diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 97d2d03..43086d2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,7 +14,12 @@ download, and execute that version
 All arguments are passed through to terraform
 ```
 
-## sample usage
+## Sample usage
 `versionedTerraform version` will display the terraform version executed in a folder
 
+## Configuration
+A configuration file is created in `~/.versionedTerraform`<br><br>
+
+`StableOnly` boolean values: <b>true</b>/false<br>
+This value is used to restrict terraform to release versions only defaults to true
 ## Known Issues
diff --git a/SemVersion.go b/SemVersion.go
index b322872..6ae8a9d 100644
--- a/SemVersion.go
+++ b/SemVersion.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ const (
 
 type SemVersion struct {
 	version      string
+	isStable     bool
 	majorVersion int
 	minorVersion int
 	patchVersion int
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ type SemVersionInterface interface {
 
 func NewSemVersion(v string) *SemVersion {
 	s := new(SemVersion)
+	s.isStable = true
 	s.version = removeSpacesVersion(v)
 
 	s.setMajorVersion()
@@ -52,13 +54,18 @@ func (s *SemVersion) setMinorVersion() {
 
 func (s *SemVersion) setPatchVersion() {
 	version := s.version
+	var err error
 	patchStringSlice := strings.Split(version, ".")
 	if len(patchStringSlice) < 3 {
 		s.patchVersion = 0
 		return
 	}
-	s.patchVersion, _ = strconv.Atoi(patchStringSlice[2])
-
+	s.patchVersion, err = strconv.Atoi(patchStringSlice[2])
+	if err != nil {
+		s.isStable = false
+		patchStringSlice = strings.Split(patchStringSlice[2], "-")
+		s.patchVersion, _ = strconv.Atoi(patchStringSlice[0])
+	}
 }
 
 func (s *SemVersion) ToString() string {
diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index 90f5912..c5a739f 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ const (
 	terraformPrefix      = "/terraform_"
 )
 
+var needsStable = true
+
 func main() {
 	homeDir, _ := os.UserHomeDir()
 	configDirString := homeDir + shortConfigDirString
@@ -69,7 +71,12 @@ func main() {
 		vSlice = append(vSlice, v.ToString())
 	}
 
-	ver, err := versionedTerraform.GetVersionFromFile(workingDir, vSlice)
+	needsStable, err = versionedTerraform.ConfigRequiresStable(configDir, configFileLocation)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Unable to open config file, defaulting to stable versions of terraform only")
+	}
+
+	ver, err := versionedTerraform.GetVersionFromFile(workingDir, vSlice, needsStable)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Printf("Unable to retrieve terraform version from files: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/configManagement.go b/configManagement.go
index 06431fe..4886235 100644
--- a/configManagement.go
+++ b/configManagement.go
@@ -12,10 +12,33 @@ import (
 )
 
 type configStruct struct {
+	StableOnly        bool
 	LastUpdate        int64
 	AvailableVersions []string
 }
 
+func ConfigRequiresStable(fileSystem fs.FS, configFile string) (bool, error) {
+	fileHandle, err := fileSystem.Open(configFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		return true, err
+	}
+	defer fileHandle.Close()
+
+	fileScanner := bufio.NewScanner(fileHandle)
+	fileScanner.Split(bufio.ScanLines)
+
+	for fileScanner.Scan() {
+		_line := fileScanner.Text()
+		if strings.Contains(_line, "StableOnly: ") {
+			isStable := strings.SplitAfter(_line, "StableOnly: ")[1]
+			if strings.EqualFold(isStable, "false") {
+				return false, nil
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return true, nil
+}
+
 func NeedToUpdateAvailableVersions(fileSystem fs.FS, availableVersions string) (bool, error) {
 	//todo this is used a lot abstract it?
 	fileHandle, err := fileSystem.Open(availableVersions)
@@ -120,6 +143,8 @@ func CreateConfig(directory string, configFile string) error {
 	fileHandler, err := os.Create(configFileName)
 	defer fileHandler.Close()
 
+	lineToByte := []byte(fmt.Sprintf("StableOnly: true\n"))
+	fileHandler.Write(lineToByte)
 	err = UpdateConfig(*fileHandler)
 	return err
 }
diff --git a/configManagement_test.go b/configManagement_test.go
index ba1eaf1..e97dca2 100644
--- a/configManagement_test.go
+++ b/configManagement_test.go
@@ -79,26 +79,27 @@ func TestInstalledVersions(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	fs := fstest.MapFS{
-		"terraform_0.12.31": {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_0.12.30": {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_0.11.10": {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_0.11.15": {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.0.1":   {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.0.12":  {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.1.1":   {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.1.2":   {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.1.3":   {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.1.4":   {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.1.5":   {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.1.6":   {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.1.7":   {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.1.8":   {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.1.9":   {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.1.10":  {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_1.1.11":  {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_0.14.0":  {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_0.13.1":  {Data: []byte("")},
-		"terraform_0.13.0":  {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_0.12.31":      {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_0.12.30":      {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_0.11.10":      {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_0.11.15":      {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.0.1":        {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.0.12":       {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.2.23-alpha": {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.1.1":        {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.1.2":        {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.1.3":        {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.1.4":        {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.1.5":        {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.1.6":        {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.1.7":        {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.1.8":        {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.1.9":        {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.1.10":       {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_1.1.11":       {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_0.14.0":       {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_0.13.1":       {Data: []byte("")},
+		"terraform_0.13.0":       {Data: []byte("")},
 	}
 
 	t.Run("Test installed versions", func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/fileHandler.go b/fileHandler.go
index e60ef6a..4b68bf0 100644
--- a/fileHandler.go
+++ b/fileHandler.go
@@ -7,9 +7,13 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 )
 
+var needsStable bool
+
 //todo this should be (Version) GetVers...
