diff --git a/.github/workflows/cli-win.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e-win.yml
similarity index 77%
rename from .github/workflows/cli-win.yml
rename to .github/workflows/e2e-win.yml
index 4e7a186282..5f75f3d9c8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cli-win.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-win.yml
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
-name: CLI Test Windows
+name: E2E Test Windows
 
-# Building on windows is really slow, so this workflow is separate from cli.yml and only builds on changes
+# Building on windows is really slow, so this workflow is separate from e2e.yml and only builds on changes
 # to the cli itself. They're more likely to introduce issues on windows, compared to changes to core and yarn.lock.
 on:
   pull_request:
     paths:
-      - '.github/workflows/cli-win.yml'
+      - '.github/workflows/e2e-win.yml'
       - 'packages/cli/**'
+      - 'packages/e2e/**'
       - 'packages/create-app/**'
 
 jobs:
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: yarn install
         run: yarn install --frozen-lockfile
       - run: yarn tsc
-      - run: yarn build
-      - name: verify app and plugin creation
-        run: node ${{ github.workspace }}/packages/cli/e2e-test/cli-e2e-test.js
+      - name: yarn build
+        run: yarn build --ignore example-app --ignore example-backend --ignore @techdocs/cli --ignore backstage-microsite
+      - name: run E2E test
+        run: yarn workspace e2e-test start
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cli.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e.yml
similarity index 87%
rename from .github/workflows/cli.yml
rename to .github/workflows/e2e.yml
index 158310b5ea..45b9d7e2d8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cli.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e.yml
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
-name: CLI Test
+name: E2E Test Linux
 
 on:
   pull_request:
     paths-ignore:
       - 'microsite/**'
 
