diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.middleware.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.middleware.ts
index 09e3233f7..2807665c9 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.middleware.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.middleware.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ import { CoreConfig } from '@code-pushup/models';
 import { GeneralCliOptions } from './global.model';
 import { OnlyPluginsOptions } from './only-plugins.model';
 import {
-  filterCategoryByOnlyPluginsOption,
-  filterPluginsByOnlyPluginsOption,
+  filterCategoryByPluginSlug,
+  filterPluginsBySlug,
   validateOnlyPluginsOption,
 } from './only-plugins.utils';
 
@@ -20,11 +20,8 @@ export function onlyPluginsMiddleware<
   const parsedProcessArgs: CoreConfig & GeneralCliOptions & OnlyPluginsOptions =
     {
       ...cliOptions,
-      plugins: filterPluginsByOnlyPluginsOption(cliOptions.plugins, cliOptions),
-      categories: filterCategoryByOnlyPluginsOption(
-        cliOptions.categories,
-        cliOptions,
-      ),
+      plugins: filterPluginsBySlug(cliOptions.plugins, cliOptions),
+      categories: filterCategoryByPluginSlug(cliOptions.categories, cliOptions),
     };
 
   return parsedProcessArgs;
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.utils.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.utils.ts
index 1d97a2f4f..96d917266 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.utils.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.utils.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import chalk from 'chalk';
 import { CoreConfig } from '@code-pushup/models';
 
-export function filterPluginsByOnlyPluginsOption(
+export function filterPluginsBySlug(
   plugins: CoreConfig['plugins'],
   { onlyPlugins }: { onlyPlugins?: string[] },
 ): CoreConfig['plugins'] {
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ export function filterPluginsByOnlyPluginsOption(
 
 // skip the whole category if it has at least one skipped plugin ref
 // see https://github.com/code-pushup/cli/pull/246#discussion_r1392274281
-export function filterCategoryByOnlyPluginsOption(
+export function filterCategoryByPluginSlug(
   categories: CoreConfig['categories'],
   {
     onlyPlugins,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.utils.unit.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.utils.unit.test.ts
index c9c0cc2a2..d181e3c83 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.utils.unit.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/implementation/only-plugins.utils.unit.test.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 import { describe, expect } from 'vitest';
 import { CoreConfig } from '@code-pushup/models';
 import {
-  filterCategoryByOnlyPluginsOption,
-  filterPluginsByOnlyPluginsOption,
+  filterCategoryByPluginSlug,
+  filterPluginsBySlug,
   validateOnlyPluginsOption,
 } from './only-plugins.utils';
 
-describe('filterPluginsByOnlyPluginsOption', () => {
+describe('filterPluginsBySlug', () => {
   it('should return all plugins if no onlyPlugins option is provided', () => {
     expect(
-      filterPluginsByOnlyPluginsOption(
+      filterPluginsBySlug(
         [
           { slug: 'plugin1' },
           { slug: 'plugin2' },
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ describe('filterPluginsByOnlyPluginsOption', () => {
 
   it('should return only plugins with matching slugs', () => {
     expect(
-      filterPluginsByOnlyPluginsOption(
+      filterPluginsBySlug(
         [
           { slug: 'plugin1' },
           { slug: 'plugin2' },
@@ -34,10 +34,10 @@ describe('filterPluginsByOnlyPluginsOption', () => {
   });
 });
 
-describe('filterCategoryByOnlyPluginsOption', () => {
+describe('filterCategoryByPluginSlug', () => {
   it('should return all categories if no onlyPlugins option', () => {
     expect(
-      filterCategoryByOnlyPluginsOption(
+      filterCategoryByPluginSlug(
         [
           { refs: [{ slug: 'plugin1' }, { slug: 'plugin2' }] },
           { refs: [{ slug: 'plugin3' }] },
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ describe('filterCategoryByOnlyPluginsOption', () => {
 
   it('should return categories containing only defined plugins', () => {
     expect(
-      filterCategoryByOnlyPluginsOption(
+      filterCategoryByPluginSlug(
         [
           { refs: [{ slug: 'plugin1' }, { slug: 'plugin2' }] },
           { refs: [{ slug: 'plugin3' }] },
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ describe('filterCategoryByOnlyPluginsOption', () => {
   });
 
   it('should print ignored category and its first violating plugin', () => {
-    filterCategoryByOnlyPluginsOption(
+    filterCategoryByPluginSlug(
       [
         {
           title: 'category1',