diff --git a/docs/tutorialkit.dev/src/content/docs/reference/configuration.mdx b/docs/tutorialkit.dev/src/content/docs/reference/configuration.mdx
index c70ab5895..e57bfbca9 100644
--- a/docs/tutorialkit.dev/src/content/docs/reference/configuration.mdx
+++ b/docs/tutorialkit.dev/src/content/docs/reference/configuration.mdx
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ You can set terminal open by default by specifying the `open` value.
 
 An interactive terminal will disable the output redirect syntax by default. For instance, you cannot create a file `world.txt` with the contents `hello` using the command `echo hello > world.txt`. The reason is that this could disrupt the lesson if a user overwrites certain files. To allow output redirection, you can change the behavior with the `allowRedirects` setting. You can define this setting either per panel or for all panels at once.
 
-Additionally, you may not want users to run arbitrary commands. For example, if you are creating a lesson about `vitest`, you could specify that the only command the user can run is `vitest` by providing a list of `allowCommands`. Any other command executed by the user will be blocked. You can define the `allowCommands` setting either per panel or for all panels at once.
+Additionally, you may not want users to run arbitrary commands. For example, if you are creating a lesson about `vitest`, you could specify that the only command the user can run is `vitest` by providing a list of `allowCommands`. By default, the allowed commands are `ls` and `echo`. Providing a list of `allowCommands` will override these defaults, and specifying an empty list will allow all commands. Any other command executed by the user will be blocked. You can define the `allowCommands` setting either per panel or for all panels at once.
 
 By default, in every new lesson terminals start a new session. If you want to keep the terminal session between lessons, you can specify the `id` property for a given terminal panel and keep the same `id` across lessons.
 <PropertyTable inherited type="Terminal" />
diff --git a/packages/runtime/src/webcontainer/terminal-config.spec.ts b/packages/runtime/src/webcontainer/terminal-config.spec.ts
index 8dd2f851e..ae5a4a774 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/src/webcontainer/terminal-config.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime/src/webcontainer/terminal-config.spec.ts
@@ -56,13 +56,13 @@ describe('TerminalConfig', () => {
     expect(config.panels[0].id).toBe('foo');
     expect(config.panels[0].processOptions).toEqual({
       allowRedirects: false,
-      allowCommands: undefined,
+      allowCommands: ['ls', 'echo'],
     });
     expect(config.panels[1].title).toBe('Bar');
     expect(config.panels[1].id).toBe('bar');
     expect(config.panels[1].processOptions).toEqual({
       allowRedirects: false,
-      allowCommands: undefined,
+      allowCommands: ['ls', 'echo'],
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/packages/runtime/src/webcontainer/terminal-config.ts b/packages/runtime/src/webcontainer/terminal-config.ts
index cdfb8afa4..4704005e8 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/src/webcontainer/terminal-config.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime/src/webcontainer/terminal-config.ts
@@ -200,6 +200,9 @@ export class TerminalPanel implements ITerminal {
   }
 }
 
+// set the default commands for the terminal
+const DEFAULT_COMMANDS = ['ls', 'echo'];
+
 /**
  * Normalize the provided configuration to a configuration which is easier to parse.
  *
@@ -232,6 +235,18 @@ function normalizeTerminalConfig(config?: TerminalSchema): NormalizedTerminalCon
 
   const panels: TerminalPanel[] = [];
 
+  const resolveAllowCommands = (globalCommands?: string[], panelCommands?: string[]): string[] | undefined => {
+    if (panelCommands === undefined) {
+      return globalCommands ?? DEFAULT_COMMANDS;
+    }
+
+    if (Array.isArray(panelCommands) && panelCommands.length === 0) {
+      return undefined;
+    }
+
+    return panelCommands;
+  };
+
   const options = {
     allowRedirects: config.allowRedirects,
     allowCommands: config.allowCommands,
@@ -258,7 +273,7 @@ function normalizeTerminalConfig(config?: TerminalSchema): NormalizedTerminalCon
             id: panel.id,
             title: panel.title,
             allowRedirects: panel.allowRedirects ?? config.allowRedirects,
-            allowCommands: panel.allowCommands ?? config.allowCommands,
+            allowCommands: resolveAllowCommands(config.allowCommands, panel.allowCommands),
           });
         }