-
 jobs:
   build:
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
@@ -51,13 +50,14 @@ jobs:
       - name: yarn install
         run: yarn install --frozen-lockfile
       - run: yarn tsc
-      - run: yarn build
-      - name: verify app and plugin creation
+      - name: yarn build
+        run: yarn build --ignore example-app --ignore example-backend --ignore @techdocs/cli --ignore backstage-microsite
+      - name: run E2E test
+        run: |
+          sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288
+          yarn workspace e2e-test start
         env:
           POSTGRES_HOST: localhost
           POSTGRES_PORT: ${{ job.services.postgres.ports[5432] }}
           POSTGRES_USER: postgres
           POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
-        run: |
-          sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288
-          node ${{ github.workspace }}/packages/cli/e2e-test/cli-e2e-test.js
diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index e5a8eafc81..0291e720d2 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
     "build": "backstage-cli build --outputs cjs",
     "lint": "backstage-cli lint",
     "test": "backstage-cli test",
-    "test:e2e": "node e2e-test/cli-e2e-test.js",
     "clean": "backstage-cli clean",
     "start": "nodemon --"
   },
@@ -69,9 +68,7 @@
     "jest-css-modules": "^2.1.0",
     "jest-esm-transformer": "^1.0.0",
     "mini-css-extract-plugin": "^0.9.0",
-    "node-fetch": "^2.6.0",
     "ora": "^4.0.3",
-    "pgtools": "^0.3.0",
     "raw-loader": "^4.0.1",
     "react": "^16.0.0",
     "react-dev-utils": "^10.2.1",
@@ -118,9 +115,7 @@
     "@types/webpack-dev-server": "^3.10.0",
     "del": "^5.1.0",
     "nodemon": "^2.0.2",
-    "tree-kill": "^1.2.2",
-    "ts-node": "^8.6.2",
-    "zombie": "^6.1.4"
+    "ts-node": "^8.6.2"
   },
   "files": [
     "asset-types",
diff --git a/packages/e2e-test/.eslintrc.js b/packages/e2e-test/.eslintrc.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ce2592e03b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/e2e-test/.eslintrc.js
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+module.exports = {
+  extends: [require.resolve('@backstage/cli/config/eslint.backend')],
+  ignorePatterns: ['templates/**'],
+  rules: {
+    'no-console': 0,
+    'import/no-extraneous-dependencies': [
+      'error',
+      {
+        devDependencies: true,
+        optionalDependencies: false,
+        peerDependencies: false,
+        bundledDependencies: false,
+      },
+    ],
+  },
+};
diff --git a/packages/e2e-test/README.md b/packages/e2e-test/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6cf50283c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/e2e-test/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# e2e-test
+
+End-to-end test for verifying Backstage packages.
+
+## Usage
+
+This package is only meant for usage within the Backstage monorepo.
+
+All packages need to be installed and built before running the test. In a fresh clone of this repo you first need to run the following from the repo root:
+
+```sh
+yarn install
+yarn tsc
+yarn build
+```
+
+Once those tasks have completed, you can now run the test using `yarn start` inside this package.
+
+If you make changes to other packages you will need to rerun `yarn tsc && yarn build`. Changes to this package do not require a rebuild.
+
+## Documentation
+
+- [Backstage Readme](https://github.com/spotify/backstage/blob/master/README.md)
+- [Backstage Documentation](https://github.com/spotify/backstage/blob/master/docs/README.md)
diff --git a/packages/e2e-test/package.json b/packages/e2e-test/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8e6c730431
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/e2e-test/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+{
+  "name": "e2e-test",
+  "description": "E2E test for verifying Backstage packages",
+  "version": "0.0.0",
+  "private": true,
+  "homepage": "https://backstage.io",
+  "repository": {
+    "type": "git",
+    "url": "https://github.com/spotify/backstage",
+    "directory": "packages/e2e-test"
+  },
+  "keywords": [
+    "backstage"
+  ],
+  "license": "Apache-2.0",
+  "main": "src/index.js",
+  "scripts": {
+    "start": "node .",
+    "lint": "backstage-cli lint",
+    "test": "backstage-cli test",
+    "test:e2e": "yarn start"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@backstage/cli-common": "^0.1.1-alpha.19",
+    "@types/fs-extra": "^9.0.1",
+    "@types/node": "^13.7.2",
+    "fs-extra": "^9.0.0",
+    "handlebars": "^4.7.3",
+    "node-fetch": "^2.6.0",
+    "pgtools": "^0.3.0",
+    "tree-kill": "^1.2.2",
+    "ts-node": "^8.6.2",
+    "zombie": "^6.1.4"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/e2e-test/cli-e2e-test.js b/packages/e2e-test/src/e2e-test.ts
similarity index 76%
rename from packages/cli/e2e-test/cli-e2e-test.js
rename to packages/e2e-test/src/e2e-test.ts
index c4004f7c46..7377655497 100644
--- a/packages/cli/e2e-test/cli-e2e-test.js
+++ b/packages/e2e-test/src/e2e-test.ts
@@ -14,14 +14,14 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-const os = require('os');
-const fs = require('fs-extra');
-const fetch = require('node-fetch');
-const handlebars = require('handlebars');
-const killTree = require('tree-kill');
-const { resolve: resolvePath, join: joinPath } = require('path');
-const Browser = require('zombie');
-const {
+import os from 'os';
+import fs from 'fs-extra';
+import fetch from 'node-fetch';
+import handlebars from 'handlebars';
+import killTree from 'tree-kill';
+import { resolve as resolvePath, join as joinPath } from 'path';
+import Browser from 'zombie';
+import {
   spawnPiped,
   runPlain,
   handleError,
@@ -29,8 +29,17 @@ const {
   waitFor,
   waitForExit,
   print,
-} = require('./helpers');
-const pgtools = require('pgtools');
+} from './helpers';
+import pgtools from 'pgtools';
+import { findPaths } from '@backstage/cli-common';
+
+const paths = findPaths(__dirname);
+
+const templatePackagePaths = [
+  'packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs',
+  'packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/app/package.json.hbs',
+  'packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/package.json.hbs',
+];
 
 async function main() {
   const rootDir = await fs.mkdtemp(resolvePath(os.tmpdir(), 'backstage-e2e-'));
@@ -59,38 +68,24 @@ async function main() {
 /**
  * Builds a dist workspace that contains the cli and core packages
  */
-async function buildDistWorkspace(workspaceName, rootDir) {
+async function buildDistWorkspace(workspaceName: string, rootDir: string) {
   const workspaceDir = resolvePath(rootDir, workspaceName);
   await fs.ensureDir(workspaceDir);
 
-  // We grab the needed dependencies from the template packages
-  const appPkgTemplate = await fs.readFile(
-    resolvePath(
-      __dirname,
-      '../../create-app/templates/default-app/packages/app/package.json.hbs',
-    ),
-    'utf8',
-  );
-  const appPkg = JSON.parse(
-    handlebars.compile(appPkgTemplate)({ version: '0.0.0' }),
-  );
-  const appDeps = Object.keys(appPkg.dependencies).filter(name =>
-    name.startsWith('@backstage/'),
-  );
+  // We grab the needed dependencies from the create app template
+  const createAppDeps = new Set<string>();
+  for (const pkgJsonPath of templatePackagePaths) {
+    const path = paths.resolveOwnRoot(pkgJsonPath);
+    const pkgTemplate = await fs.readFile(path, 'utf8');
+    const { dependencies = {}, devDependencies = {} } = JSON.parse(
+      handlebars.compile(pkgTemplate)({ version: '0.0.0' }),
+    );
 
