diff --git a/clap_blocks/src/write_buffer.rs b/clap_blocks/src/write_buffer.rs
index 248002cb02..3a8d753462 100644
--- a/clap_blocks/src/write_buffer.rs
+++ b/clap_blocks/src/write_buffer.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 //! Config for [`write_buffer`].
 use iox_time::SystemProvider;
 use observability_deps::tracing::*;
-use std::{collections::BTreeMap, num::NonZeroU32, path::PathBuf, sync::Arc};
+use std::{collections::BTreeMap, num::NonZeroU32, ops::Range, path::PathBuf, sync::Arc};
 use tempfile::TempDir;
 use trace::TraceCollector;
 use write_buffer::{
@@ -94,12 +94,13 @@ impl WriteBufferConfig {
     pub async fn writing(
         &self,
         metrics: Arc<metric::Registry>,
+        partitions: Option<Range<i32>>,
         trace_collector: Option<Arc<dyn TraceCollector>>,
     ) -> Result<Arc<dyn WriteBufferWriting>, WriteBufferError> {
         let conn = self.conn();
         let factory = Self::factory(metrics);
         factory
-            .new_config_write(&self.topic, trace_collector.as_ref(), &conn)
+            .new_config_write(&self.topic, partitions, trace_collector.as_ref(), &conn)
             .await
     }
 
@@ -107,12 +108,13 @@ impl WriteBufferConfig {
     pub async fn reading(
         &self,
         metrics: Arc<metric::Registry>,
+        partitions: Option<Range<i32>>,
         trace_collector: Option<Arc<dyn TraceCollector>>,
     ) -> Result<Arc<dyn WriteBufferReading>, WriteBufferError> {
         let conn = self.conn();
         let factory = Self::factory(metrics);
         factory
-            .new_config_read(&self.topic, trace_collector.as_ref(), &conn)
+            .new_config_read(&self.topic, partitions, trace_collector.as_ref(), &conn)
             .await
     }
 
diff --git a/ioxd_ingester/src/lib.rs b/ioxd_ingester/src/lib.rs
index a85f09bdf3..fe635f22af 100644
--- a/ioxd_ingester/src/lib.rs
+++ b/ioxd_ingester/src/lib.rs
@@ -156,10 +156,9 @@ pub async fn create_ingester_server_type(
         return Err(Error::ShardIndexRange);
     }
 
-    let shard_indexes: Vec<_> = (ingester_config.shard_index_range_start
-        ..=ingester_config.shard_index_range_end)
-        .map(ShardIndex::new)
-        .collect();
+    let shard_range =
+        ingester_config.shard_index_range_start..(ingester_config.shard_index_range_end + 1);
+    let shard_indexes: Vec<_> = shard_range.clone().map(ShardIndex::new).collect();
 
     let mut shards = BTreeMap::new();
     for shard_index in shard_indexes {
@@ -171,7 +170,11 @@ pub async fn create_ingester_server_type(
     let trace_collector = common_state.trace_collector();
 
     let write_buffer = write_buffer_config
-        .reading(Arc::clone(&metric_registry), trace_collector.clone())
+        .reading(
+            Arc::clone(&metric_registry),
+            Some(shard_range),
+            trace_collector.clone(),
+        )
         .await?;
 
     let lifecycle_config = LifecycleConfig::new(
diff --git a/ioxd_router/src/lib.rs b/ioxd_router/src/lib.rs
index b0475fcec7..7856254ea4 100644
--- a/ioxd_router/src/lib.rs
+++ b/ioxd_router/src/lib.rs
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ async fn init_write_buffer(
 )> {
     let write_buffer = Arc::new(
         write_buffer_config
-            .writing(Arc::clone(&metrics), trace_collector)
+            .writing(Arc::clone(&metrics), None, trace_collector)
             .await?,
     );
 
