diff --git a/cmd/crowdsec-cli/clihub/hub.go b/cmd/crowdsec-cli/clihub/hub.go
index 879508102..0a33d4934 100644
--- a/cmd/crowdsec-cli/clihub/hub.go
+++ b/cmd/crowdsec-cli/clihub/hub.go
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ cscli hub upgrade`,
 		DisableAutoGenTag: true,
 	}
 
+	cmd.AddCommand(cli.newBranchCmd())
 	cmd.AddCommand(cli.newListCmd())
 	cmd.AddCommand(cli.newUpdateCmd())
 	cmd.AddCommand(cli.newUpgradeCmd())
@@ -84,6 +85,28 @@ func (cli *cliHub) List(out io.Writer, hub *cwhub.Hub, all bool) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (cli *cliHub) newBranchCmd() *cobra.Command {
+	var all bool
+
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:               "branch",
+		Short:             "Show selected hub branch",
+		Long:              "Display the hub branch to be used, depending on configuration and crowdsec version",
+		Args:              args.NoArgs,
+		DisableAutoGenTag: true,
+		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
+			branch := require.HubBranch(cmd.Context(), cli.cfg())
+			fmt.Println(branch)
+			return nil
+		},
+	}
+
+	flags := cmd.Flags()
+	flags.BoolVarP(&all, "all", "a", false, "List all available items, including those not installed")
+
+	return cmd
+}
+
 func (cli *cliHub) newListCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	var all bool
 
diff --git a/test/lib/config/config-global b/test/lib/config/config-global
index 9b2b71c1d..83d95e68e 100755
--- a/test/lib/config/config-global
+++ b/test/lib/config/config-global
@@ -61,6 +61,19 @@ config_prepare() {
         .api.server.listen_socket="/run/crowdsec.sock" |
         .config_paths.config_dir |= sub("/$", "")
     ' "${CONFIG_DIR}/config.yaml"
+
+    # pin the branch to avoid having to query the last version repeatedly.
+    # this means the fixture could possibly go stale (i.e. use the wrong branch) if a new version is released,
+    # but that shouldn't impact the tests anyway.
+
+    HUB_BRANCH=$("$CSCLI" hub branch 2>/dev/null)
+    export HUB_BRANCH
+
+    echo "Setting up tests with hub branch $HUB_BRANCH"
+
+    # need a working config, so we do it as a separate step.
+
+    yq -i e '.cscli.hub_branch=strenv(HUB_BRANCH)' "${CONFIG_DIR}/config.yaml"
 }
 
 make_init_data() {
diff --git a/test/lib/config/config-local b/test/lib/config/config-local
index 3e3c806b6..54ac8550c 100755
--- a/test/lib/config/config-local
+++ b/test/lib/config/config-local
@@ -98,6 +98,19 @@ config_generate() {
     .api.server.console_path=strenv(CONFIG_DIR)+"/console.yaml" |
     del(.api.server.online_client)
     ' ../config/config.yaml >"${CONFIG_DIR}/config.yaml"
+
+    # pin the branch to avoid having to query the last version repeatedly.
+    # this means the fixture could possibly go stale (i.e. use the wrong branch) if a new version is released,
+    # but that shouldn't impact the tests anyway.
+
+    HUB_BRANCH=$("$CSCLI" hub branch 2>/dev/null)
+    export HUB_BRANCH
+
+    echo "Setting up tests with hub branch $HUB_BRANCH"
+
+    # need a working config, so we do it as a separate step.
+
+    yq -i e '.cscli.hub_branch=strenv(HUB_BRANCH)' "${CONFIG_DIR}/config.yaml"
 }
 
 make_init_data() {