-  const backendPkgTemplate = await fs.readFile(
-    resolvePath(
-      __dirname,
-      '../../create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/package.json.hbs',
-    ),
-    'utf8',
-  );
-  const backendPkg = JSON.parse(
-    handlebars.compile(backendPkgTemplate)({ version: '0.0.0' }),
-  );
-  const backendDeps = Object.keys(backendPkg.dependencies).filter(name =>
-    name.startsWith('@backstage/'),
-  );
+    Array<string>()
+      .concat(Object.keys(dependencies), Object.keys(devDependencies))
+      .filter(name => name.startsWith('@backstage/'))
+      .forEach(dep => createAppDeps.add(dep));
+  }
 
   print(`Preparing workspace`);
   await runPlain([
@@ -98,13 +93,8 @@ async function buildDistWorkspace(workspaceName, rootDir) {
     'backstage-cli',
     'build-workspace',
     workspaceDir,
-    '@backstage/cli',
     '@backstage/create-app',
-    '@backstage/core',
-    '@backstage/dev-utils',
-    '@backstage/test-utils',
-    ...appDeps,
-    ...backendDeps,
+    ...createAppDeps,
   ]);
 
   print('Pinning yarn version in workspace');
@@ -121,14 +111,19 @@ async function buildDistWorkspace(workspaceName, rootDir) {
 /**
  * Pin the yarn version in a directory to the one we're using in the Backstage repo
  */
-async function pinYarnVersion(dir) {
-  const repoRoot = resolvePath(__dirname, '../../..');
-
-  const yarnRc = await fs.readFile(resolvePath(repoRoot, '.yarnrc'), 'utf8');
+async function pinYarnVersion(dir: string) {
+  const yarnRc = await fs.readFile(paths.resolveOwnRoot('.yarnrc'), 'utf8');
   const yarnRcLines = yarnRc.split('\n');
   const yarnPathLine = yarnRcLines.find(line => line.startsWith('yarn-path'));
-  const [, localYarnPath] = yarnPathLine.match(/"(.*)"/);
-  const yarnPath = resolvePath(repoRoot, localYarnPath);
+  if (!yarnPathLine) {
+    throw new Error(`Unable to find 'yarn-path' in ${yarnRc}`);
+  }
+  const match = yarnPathLine.match(/"(.*)"/);
+  if (!match) {
+    throw new Error(`Invalid 'yarn-path' in ${yarnRc}`);
+  }
+  const [, localYarnPath] = match;
+  const yarnPath = paths.resolveOwnRoot(localYarnPath);
 
   await fs.writeFile(resolvePath(dir, '.yarnrc'), `yarn-path "${yarnPath}"\n`);
 }
@@ -136,7 +131,12 @@ async function pinYarnVersion(dir) {
 /**
  * Creates a new app inside rootDir called test-app, using packages from the workspaceDir
  */
-async function createApp(appName, isPostgres, workspaceDir, rootDir) {
+async function createApp(
+  appName: string,
+  isPostgres: boolean,
+  workspaceDir: string,
+  rootDir: string,
+) {
   const child = spawnPiped(
     [
       'node',
@@ -150,20 +150,20 @@ async function createApp(appName, isPostgres, workspaceDir, rootDir) {
 
   try {
     let stdout = '';
-    child.stdout.on('data', data => {
+    child.stdout?.on('data', data => {
       stdout = stdout + data.toString('utf8');
     });
 
     await waitFor(() => stdout.includes('Enter a name for the app'));
-    child.stdin.write(`${appName}\n`);
+    child.stdin?.write(`${appName}\n`);
 
     await waitFor(() => stdout.includes('Select database for the backend'));
 
     if (!isPostgres) {
       // Simulate down arrow press
-      child.stdin.write(`\u001B\u005B\u0042`);
+      child.stdin?.write(`\u001B\u005B\u0042`);
     }
-    child.stdin.write(`\n`);
+    child.stdin?.write(`\n`);
 
     print('Waiting for app create script to be done');
     await waitForExit(child);
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ async function createApp(appName, isPostgres, workspaceDir, rootDir) {
 /**
  * This points dependency resolutions into the workspace for each package that is present there
  */
-async function overrideModuleResolutions(appDir, workspaceDir) {
+async function overrideModuleResolutions(appDir: string, workspaceDir: string) {
   const pkgJsonPath = resolvePath(appDir, 'package.json');
   const pkgJson = await fs.readJson(pkgJsonPath);
 