diff --git a/write_buffer/src/config.rs b/write_buffer/src/config.rs
index e22e91f816..1d02e60cc9 100644
--- a/write_buffer/src/config.rs
+++ b/write_buffer/src/config.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ use parking_lot::RwLock;
 use std::{
     collections::{btree_map::Entry, BTreeMap},
     num::NonZeroU32,
+    ops::Range,
     path::PathBuf,
     sync::Arc,
 };
@@ -151,6 +152,7 @@ impl WriteBufferConfigFactory {
     pub async fn new_config_write(
         &self,
         db_name: &str,
+        partitions: Option<Range<i32>>,
         trace_collector: Option<&Arc<dyn TraceCollector>>,
         cfg: &WriteBufferConnection,
     ) -> Result<Arc<dyn WriteBufferWriting>, WriteBufferError> {
@@ -173,6 +175,7 @@ impl WriteBufferConfigFactory {
                     &cfg.connection_config,
                     Arc::clone(&self.time_provider),
                     cfg.creation_config.as_ref(),
+                    partitions,
                     trace_collector.map(Arc::clone),
                     &*self.metric_registry,
                 )
@@ -205,6 +208,7 @@ impl WriteBufferConfigFactory {
     pub async fn new_config_read(
         &self,
         db_name: &str,
+        partitions: Option<Range<i32>>,
         trace_collector: Option<&Arc<dyn TraceCollector>>,
         cfg: &WriteBufferConnection,
     ) -> Result<Arc<dyn WriteBufferReading>, WriteBufferError> {
@@ -226,6 +230,7 @@ impl WriteBufferConfigFactory {
                     db_name.to_owned(),
                     &cfg.connection_config,
                     cfg.creation_config.as_ref(),
+                    partitions,
                     trace_collector.map(Arc::clone),
                 )
                 .await?;
@@ -275,7 +280,7 @@ mod tests {
         };
 
         let conn = factory
-            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(conn.type_name(), "file");
@@ -294,7 +299,7 @@ mod tests {
         };
 
         let conn = factory
-            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(conn.type_name(), "file");
@@ -316,7 +321,7 @@ mod tests {
         };
 
         let conn = factory
-            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(conn.type_name(), "mock");
@@ -328,7 +333,7 @@ mod tests {
             ..Default::default()
         };
         let err = factory
-            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap_err();
         assert!(err.to_string().contains("Unknown mock ID:"));
@@ -350,7 +355,7 @@ mod tests {
         };
 
         let conn = factory
-            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(conn.type_name(), "mock");
@@ -362,7 +367,7 @@ mod tests {
             ..Default::default()
         };
         let err = factory
-            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap_err();
         assert!(err.to_string().contains("Unknown mock ID:"));
@@ -383,7 +388,7 @@ mod tests {
         };
 
         let conn = factory
-            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(conn.type_name(), "mock_failing");
@@ -395,7 +400,7 @@ mod tests {
             ..Default::default()
         };
         let err = factory
-            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap_err();
         assert!(err.to_string().contains("Unknown mock ID:"));
@@ -416,7 +421,7 @@ mod tests {
         };
 
         let conn = factory
-            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(conn.type_name(), "mock_failing");
@@ -428,7 +433,7 @@ mod tests {
             ..Default::default()
         };
         let err = factory
-            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap_err();
         assert!(err.to_string().contains("Unknown mock ID:"));
@@ -464,7 +469,7 @@ mod tests {
         };
 
         let conn = factory
-            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_write(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(conn.type_name(), "kafka");
@@ -484,7 +489,7 @@ mod tests {
         };
 
         let conn = factory
-            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, &cfg)
+            .new_config_read(db_name.as_str(), None, None, &cfg)
             .await
             .unwrap();
         assert_eq!(conn.type_name(), "kafka");
diff --git a/write_buffer/src/kafka/mod.rs b/write_buffer/src/kafka/mod.rs
index 788788548a..0d58eb9932 100644
--- a/write_buffer/src/kafka/mod.rs
+++ b/write_buffer/src/kafka/mod.rs
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ use rskafka::{
 };
 use std::{
     collections::{BTreeMap, BTreeSet},
+    ops::Range,
     sync::{
         atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering},
         Arc,
@@ -55,17 +56,25 @@ pub struct RSKafkaProducer {
 }
 
