diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index afbc424bfe..f0fba5a3c4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ This is the log of notable changes to EAS CLI and related packages.
 - Copy over credentials from Expo Classic to EAS ([#445](https://github.com/expo/eas-cli/pull/445) by [@quinlanj](https://github.com/quinlanj))
 - Add Big Sur image for iOS builds. ([#457](https://github.com/expo/eas-cli/pull/457) by [@wkozyra95](https://github.com/wkozyra95))
 - New version of Android credentials manager ([#460](https://github.com/expo/eas-cli/pull/460) by [@quinlanj](https://github.com/quinlanj))
+- Add an internal distribution with dev client to `build:configure` defaults. ([#465](https://github.com/expo/eas-cli/pull/465) by [@fson](https://github.com/fson))
 
 ### 🐛 Bug fixes
 
diff --git a/packages/eas-cli/src/build/configure.ts b/packages/eas-cli/src/build/configure.ts
index b645d4b36d..c1f8306707 100644
--- a/packages/eas-cli/src/build/configure.ts
+++ b/packages/eas-cli/src/build/configure.ts
@@ -65,6 +65,37 @@ export async function configureAsync(options: {
   }
 }
 
+const MANAGED_DEFAULTS = {
+  release: {
+    workflow: 'managed',
+  },
+  development: {
+    workflow: 'managed',
+    buildType: 'development-client',
+    distribution: 'internal',
+  },
+};
+const ANDROID_GENERIC_DEFAULTS = {
+  release: {
+    workflow: 'generic',
+  },
+  development: {
+    workflow: 'generic',
+    gradleCommand: ':app:assembleDebug',
+    distribution: 'internal',
+  },
+};
+const IOS_GENERIC_DEFAULTS = {
+  release: {
+    workflow: 'generic',
+  },
+  development: {
+    workflow: 'generic',
+    schemeBuildConfiguration: 'Debug',
+    distribution: 'internal',
+  },
+};
+
 export async function ensureEasJsonExistsAsync(ctx: ConfigureContext): Promise<void> {
   const easJsonPath = path.join(ctx.projectDir, 'eas.json');
   let existingEasJson;
@@ -99,20 +130,12 @@ export async function ensureEasJsonExistsAsync(ctx: ConfigureContext): Promise<v
       ...existingEasJson,
       ...(shouldInitAndroid
         ? {
-            android: {
-              release: {
-                workflow: ctx.hasAndroidNativeProject ? 'generic' : 'managed',
-              },
-            },
+            android: ctx.hasAndroidNativeProject ? ANDROID_GENERIC_DEFAULTS : MANAGED_DEFAULTS,
           }
         : null),
       ...(shouldInitIOS
         ? {
-            ios: {
-              release: {
-                workflow: ctx.hasIosNativeProject ? 'generic' : 'managed',
-              },
-            },
+            ios: ctx.hasIosNativeProject ? IOS_GENERIC_DEFAULTS : MANAGED_DEFAULTS,
           }
         : null),
     },