-func GetVersionFromFile(fileSystem fs.FS, versionList []string) (*Version, error) {
+func GetVersionFromFile(fileSystem fs.FS, versionList []string, needsStableValue bool) (*Version, error) {
+	needsStable = needsStableValue
 	var versionFinal Version
+	versionFinal = *NewVersion(">= 0.0.0", versionList)
 	dir, err := fs.ReadDir(fileSystem, ".")
 	if err != nil {
 		return &versionFinal, err
diff --git a/fileHandler_test.go b/fileHandler_test.go
index 6319890..5b1f32a 100644
--- a/fileHandler_test.go
+++ b/fileHandler_test.go
@@ -5,9 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"testing/fstest"
 )
 
-func TestFileHandler(t *testing.T) {
-	const (
-		firstFile = `
+const (
+	firstFile = `
 resource "aws_mq_broker" "sample" {
  depends_on = [aws_security_group.mq]
  broker_name = var.name
@@ -21,13 +20,14 @@ resource "aws_mq_broker" "sample" {
  subnet_ids = ["10.0.0.0/24", "10.0.1.0/24"]
 }
 `
-		secondFile = `
+	secondFile = `
 terraform {
  required_version = "~> 0.12.4"
 }
 `
-	)
+)
 
+func TestFileHandler(t *testing.T) {
 	want := NewVersion("0.12.31", testVersionList())
 
 	fs := fstest.MapFS{
@@ -35,7 +35,25 @@ terraform {
 		"versions.tf": {Data: []byte(secondFile)},
 	}
 
-	version, err := GetVersionFromFile(fs, testVersionList())
+	version, err := GetVersionFromFile(fs, testVersionList(), true)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	got := *version
+
+	if got.Version != want.Version {
+		t.Errorf("Expected %v, got %v", want.Version, got.Version)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEmptyTerraformVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	want := NewVersion("1.1.11", testVersionList())
+
+	fs := fstest.MapFS{"main.tf": {Data: []byte(firstFile)}}
+
+	version, err := GetVersionFromFile(fs, testVersionList(), true)
 
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/versionedTerraform.go b/versionedTerraform.go
index 56075f9..5f7e60d 100644
--- a/versionedTerraform.go
+++ b/versionedTerraform.go
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ func (v *Version) getLatestMajorRelease() {
 	for _, release := range v.availableVersions {
 		if release.majorVersion == v.Version.majorVersion &&
 			release.minorVersion == v.Version.minorVersion &&
-			release.patchVersion >= v.Version.patchVersion {
+			release.patchVersion >= v.Version.patchVersion &&
+			(v.Version.isStable || !needsStable) {
 			v.Version = release
 		}
 	}
@@ -73,16 +74,19 @@ func (v *Version) getOneLessRelease() {
 func (v *Version) getLatestRelease() {
 	//todo clean up
 	for _, release := range v.availableVersions {
-		if release.majorVersion > v.Version.majorVersion {
+		if release.majorVersion > v.Version.majorVersion &&
+			(release.isStable || !needsStable) {
 			v.Version = release
 		}
 		if release.majorVersion >= v.Version.majorVersion &&
-			release.minorVersion > v.Version.minorVersion {
+			release.minorVersion > v.Version.minorVersion &&
+			(release.isStable || !needsStable) {
 			v.Version = release
 		}
 		if release.majorVersion >= v.Version.majorVersion &&
 			release.minorVersion >= v.Version.minorVersion &&
-			release.patchVersion >= v.Version.patchVersion {
+			release.patchVersion >= v.Version.patchVersion &&
+			(release.isStable || !needsStable) {
 			v.Version = release
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/versionedTerraform_test.go b/versionedTerraform_test.go
index 53321f4..cb1003b 100644
--- a/versionedTerraform_test.go
+++ b/versionedTerraform_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 
 func testVersionList() []string {
 	return []string{
+		"1.2.23-alpha",
 		"1.1.11",
 		"1.1.10",
 		"1.1.9",