diff --git a/src/commands/ssh.ts b/src/commands/ssh.ts
index 3fd0ed9..28e168b 100644
--- a/src/commands/ssh.ts
+++ b/src/commands/ssh.ts
@@ -27,20 +27,37 @@ import { getDoc, onSnapshot } from "firebase/firestore";
 import { pick } from "lodash";
 import yargs from "yargs";
 
+type SshCommandArgs = {
+  instance: string;
+  command?: string;
+  arguments: string[];
+};
+
 /** Maximum amount of time to wait after access is approved to wait for access
  *  to be configured
  */
 const GRANT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS = 60e3;
 
 export const sshCommand = (yargs: yargs.Argv) =>
-  yargs.command<{ instance: string }>(
-    "ssh <instance>",
+  yargs.command<SshCommandArgs>(
+    "ssh <instance> [command [arguments..]]",
     "SSH into a virtual machine",
     (yargs) =>
-      yargs.positional("instance", {
-        type: "string",
-        demandOption: true,
-      }),
+      yargs
+        .positional("instance", {
+          type: "string",
+          demandOption: true,
+        })
+        .positional("command", {
+          type: "string",
+          describe: "Pass command to the shell",
+        })
+        .positional("arguments", {
+          describe: "Command arguments",
+          array: true,
+          string: true,
+          default: [] as string[],
+        }),
     guard(ssh)
   );
 
@@ -107,7 +124,7 @@ const waitForProvisioning = async <P extends PluginRequest>(
  * Supported SSH mechanisms:
  * - AWS EC2 via SSM with Okta SAML
  */
-const ssh = async (args: yargs.ArgumentsCamelCase<{ instance: string }>) => {
+const ssh = async (args: yargs.ArgumentsCamelCase<SshCommandArgs>) => {
   // Prefix is required because the backend uses it to determine that this is an AWS request
   const authn = await authenticate();
   await validateSshInstall(authn);
@@ -127,5 +144,18 @@ const ssh = async (args: yargs.ArgumentsCamelCase<{ instance: string }>) => {
   const { id, isPreexisting } = response;
   if (!isPreexisting) print2("Waiting for access to be provisioned");
   const requestData = await waitForProvisioning<AwsSsh>(authn, id);
-  await ssm(authn, { ...requestData, id });
+  await ssm(authn, {
+    ...requestData,
+    id,
+    command: args.command
+      ? `${args.command} ${args.arguments
+          .map(
+            (argument) =>
+              // escape all double quotes (") in commands such as `p0 ssh <instance>> echo 'hello; "world"'` because we
+              // need to encapsulate command arguments in double quotes as we pass them along to the remote shell
+              `"${argument.replace(/"/g, '\\"')}"`
+          )
+          .join(" ")}`.trim()
+      : undefined,
+  });
 };
diff --git a/src/plugins/aws/ssm.ts b/src/plugins/aws/ssm.ts
index 3ae703a..bf01cb6 100644
--- a/src/plugins/aws/ssm.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/aws/ssm.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ type SsmArgs = {
   requestId: string;
   documentName: string;
   credential: AwsCredentials;
+  command?: string;
 };
 
 /** Checks if access has propagated through AWS to the SSM agent
@@ -84,26 +85,36 @@ const accessPropagationGuard = (
   };
 };
 
+const createSsmCommand = (args: Omit<SsmArgs, "requestId">) => {
+  const ssmCommand = [
+    "aws",
+    "ssm",
+    "start-session",
+    "--region",
+    args.region,
+    "--target",
+    args.instance,
+    "--document-name",
+    args.documentName,
+  ];
+
+  if (args.command && args.command.trim()) {
+    ssmCommand.push("--parameters", `command='${args.command}'`);
+  }
+
+  return ssmCommand;
+};
+
 /** Starts an SSM session in the terminal by spawning `aws ssm` as a subprocess
  *
  * Requires `aws ssm` to be installed on the client machine.
  */
 const spawnSsmNode = async (
-  args: Pick<SsmArgs, "credential" | "documentName" | "instance" | "region">,
+  args: Omit<SsmArgs, "requestId">,
   options?: { attemptsRemaining?: number }
 ): Promise<number | null> =>
   new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    const ssmCommand = [
-      "aws",
-      "ssm",
-      "start-session",
-      "--region",
-      args.region,
-      "--target",
-      args.instance,
-      "--document-name",
-      args.documentName,
-    ];
+    const ssmCommand = createSsmCommand(args);
     const child = spawn("/usr/bin/env", ssmCommand, {
       env: {
         ...process.env,
@@ -145,7 +156,7 @@ const spawnSsmNode = async (
 /** Connect to an SSH backend using AWS Systems Manager (SSM) */
 export const ssm = async (
   authn: Authn,
-  request: Request<AwsSsh> & { id: string }
+  request: Request<AwsSsh> & { id: string; command?: string }
 ) => {
   const match = request.permission.spec.arn.match(INSTANCE_ARN_PATTERN);
   if (!match) throw "Did not receive a properly formatted instance identifier";
@@ -161,6 +172,7 @@ export const ssm = async (
     documentName: request.generated.documentName,
     requestId: request.id,
     credential,
+    command: request.command,
   };
   await spawnSsmNode(args);
 };