tag)
-				compatibleStrings = []string{}
-				for _, regVersion := range regVersions {
-					compatibleStrings = append(compatibleStrings, regVersion.Name)
-				}
-			}
-
 			var upgradeTag string
-			prompt := &survey.Select{
-				Message: msg,
-				Options: compatibleStrings,
-			}
-			if err := survey.AskOne(prompt, &upgradeTag); err != nil {
-				logrus.Fatal(err)
+			if bumpType != 0 {
+				for _, upTag := range compatible {
+					upElement, err := tag.UpgradeElement(upTag)
+					if err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
+					delta := tagcmp.UpgradeType(upElement)
+					if delta <= bumpType {
+						upgradeTag = upTag.String()
+						break
+					}
+				}
+				if upgradeTag == "" {
+					logrus.Warnf("not upgrading from '%s' to '%s' for '%s', because the upgrade type is more serious than what user wants.", tag.String(), compatible[0].String(), image)
+					continue
+				}
+			} else {
+				msg := fmt.Sprintf("upgrade to which tag? (service: %s, tag: %s)", service.Name, tag)
+				if !tagcmp.IsParsable(img.(reference.NamedTagged).Tag()) {
+					tag := img.(reference.NamedTagged).Tag()
+					logrus.Warning(fmt.Sprintf("unable to determine versioning semantics of '%s', listing all tags", tag))
+					msg = fmt.Sprintf("upgrade to which tag? (service: %s, tag: %s)", service.Name, tag)
+					compatibleStrings = []string{}
+					for _, regVersion := range regVersions {
+						compatibleStrings = append(compatibleStrings, regVersion.Name)
+					}
+				}
+
+				prompt := &survey.Select{
+					Message: msg,
+					Options: compatibleStrings,
+				}
+				if err := survey.AskOne(prompt, &upgradeTag); err != nil {
+					logrus.Fatal(err)
+				}
 			}
 
 			if err := recipe.UpdateTag(image, upgradeTag); err != nil {
 				logrus.Fatal(err)
 			}
-			logrus.Debugf("tag updated from '%s' to '%s' for '%s'", image, upgradeTag, recipe.Name)
+			logrus.Infof("tag upgraded from '%s' to '%s' for '%s'", tag.String(), upgradeTag, image)
 		}
 
 		return nil
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index a1934ba6..32495d25 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module coopcloud.tech/abra
 go 1.17
 
 require (
-	coopcloud.tech/tagcmp v0.0.0-20210906102006-2a8edd82d75d
+	coopcloud.tech/tagcmp v0.0.0-20211003080922-7b06d1c16182
 	github.com/AlecAivazis/survey/v2 v2.3.1
 	github.com/Autonomic-Cooperative/godotenv v1.3.1-0.20210731170023-c37c0920d1a4
 	github.com/Gurpartap/logrus-stack v0.0.0-20170710170904-89c00d8a28f4
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index fe7354d0..82ce42e0 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ cloud.google.com/go/storage v1.5.0/go.mod h1:tpKbwo567HUNpVclU5sGELwQWBDZ8gh0Zeo
 cloud.google.com/go/storage v1.6.0/go.mod h1:N7U0C8pVQ/+NIKOBQyamJIeKQKkZ+mxpohlUTyfDhBk=
 coopcloud.tech/tagcmp v0.0.0-20210906102006-2a8edd82d75d h1:5jeUIiToqQ7vTlLeycdGp4Ezurd6/RTNl5K38usHtoo=
 coopcloud.tech/tagcmp v0.0.0-20210906102006-2a8edd82d75d/go.mod h1:ESVm0wQKcbcFi06jItF3rI7enf4Jt2PvbkWpDDHk1DQ=
+coopcloud.tech/tagcmp v0.0.0-20211003074705-03d2daced95c h1:7kCjnhjrOevcJeA/koCyyv20E6AglvqC7biGbLzyrbU=
+coopcloud.tech/tagcmp v0.0.0-20211003074705-03d2daced95c/go.mod h1:ESVm0wQKcbcFi06jItF3rI7enf4Jt2PvbkWpDDHk1DQ=
+coopcloud.tech/tagcmp v0.0.0-20211003080922-7b06d1c16182 h1:VGFzudsoGXGRaw5eJE3rErHHUDsmuIJpQkdfKJgrNs4=
+coopcloud.tech/tagcmp v0.0.0-20211003080922-7b06d1c16182/go.mod h1:ESVm0wQKcbcFi06jItF3rI7enf4Jt2PvbkWpDDHk1DQ=
 dmitri.shuralyov.com/gpu/mtl v0.0.0-20190408044501-666a987793e9/go.mod h1:H6x//7gZCb22OMCxBHrMx7a5I7Hp++hsVxbQ4BYO7hU=
 github.com/AlecAivazis/survey/v2 v2.3.1 h1:lzkuHA60pER7L4eYL8qQJor4bUWlJe4V0gqAT19tdOA=
 github.com/AlecAivazis/survey/v2 v2.3.1/go.mod h1:TH2kPCDU3Kqq7pLbnCWwZXDBjnhZtmsCle5EiYDJ2fg=