@@ -231,19 +231,19 @@ async function overrideModuleResolutions(appDir, workspaceDir) {
 /**
  * Uses create-plugin command to create a new plugin in the app
  */
-async function createPlugin(pluginName, appDir) {
+async function createPlugin(pluginName: string, appDir: string) {
   const child = spawnPiped(['yarn', 'create-plugin'], {
     cwd: appDir,
   });
 
   try {
     let stdout = '';
-    child.stdout.on('data', data => {
+    child.stdout?.on('data', (data: Buffer) => {
       stdout = stdout + data.toString('utf8');
     });
 
     await waitFor(() => stdout.includes('Enter an ID for the plugin'));
-    child.stdin.write(`${pluginName}\n`);
+    child.stdin?.write(`${pluginName}\n`);
 
     // await waitFor(() => stdout.includes('Enter the owner(s) of the plugin'));
     // child.stdin.write('@someuser\n');
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ async function createPlugin(pluginName, appDir) {
 /**
  * Start serving the newly created app and make sure that the create plugin is rendering correctly
  */
-async function testAppServe(pluginName, appDir) {
+async function testAppServe(pluginName: string, appDir: string) {
   const startApp = spawnPiped(['yarn', 'start'], {
     cwd: appDir,
   });
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ async function testAppServe(pluginName, appDir) {
 }
 
 /** Creates PG databases (drops if exists before) */
-async function createDB(database) {
+async function createDB(database: string) {
   const config = {
     host: process.env.POSTGRES_HOST,
     port: process.env.POSTGRES_PORT,
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ async function createDB(database) {
 /**
  * Start serving the newly created backend and make sure that all db migrations works correctly
  */
-async function testBackendStart(appDir, isPostgres) {
+async function testBackendStart(appDir: string, isPostgres: boolean) {
   if (isPostgres) {
     print('Creating DBs');
     await Promise.all(
@@ -343,10 +343,10 @@ async function testBackendStart(appDir, isPostgres) {
 
   let stdout = '';
   let stderr = '';
-  child.stdout.on('data', data => {
+  child.stdout?.on('data', (data: Buffer) => {
     stdout = stdout + data.toString('utf8');
   });
-  child.stderr.on('data', data => {
+  child.stderr?.on('data', (data: Buffer) => {
     stderr = stderr + data.toString('utf8');
   });
   let successful = false;
@@ -384,4 +384,4 @@ async function testBackendStart(appDir, isPostgres) {
 }
 
 process.on('unhandledRejection', handleError);
-main(process.argv.slice(2)).catch(handleError);
+main().catch(handleError);
diff --git a/packages/e2e-test/src/helpers.test.ts b/packages/e2e-test/src/helpers.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..196241f9e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/e2e-test/src/helpers.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020 Spotify AB
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { waitFor } from './helpers';
+
+describe('waitFor', () => {
+  it('should wait for true', async () => {
+    const fn = jest.fn().mockReturnValue(true);
+    await waitFor(fn);
+    expect(fn).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it('should time out', async () => {
+    const fn = jest.fn().mockReturnValue(false);
+    await expect(waitFor(fn, 1)).rejects.toThrow(
+      'Timed out while waiting for condition',
+    );
+    expect(fn).toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/e2e-test/helpers.js b/packages/e2e-test/src/helpers.ts
similarity index 80%
rename from packages/cli/e2e-test/helpers.js
rename to packages/e2e-test/src/helpers.ts
index 580f53cbe8..b59de75860 100644
--- a/packages/cli/e2e-test/helpers.js
+++ b/packages/e2e-test/src/helpers.ts
@@ -14,16 +14,21 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-const { spawn, execFile: execFileCb } = require('child_process');
-const { promisify } = require('util');
+import {
+  spawn,
+  execFile as execFileCb,
+  SpawnOptions,
+  ChildProcess,
+} from 'child_process';
+import { promisify } from 'util';
 
 const execFile = promisify(execFileCb);
 
 const EXPECTED_LOAD_ERRORS = /ECONNREFUSED|ECONNRESET|did not get to load all resources/;
 