 impl RSKafkaProducer {
+    #[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
     pub async fn new<'a>(
         conn: String,
         topic_name: String,
         connection_config: &'a BTreeMap<String, String>,
         time_provider: Arc<dyn TimeProvider>,
         creation_config: Option<&'a WriteBufferCreationConfig>,
+        partitions: Option<Range<i32>>,
         _trace_collector: Option<Arc<dyn TraceCollector>>,
         metric_registry: &'a metric::Registry,
     ) -> Result<Self> {
-        let partition_clients =
-            setup_topic(conn, topic_name.clone(), connection_config, creation_config).await?;
+        let partition_clients = setup_topic(
+            conn,
+            topic_name.clone(),
+            connection_config,
+            creation_config,
+            partitions,
+        )
+        .await?;
 
         let producer_config = ProducerConfig::try_from(connection_config)?;
 
@@ -358,10 +367,17 @@ impl RSKafkaConsumer {
         topic_name: String,
         connection_config: &BTreeMap<String, String>,
         creation_config: Option<&WriteBufferCreationConfig>,
+        partitions: Option<Range<i32>>,
         trace_collector: Option<Arc<dyn TraceCollector>>,
     ) -> Result<Self> {
-        let partition_clients =
-            setup_topic(conn, topic_name.clone(), connection_config, creation_config).await?;
+        let partition_clients = setup_topic(
+            conn,
+            topic_name.clone(),
+            connection_config,
+            creation_config,
+            partitions,
+        )
+        .await?;
 
         let partition_clients = partition_clients
             .into_iter()
@@ -428,6 +444,7 @@ async fn setup_topic(
     topic_name: String,
     connection_config: &BTreeMap<String, String>,
     creation_config: Option<&WriteBufferCreationConfig>,
+    partitions: Option<Range<i32>>,
 ) -> Result<BTreeMap<ShardIndex, PartitionClient>> {
     let client_config = ClientConfig::try_from(connection_config)?;
     let mut client_builder = ClientBuilder::new(vec![conn]);
@@ -447,17 +464,37 @@ async fn setup_topic(
             // Instantiate 10 partition clients concurrently until all are ready
             // speed up server init.
             let client_ref = &client;
-            return stream::iter(topic.partitions.into_iter().map(|p| {
-                let topic_name = topic_name.clone();
-                async move {
-                    let shard_index = ShardIndex::new(p);
-                    let c = client_ref.partition_client(&topic_name, p).await?;
-                    Ok((shard_index, c))
-                }
-            }))
+            let clients = stream::iter(
+                topic
+                    .partitions
+                    .into_iter()
+                    .filter(|p| {
+                        partitions
+                            .as_ref()
+                            .map(|want| want.contains(p))
+                            .unwrap_or(true)
+                    })
+                    .map(|p| {
+                        let topic_name = topic_name.clone();
+                        async move {
+                            let shard_index = ShardIndex::new(p);
+                            let c = client_ref.partition_client(&topic_name, p).await?;
+                            Result::<_, WriteBufferError>::Ok((shard_index, c))
+                        }
+                    }),
+            )
             .buffer_unordered(10)
             .try_collect::<BTreeMap<_, _>>()
-            .await;
+            .await?;
+
+            if let Some(p) = partitions {
+                assert_eq!(
+                    p.len(),
+                    clients.len(),
+                    "requested partition clients not initialised"
+                );
+            }
+            return Ok(clients);
         }
 
         // create topic
@@ -576,6 +613,7 @@ mod tests {
                 &BTreeMap::default(),
                 Arc::clone(&self.time_provider),
                 self.creation_config(creation_config).as_ref(),
+                None,
                 Some(self.trace_collector() as Arc<_>),
                 &self.metrics,
             )
@@ -588,6 +626,7 @@ mod tests {
                 self.topic_name.clone(),
                 &BTreeMap::default(),
                 self.creation_config(creation_config).as_ref(),
+                None,
                 Some(self.trace_collector() as Arc<_>),
             )
             .await
@@ -625,6 +664,7 @@ mod tests {
                             n_shards,
                             ..Default::default()
                         }),
+                        None,
                     )
                     .await
                     .unwrap();