diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/index.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/index.ts
index 885a2f5389..460aefddba 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/index.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/index.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ export type {
   EntityUpsertResponse,
   PageInfo,
   EntitiesSearchFilter,
+  EntitiesKeyFilter,
+  EntitiesValuesFilter,
   EntityFilter,
   EntityPagination,
 } from './types';
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/types.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/types.ts
index df693bfd42..3f74f2ee98 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/types.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/types.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ export type EntityPagination = {
 /**
  * Matches rows in the entities_search table.
  */
-export type EntitiesSearchFilter = {
+export type EntitiesValuesFilter = {
   /**
    * The key to match on.
    *
@@ -50,18 +50,28 @@ export type EntitiesSearchFilter = {
   /**
    * Match on plain equality of values.
    *
-   * If undefined, this factor is not taken into account. Otherwise, match on
+   * Match on
    * values that are equal to any of the given array items. Matches are always
    * case insensitive.
    */
-  matchValueIn?: string[];
+  values: string[];
 
-  /**
-   * Match on existence of key.
-   */
-  matchValueExists?: boolean;
+  negate?: boolean;
 };
 
+export type EntitiesKeyFilter = {
+  /**
+   * The key to match on.
+   *
+   * Matches are always case insensitive.
+   */
+  key: string;
+
+  negate?: boolean;
+};
+
+export type EntitiesSearchFilter = EntitiesValuesFilter | EntitiesKeyFilter;
+
 export type PageInfo =
   | {
       hasNextPage: false;
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/request/basicEntityFilter.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/request/basicEntityFilter.ts
index 1cf9ca95f0..cdc736e232 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/request/basicEntityFilter.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/request/basicEntityFilter.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { EntitiesSearchFilter, EntityFilter } from '../../catalog';
+import { EntitiesValuesFilter, EntityFilter } from '../../catalog';
 
 /**
  * Forms a full EntityFilter based on a single key-value(s) object.
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import { EntitiesSearchFilter, EntityFilter } from '../../catalog';
 export function basicEntityFilter(
   items: Record<string, string | string[]>,
 ): EntityFilter {
-  const filtersByKey: Record<string, EntitiesSearchFilter> = {};
+  const filtersByKey: Record<string, EntitiesValuesFilter> = {};
 
   for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(items)) {
     const values = [value].flat();
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ export function basicEntityFilter(
     const f =
       key in filtersByKey
         ? filtersByKey[key]
-        : (filtersByKey[key] = { key, matchValueIn: [] });
+        : (filtersByKey[key] = { key, values: [] });
 
-    f.matchValueIn!.push(...values);
+    f.values!.push(...values);
   }
 
   return { anyOf: [{ allOf: Object.values(filtersByKey) }] };
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/request/parseEntityFilterParams.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/request/parseEntityFilterParams.ts
index 452958b7ae..e779c193cb 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/request/parseEntityFilterParams.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/request/parseEntityFilterParams.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@
  */
 
 import { InputError } from '@backstage/errors';
-import { EntitiesSearchFilter, EntityFilter } from '../../catalog';
+import {
+  EntitiesSearchFilter,
+  EntitiesValuesFilter,
+  EntityFilter,
+} from '../../catalog';
 import { parseStringsParam } from './common';
 
 /**
@@ -75,11 +79,10 @@ export function parseEntityFilterString(
     const f =
       key in filtersByKey ? filtersByKey[key] : (filtersByKey[key] = { key });
 
-    if (value === undefined) {
-      f.matchValueExists = true;
-    } else {
-      f.matchValueIn = f.matchValueIn || [];
-      f.matchValueIn.push(value);
+    if (value !== undefined) {
+      const valuesFilter = f as EntitiesValuesFilter;
+      valuesFilter.values = valuesFilter.values || [];
+      valuesFilter.values.push(value);
     }
   }