diff --git a/qa-core/package.json b/qa-core/package.json
index d4ca0f3809..e624b2d62d 100644
--- a/qa-core/package.json
+++ b/qa-core/package.json
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
     "moduleNameMapper": {
       "@budibase/types": "<rootDir>/../packages/types/src",
       "@budibase/server": "<rootDir>/../packages/server/src",
-      "@budibase/backend-core": "<rootDir>/../packages/backend-core/src"
+      "@budibase/backend-core": "<rootDir>/../packages/backend-core/src",
+      "@budibase/backend-core/(.*)": "<rootDir>/../packages/backend-core/$1"
     },
     "setupFiles": [
       "./scripts/jestSetup.js"
@@ -54,4 +55,4 @@
     "form-data": "^4.0.0",
     "node-fetch": "2"
   }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/qa-core/scripts/jestSetup.js b/qa-core/scripts/jestSetup.js
index 8254fd6d34..77565783c3 100644
--- a/qa-core/scripts/jestSetup.js
+++ b/qa-core/scripts/jestSetup.js
@@ -15,3 +15,5 @@ tk.freeze(MOCK_DATE)
 if (!process.env.DEBUG) {
   global.console.log = jest.fn() // console.log are ignored in tests
 }
+
+jest.setTimeout(10000)
diff --git a/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/InternalAPIClient.ts b/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/InternalAPIClient.ts
index e926363216..bfcbb9f4e2 100644
--- a/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/InternalAPIClient.ts
+++ b/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/InternalAPIClient.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ class InternalAPIClient {
     async (url = "", options: ApiOptions = {}) => {
       const requestOptions = {
         method,
-        body: options.body,
+        body: JSON.stringify(options.body),
         headers: {
           "x-budibase-app-id": this.appId,
           "Content-Type": "application/json",
diff --git a/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/applications.ts b/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/applications.ts
index 19cc7fac1d..10e4a6657b 100644
--- a/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/applications.ts
+++ b/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/applications.ts
@@ -40,14 +40,7 @@ export default class AppApi {
   async create(
     body: any
   ): Promise<[Response, Partial<App>]> {
-    const data = new FormData()
-    data.append("name", body.name)
-    data.append("url", body.url)
-    data.append("useTemplate", true)
-    data.append("templateName", body.templateName)
-    data.append("templateKey", body.templateKey)
-
-    const response = await this.api.post(`/applications`, { body: data })
+    const response = await this.api.post(`/applications`, { body })
     const json = await response.json()
     return [response, json]
   }
diff --git a/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/index.ts b/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/index.ts
index 69c7e8df96..b433fd98ea 100644
--- a/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/index.ts
+++ b/qa-core/src/config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/index.ts
@@ -13,9 +13,12 @@ export default class TestConfiguration<T> {
     this.context = <T>{}
   }
 
-  async beforeAll() {}
+  async beforeAll() {
+    await this.auth.login()
+  }
 
   async afterAll() {
     this.context = <T>{}
+    await this.auth.logout()
   }
 }
diff --git a/qa-core/src/module.d.ts b/qa-core/src/module.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a15ebcbe3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qa-core/src/module.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/tenancy"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/db"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/context"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/cache"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/permissions"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/roles"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/constants"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/auth"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/sessions"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/encryption"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/utils"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/redis"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/objectStore"
+declare module "@budibase/backend-core/plugins"
\ No newline at end of file
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 7dce577efc..7d6a79e8e1 100644
--- a/qa-core/src/tests/internal-api/applications/create.spec.ts
+++ b/qa-core/src/tests/internal-api/applications/create.spec.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import TestConfiguration from "../../../config/internal-api/TestConfiguration"
 import { Application } from "@budibase/server/api/controllers/public/mapping/types"
+import { db } from "@budibase/backend-core"
 import InternalAPIClient from "../../../config/internal-api/TestConfiguration/InternalAPIClient"
 import generateApp from "../../../config/internal-api/fixtures/applications"
 import generator from "../../../config/generator"
@@ -10,20 +11,24 @@ describe("Internal API - /applications endpoints", () => {
 
   beforeAll(async () => {
     await config.beforeAll()
-    await config.auth.login()
   })
 
   afterAll(async () => {
     await config.afterAll()
-    await config.auth.logout()
   })
 
-  xit("POST - Can login", async () => {
-    const [response] = await config.auth.login()
-    expect(response).toHaveStatusCode(200)
-  })
+  async function createAppFromTemplate() {
+    return config.applications.create({
+      name: generator.word(),
+      url: `/${generator.word()}`,
+      useTemplate: "true",
+      templateName: "Near Miss Register",
+      templateKey: "app/near-miss-register",
+      templateFile: undefined
+    })
+  }
 
-  xit("GET - fetch applications", async () => {
+  it("GET - fetch applications", async () => {
     await config.applications.create({
       ...generateApp(),
       useTemplate: false
@@ -33,51 +38,49 @@ describe("Internal API - /applications endpoints", () => {
     expect(apps.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1)
   })
 
-  xit("POST - Create an application", async () => {
+  it("POST - Create an application", async () => {
     const [response, app] = await config.applications.create(generateApp())
     expect(response).toHaveStatusCode(200)
     expect(app._id).toBeDefined()
   })
 
-  it("POST - Create an application from a template and check it renders", 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
-    })
+  it("POST - Publish application", async () => {
+    // create app
+    const [response, app] = await config.applications.create(generateApp())
     expect(response).toHaveStatusCode(200)
     expect(app.appId).toBeDefined()
 
+    // publish app
     config.applications.api.appId = app.appId
-    const [_, renderable] = await config.applications.canRender()
-    expect(renderable).toBe(true)
-  })
-
-  xit("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()
+    const [publishResponse, publish] = await config.applications.publish()
     expect(publishResponse).toHaveStatusCode(200)
-    expect(json).toEqual({
+    expect(publish).toEqual({
       _id: expect.any(String),
-      appUrl,
+      appUrl: app.url,
       status: "SUCCESS"
     })
   })
+
+  it("POST - Create an application from a template, publish and check it renders", async () => {
+    // create the app
+    const appName = generator.word()
+    const [response, app] = await createAppFromTemplate({ name: appName })
+    expect(response).toHaveStatusCode(200)
+    expect(app.appId).toBeDefined()
+    config.applications.api.appId = app.appId
+
+    // check preview renders
+    const [previewResponse, previewRenders] = await config.applications.canRender()
+    expect(previewResponse).toHaveStatusCode(200)
+    expect(previewRenders).toBe(true)
+
+    // publish app
+    await config.applications.publish()
+
+    // check published app renders
+    config.applications.api.appId = db.getProdAppID(app.appId)
+    const [publishedAppResponse, publishedAppRenders] = await config.applications.canRender()
+    expect(publishedAppRenders).toBe(true)
+  })
+
 })
diff --git a/qa-core/tsconfig.json b/qa-core/tsconfig.json
index 028b4457f9..8cd0c30d46 100644
--- a/qa-core/tsconfig.json
+++ b/qa-core/tsconfig.json
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
     "skipLibCheck": true,
     "paths": {
       "@budibase/types": ["../packages/types/src"],
-      "@budibase/backend-core": ["../packages/backend-core"],
+      "@budibase/backend-core": ["../packages/backend-core/src"],
+      "@budibase/backend-core/*": ["../packages/backend-core/*"],
       "@budibase/server/*": ["../packages/server/src/*"],
     }
   },
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@
   },
   "references": [
     { "path": "../packages/types" },
+    { "path": "../packages/backend-core" },
   ],
   "include": [
     "src/**/*",