-function spawnPiped(cmd, options) {
-  function pipeWithPrefix(stream, prefix = '') {
-    return data => {
+export function spawnPiped(cmd: string[], options?: SpawnOptions) {
+  function pipeWithPrefix(stream: NodeJS.WriteStream, prefix = '') {
+    return (data: Buffer) => {
       const prefixedMsg = data
         .toString('utf8')
         .trimRight()
@@ -40,11 +45,11 @@ function spawnPiped(cmd, options) {
   child.on('error', handleError);
 
   const logPrefix = cmd.map(s => s.replace(/.+\//, '')).join(' ');
-  child.stdout.on(
+  child.stdout?.on(
     'data',
     pipeWithPrefix(process.stdout, `[${logPrefix}].out: `),
   );
-  child.stderr.on(
+  child.stderr?.on(
     'data',
     pipeWithPrefix(process.stderr, `[${logPrefix}].err: `),
   );
@@ -52,7 +57,7 @@ function spawnPiped(cmd, options) {
   return child;
 }
 
-async function runPlain(cmd, options) {
+export async function runPlain(cmd: string[], options?: SpawnOptions) {
   try {
     const { stdout } = await execFile(cmd[0], cmd.slice(1), {
       ...options,
@@ -70,8 +75,9 @@ async function runPlain(cmd, options) {
   }
 }
 
-function handleError(err) {
+export function handleError(err: Error & { code?: unknown }) {
   process.stdout.write(`${err.name}: ${err.stack || err.message}\n`);
+
   if (typeof err.code === 'number') {
     process.exit(err.code);
   } else {
@@ -85,9 +91,14 @@ function handleError(err) {
  * .cancel() is available
  * @returns {Promise} Promise of resolution
  */
-function waitFor(fn) {
-  return new Promise(resolve => {
+export function waitFor(fn: () => boolean, maxSeconds: number = 120) {
+  let count = 0;
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     const handle = setInterval(() => {
+      if (count++ > maxSeconds * 10) {
+        reject(new Error('Timed out while waiting for condition'));
+        return;
+      }
       if (fn()) {
         clearInterval(handle);
         resolve();
@@ -97,7 +108,7 @@ function waitFor(fn) {
   });
 }
 
-async function waitForExit(child) {
+export async function waitForExit(child: ChildProcess) {
   if (child.exitCode !== null) {
     throw new Error(`Child already exited with code ${child.exitCode}`);
   }
@@ -113,10 +124,10 @@ async function waitForExit(child) {
   );
 }
 
-async function waitForPageWithText(
-  browser,
-  path,
-  text,
+export async function waitForPageWithText(
+  browser: any,
+  path: string,
+  text: string,
   { intervalMs = 1000, maxLoadAttempts = 240, maxFindTextAttempts = 3 } = {},
 ) {
   let loadAttempts = 0;
@@ -163,16 +174,6 @@ async function waitForPageWithText(
   }
 }
 
-function print(msg) {
+export function print(msg: string) {
   return process.stdout.write(`${msg}\n`);
 }
-
-module.exports = {
-  spawnPiped,
-  runPlain,
-  handleError,
-  waitFor,
-  waitForExit,
-  waitForPageWithText,
-  print,
-};
diff --git a/packages/cli/e2e-test/.eslintrc.js b/packages/e2e-test/src/index.js
similarity index 70%
rename from packages/cli/e2e-test/.eslintrc.js
rename to packages/e2e-test/src/index.js
index 274c7426b8..90f8030a0e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/e2e-test/.eslintrc.js
+++ b/packages/e2e-test/src/index.js
@@ -14,16 +14,12 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-module.exports = {
-  rules: {
-    'import/no-extraneous-dependencies': [
-      'error',
-      {
-        devDependencies: true,
-        optionalDependencies: true,
-        peerDependencies: true,
-        bundledDependencies: true,
-      },
-    ],
+require('ts-node').register({
+  transpileOnly: true,
+  project: require('path').resolve(__dirname, '../../../tsconfig.json'),
+  compilerOptions: {
+    module: 'CommonJS',
   },
-};
+});
+
+require('./e2e-test');
diff --git a/packages/e2e-test/src/types.d.ts b/packages/e2e-test/src/types.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0ae86490ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/e2e-test/src/types.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020 Spotify AB
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+declare module 'zombie';
+declare module 'pgtools';