diff --git a/sdk/packages/core/src/extensions/tools/helpers.run-commands.test.ts b/sdk/packages/core/src/extensions/tools/helpers.run-commands.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..321a47d787
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sdk/packages/core/src/extensions/tools/helpers.run-commands.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import { zodToJsonSchema } from "@cline/shared";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { normalizeRunCommandsInput } from "./helpers";
+import { RunCommandsInputSchema } from "./schemas";
+
+describe("normalizeRunCommandsInput", () => {
+	it("accepts the documented shapes", () => {
+		expect(normalizeRunCommandsInput({ commands: ["ls", "pwd"] })).toEqual([
+			"ls",
+			"pwd",
+		]);
+		expect(normalizeRunCommandsInput({ commands: "ls" })).toEqual(["ls"]);
+		expect(normalizeRunCommandsInput(["ls"])).toEqual(["ls"]);
+		expect(normalizeRunCommandsInput("ls")).toEqual(["ls"]);
+		expect(normalizeRunCommandsInput({ command: "ls" })).toEqual(["ls"]);
+		expect(
+			normalizeRunCommandsInput({ command: "git", args: ["status"] }),
+		).toEqual([{ command: "git", args: ["status"] }]);
+	});
+
+	it.each([
+		{ label: "an object with an empty commands list", input: { commands: [] } },
+		{ label: "a bare empty list", input: [] },
+	])("rejects $label instead of reporting an empty success", ({ input }) => {
+		expect(() => normalizeRunCommandsInput(input)).toThrow(
+			"run_commands requires at least one command",
+		);
+	});
+});
+
+describe("RunCommandsInputSchema", () => {
+	it("advertises the command list as non-empty", () => {
+		const schema = zodToJsonSchema(RunCommandsInputSchema) as {
+			properties: { commands: { minItems?: number } };
+		};
+		expect(schema.properties.commands.minItems).toBe(1);
+	});
+});
diff --git a/sdk/packages/core/src/extensions/tools/helpers.ts b/sdk/packages/core/src/extensions/tools/helpers.ts
index a9a3373e4b..dc6c6cd956 100644
--- a/sdk/packages/core/src/extensions/tools/helpers.ts
+++ b/sdk/packages/core/src/extensions/tools/helpers.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { validateWithZod } from "@cline/shared";
+import type { z } from "zod";
 import {
 	type EditFileInput,
 	INPUT_ARG_CHAR_LIMIT,
@@ -137,8 +138,24 @@ export function coalesceOrphanReadRanges(input: unknown): unknown {
 export function normalizeRunCommandsInput(
 	input: unknown,
 ): Array<string | StructuredCommandInput> {
-	const validate = validateWithZod(RunCommandsInputUnionSchema, input);
+	const commands = collectRunCommands(
+		validateWithZod(RunCommandsInputUnionSchema, input),
+	);
+	// An empty list is well-formed but never a real request: nothing would
+	// run and the call would still report success. Fail it so the model sees
+	// that no command was given instead of an empty result it has to read
+	// into.
+	if (commands.length === 0) {
+		throw new Error(
+			"run_commands requires at least one command; the commands list was empty.",
+		);
+	}
+	return commands;
+}
 
+function collectRunCommands(
+	validate: z.infer<typeof RunCommandsInputUnionSchema>,
+): Array<string | StructuredCommandInput> {
 	if (typeof validate === "string") {
 		return [validate];
 	}
diff --git a/sdk/packages/core/src/extensions/tools/schemas.ts b/sdk/packages/core/src/extensions/tools/schemas.ts
index b067cb61a3..8ebffd1160 100644
--- a/sdk/packages/core/src/extensions/tools/schemas.ts
+++ b/sdk/packages/core/src/extensions/tools/schemas.ts
@@ -149,6 +149,10 @@ export const StructuredCommandEntrySchema = z.union([
 export const RunCommandsInputSchema = z.object({
 	commands: z
 		.array(CommandInputSchema)
+		// Advertised to the model as minItems: 1. The lenient union below still
+		// accepts an empty list so the normalizer can reject it with one clear
+		// message instead of a union error.
+		.min(1)
 		.describe("Array of complete shell command strings to execute."),
 });