Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) may receive a beam configuration for each physical cell identifier (PCI) of a set of candidate PCIs. A beam configuration for a PCI may include, for example, transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states for downlink channels and reference signals or spatial relations for uplink channels and reference signals. The UE may receive an indication of a selected subset of PCIs of the set of candidate PCIs. The UE may apply the beam configuration for each PCI of the selected subset of PCIs based on the indication of the selected subset of PCIs. The UE may then communicate according to the beam configurations for the selected subset of PCIs.