diff --git a/.changeset/cli-session-ls-terminated.md b/.changeset/cli-session-ls-terminated.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..792882282
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/cli-session-ls-terminated.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@aoagents/ao-cli": patch
+---
+
+`ao session ls` hides terminal sessions in text output by default; use `--include-terminated` for the full text list.
diff --git a/packages/cli/__tests__/commands/session.test.ts b/packages/cli/__tests__/commands/session.test.ts
index 768c02590..57d30967a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/__tests__/commands/session.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/__tests__/commands/session.test.ts
@@ -370,6 +370,23 @@ describe("session ls", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("filters terminal sessions from JSON by default and reports hidden count", async () => {
+    writeFileSync(join(sessionsDir, "app-1"), "branch=main\nstatus=working\n");
+    writeFileSync(join(sessionsDir, "app-done"), "branch=main\nstatus=merged\nactivity=exited\n");
+
+    mockTmux.mockResolvedValue(null);
+    mockGit.mockResolvedValue(null);
+
+    await program.parseAsync(["node", "test", "session", "ls", "--json"]);
+
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(String(consoleSpy.mock.calls[0][0])) as {
+      data: Array<{ id: string }>;
+      meta: { hiddenTerminatedCount: number };
+    };
+    expect(parsed.data.map((entry) => entry.id)).toEqual(["app-1"]);
+    expect(parsed.meta.hiddenTerminatedCount).toBe(1);
+  });
+
   it("marks metadata-based orchestrators correctly in JSON output", async () => {
     writeFileSync(
       join(sessionsDir, "app-control"),
@@ -573,6 +590,71 @@ describe("session ls", () => {
     expect(parsed.data.map((e: { id: string }) => e.id)).toEqual(["app-1"]);
     expect(parsed.meta.hiddenTerminatedCount).toBe(3);
   });
+
+  it("hides terminal-status sessions by default", async () => {
+    writeFileSync(join(sessionsDir, "app-1"), "branch=main\nstatus=working\n");
+    writeFileSync(join(sessionsDir, "app-done"), "branch=main\nstatus=merged\n");
+
+    mockTmux.mockImplementation(async (...args: string[]) => {
+      if (args[0] === "list-sessions") return "app-1\napp-done";
+      if (args[0] === "display-message") {
+        return String(Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) - 60);
+      }
+      return null;
+    });
+    mockGit.mockResolvedValue(null);
+
+    await program.parseAsync(["node", "test", "session", "ls"]);
+
+    const output = consoleSpy.mock.calls.map((c) => String(c[0])).join("\n");
+    expect(output).toContain("app-1");
+    expect(output).not.toContain("app-done");
+  });
+
+  it("lists terminal sessions when --include-terminated is set", async () => {
+    writeFileSync(join(sessionsDir, "app-done"), "branch=main\nstatus=merged\n");
+
+    mockTmux.mockImplementation(async (...args: string[]) => {
+      if (args[0] === "list-sessions") return "app-done";
+      return null;
+    });
+    mockGit.mockResolvedValue(null);
+
+    await program.parseAsync(["node", "test", "session", "ls", "--include-terminated"]);
+
+    const output = consoleSpy.mock.calls.map((c) => String(c[0])).join("\n");
+    expect(output).toContain("app-done");
+  });
+
+  it("prints a hint when only terminal sessions exist", async () => {
+    writeFileSync(join(sessionsDir, "app-done"), "branch=main\nstatus=merged\n");
+
+    mockTmux.mockImplementation(async (...args: string[]) => {
+      if (args[0] === "list-sessions") return "app-done";
+      return null;
+    });
+
+    await program.parseAsync(["node", "test", "session", "ls"]);
+
+    const output = consoleSpy.mock.calls.map((c) => String(c[0])).join("\n");
+    expect(output).toContain("--include-terminated");
+    expect(output).not.toContain("app-done");
+  });
+
+  it("prints a hint when terminal sessions are hidden alongside active ones", async () => {
+    writeFileSync(join(sessionsDir, "app-1"), "branch=main\nstatus=working\n");
+    writeFileSync(join(sessionsDir, "app-done"), "branch=main\nstatus=merged\n");
+
+    mockTmux.mockResolvedValue(null);
+    mockGit.mockResolvedValue(null);
+
+    await program.parseAsync(["node", "test", "session", "ls"]);
+
+    const output = consoleSpy.mock.calls.map((c) => String(c[0])).join("\n");
+    expect(output).toContain("app-1");
+    expect(output).toContain("terminated session");
+    expect(output).toContain("--include-terminated");
+  });
 });
 
 describe("session kill", () => {