diff --git a/bdsg/include/bdsg/overlays/packed_reference_path_overlay.hpp b/bdsg/include/bdsg/overlays/packed_reference_path_overlay.hpp
index 8bbba7ce..80e9d306 100644
--- a/bdsg/include/bdsg/overlays/packed_reference_path_overlay.hpp
+++ b/bdsg/include/bdsg/overlays/packed_reference_path_overlay.hpp
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ class PackedReferencePathOverlay : public PackedPositionOverlay {
     /// Make a PackedReferencePathOverlay. Do the indexing and compute the
     /// additional indexes that the base class doesn't have.
     PackedReferencePathOverlay(const PathHandleGraph* graph, const std::unordered_set<std::string>& extra_path_names = {}, size_t steps_per_index = 20000000);
+
+    /// Make a PackedReferencePathOverlay with path filtering.
+    /// If all_paths is true, indexes all paths visible via for_each_path_handle().
+    /// If false, indexes only REFERENCE and GENERIC sense paths.
+    PackedReferencePathOverlay(const PathHandleGraph* graph, bool all_paths);
     
     // We assume that tracing out a path is fast in the backing graph, but
     // finding visits on nodes is slow. We override the reverse lookups to go
@@ -49,11 +54,17 @@ class PackedReferencePathOverlay : public PackedPositionOverlay {
     virtual path_handle_t get_path_handle_of_step(const step_handle_t& step_handle) const;
 
 protected:
-    
+
+    /// Whether to index all paths (true) or only REFERENCE and GENERIC paths (false).
+    bool all_paths = true;
+
     // PathHandleGraph interface
-    
+
+    /// Override to filter paths based on all_paths flag.
+    bool for_each_path_handle_impl(const std::function<bool(const path_handle_t&)>& iteratee) const;
+
     /// Calls the given function for each step of the given handle on a path.
-    /// We treat steps as "on" handles in either orientation. 
+    /// We treat steps as "on" handles in either orientation.
     virtual bool for_each_step_on_handle_impl(const handle_t& handle,
                                               const function<bool(const step_handle_t&)>& iteratee) const;
 
diff --git a/bdsg/src/packed_reference_path_overlay.cpp b/bdsg/src/packed_reference_path_overlay.cpp
index 9a0d6daf..f0948c3f 100644
--- a/bdsg/src/packed_reference_path_overlay.cpp
+++ b/bdsg/src/packed_reference_path_overlay.cpp
@@ -23,6 +23,25 @@ PackedReferencePathOverlay::PackedReferencePathOverlay(const PathHandleGraph* gr
     this->last_step_to_path_idx.resize(get_thread_count(), 0);
 }
 
+PackedReferencePathOverlay::PackedReferencePathOverlay(const PathHandleGraph* graph, bool all_paths)
+    : PackedPositionOverlay(), all_paths(all_paths) {
+    // Can't use delegating constructor because we need all_paths set before
+    // index_path_positions runs (it calls for_each_path_handle which uses our override).
+    this->graph = graph;
+    this->steps_per_index = 20000000;
+    index_path_positions();
+    this->last_step_to_path_idx.resize(get_thread_count(), 0);
+}
+
+bool PackedReferencePathOverlay::for_each_path_handle_impl(const std::function<bool(const path_handle_t&)>& iteratee) const {
+    if (all_paths) {
+        return graph->for_each_path_handle(iteratee);
+    } else {
+        std::unordered_set<PathSense> senses = {PathSense::REFERENCE, PathSense::GENERIC};
+        return graph->for_each_path_matching(&senses, nullptr, nullptr, iteratee);
+    }
+}
+
 path_handle_t PackedReferencePathOverlay::get_path_handle_of_step(const step_handle_t& step_handle) const {
     // this index-scanning logic mimics that in for_each_step_on_handle_impl below
     // (tradeoff of parallel construction vs faster lookup)