diff --git a/qa-core/README.md b/qa-core/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b812742ab3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qa-core/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# QA Core API Tests
+
+The QA Core API tests are a jest suite that run directly against the budibase backend APIs.
+
+## Auto Setup
+You can run the whole test suite with one command, that spins up the budibase server and runs the jest tests:
+
+`yarn api:test` 
+
+## Setup Server Only
+You can also just stand up the budibase server alone.
+
+`yarn api:server:setup` 
+
+## Run Tests
+If you configured the server using the previous command, you can run the whole test suite by using:
+
+`yarn test` 
+
+for watch mode, where the tests will run on every change:
+
+`yarn test:watch` 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/applications.ts b/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/applications.ts
index afee5d707a..20e40fa3f2 100644
--- a/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/applications.ts
+++ b/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/applications.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import {
   Application,
 } from "@budibase/server/api/controllers/public/mapping/types"
+import { App } from "@budibase/types"
 import { Response } from "node-fetch"
 import InternalAPIClient from "./InternalAPIClient"
 
@@ -17,9 +18,28 @@ export default class AppApi {
     return [response, json]
   }
 
+  async canRender(appId: string): Promise<[Response, string]> {
+    const response = await this.api.get(`/${appId}`, {})
+    const html = await response.text()
+    return [response, html]
+  }
+
+  async getAppPackage(appId: string): Promise<[Response, any]> {
+    const response = await this.api.get(`/applications/${appId}/appPackage`)
+    const json = await response.json()
+    return [response, json]
+  }
+
+  // TODO: 500 Error: Missing/invalid DB name when called
+  async publish(): Promise<[Response, string]> {
+    const response = await this.api.post("/deploy")
+    const json = await response.json()
+    return [response, json]
+  }
+
   async create(
     body: any
-  ): Promise<[Response, Application]> {
+  ): Promise<[Response, Partial<App>]> {
     const response = await this.api.post(`/applications`, { body })
     const json = await response.json()
     return [response, json]
diff --git a/qa-core/src/tests/internal-api/applications/create.spec.ts b/qa-core/src/tests/internal-api/applications/create.spec.ts
index a11640153c..dedff13e8e 100644
--- a/qa-core/src/tests/internal-api/applications/create.spec.ts
+++ b/qa-core/src/tests/internal-api/applications/create.spec.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import TestConfiguration from "../../../config/internal-api/TestConfiguration"
 import { Application } from "@budibase/server/api/controllers/public/mapping/types"
 import InternalAPIClient from "../../../config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/InternalAPIClient"
 import generateApp from "../../../config/internal-api/fixtures/applications"
+import generator from "../../../config/generator"
 
 describe("Internal API - /applications endpoints", () => {
   const api = new InternalAPIClient()
@@ -37,4 +38,45 @@ describe("Internal API - /applications endpoints", () => {
     expect(response).toHaveStatusCode(200)
     expect(app._id).toBeDefined()
   })
+
+  it("POST - Create an application from a template", async () => {
+    const appName = generator.word()
+    const [response, app] = await config.applications.create({
+      name: appName,
+      url: `/${generator.word()}`,
+      useTemplate: true,
+      templateName: "Car Rental Admin Panel",
+      templateKey: "app/car-rental-admin-panel",
+      templateFile: undefined
+    })
+    expect(response).toHaveStatusCode(200)
+    expect(app.appId).toBeDefined()
+    const [_, appPackage] = await config.applications.getAppPackage(app.appId as string)
+    expect(appPackage.application.appId).toBe(app.appId)
+    expect(appPackage.application.name).toBe(appName)
+  })
+
+  it("POST - Publish app from template", async () => {
+    const appUrl = `/${generator.word()}`
+    const [response, app] = await config.applications.create({
+      name: generator.word(),
+      url: appUrl,
+      useTemplate: true,
+      templateName: "Car Rental Admin Panel",
+      templateKey: "app/car-rental-admin-panel",
+      templateFile: undefined
+    })
+    expect(response).toHaveStatusCode(200)
+    expect(app.appId).toBeDefined()
+
+    config.applications.api.appId = app.appId
+
+    const [publishResponse, json] = await config.applications.publish()
+    expect(publishResponse).toHaveStatusCode(200)
+    expect(json).toEqual({
+      _id: expect.any(String),
+      appUrl,
+      status: "SUCCESS"
+    })
+  })
 })