diff --git a/test/integration/cli-manage-workflow.test.js b/test/integration/cli-manage-workflow.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2d719d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/cli-manage-workflow.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+/*
+ * This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+ */
+
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2015, Joyent, Inc.
+ */
+
+/*
+ * Test create/start/stop/delete/etc. work flows
+ */
+
+var assert = require('assert');
+var f = require('util').format;
+
+var vasync = require('vasync');
+
+var h = require('./helpers');
+var test = require('tape');
+
+var common = require('../../lib/common');
+
+var VM_ALIAS = 'node-triton-test-vm-1';
+var VM_IMAGE = 'base-64@15.2.0';
+var VM_PACKAGE = 't4-standard-128M';
+
+// TODO clean this up
+assert.equal(h.CONFIG.url, 'https://us-east-3b.api.joyent.com');
+if (h.CONFIG.destructive !== true) {
+    console.error('skipping manage integration tests - destructive actions disabled');
+    return;
+}
+
+/*
+ * h.triton wrapper that:
+ * - tests no error is present
+ * - tests stdout is not empty
+ * - tests stderr is empty
+ *
+ * In the event that any of the above is false, this function will NOT
+ * fire the callback, which will result in the early terminate of these
+ * tests as `t.end()` will never be called.
+ */
+function triton(t, args, cb) {
+    t.comment(f('running: triton %s', args.join(' ')));
+    h.triton(args, function (err, stdout, stderr) {
+        t.error(err, 'no error running child process');
+        t.equal(stderr, '', 'no stderr produced');
+        t.notEqual(stdout, '', 'stdout produced');
+
+        if (!err && stdout && !stderr)
+            cb(stdout);
+    });
+}
+
+// global variable to hold vm instance JSON
+var instance;
+
+// --- Tests
+
+// create a test machine (blocking) and output JSON
+test('triton create', function (t) {
+    triton(t, ['create', '-wjn', VM_ALIAS, VM_IMAGE, VM_PACKAGE],
+        function (stdout) {
+
+        // parse JSON response
+        var lines = stdout.trim().split('\n');
+        t.equal(lines.length, 2, 'correct number of JSON lines');
+        try {
+            lines = lines.map(function (line) {
+                return JSON.parse(line);
+            });
+        } catch (e) {
+            t.fail('failed to parse JSON');
+            t.end();
+        }
+
+        instance = lines[1];
+        t.equal(lines[0].id, lines[1].id, 'correct UUID given');
+        t.equal(lines[1].state, 'running', 'correct machine state');
+
+        t.end();
+    });
+});
+
+// test `triton instance -j` with the UUID, the alias, and the short ID
+test('triton instance', function (t) {
+    var uuid = instance.id;
+    var shortId = common.uuidToShortId(uuid);
+    vasync.parallel({
+        funcs: [
+            function (cb) {
+                triton(t, ['instance', '-j', VM_ALIAS], function (stdout) {
+                    cb(null, stdout);
+                });
+            },
+            function (cb) {
+                triton(t, ['instance', '-j', uuid], function (stdout) {
+                    cb(null, stdout);
+                });
+            },
+            function (cb) {
+                triton(t, ['instance', '-j', shortId], function (stdout) {
+                    cb(null, stdout);
+                });
+            },
+        ],
+    }, function (err, results) {
+        if (h.ifErr(t, err, 'no error'))
+            return t.end();
+
+        var output;
+        try {
+            output = results.operations.map(function (op) {
+                return JSON.parse(op.result);
+            });
+        } catch (e) {
+            t.fail('failed to parse JSON');
+            t.end();
+        }
+
+        output.forEach(function (res) {
+            t.deepEqual(output[0], res, 'same data');
+        });
+
+        t.end();
+    });
+});
+
+// remove test instance
+test('triton delete', function (t) {
+    triton(t, ['delete', '-w', instance.id], function (stdout) {
+        t.end();
+    });
+});
diff --git a/test/integration/helpers.js b/test/integration/helpers.js
index e6977ab..f6bcd4d 100644
--- a/test/integration/helpers.js
+++ b/test/integration/helpers.js
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@ try {
     assert.string(CONFIG.key_id, 'test/config.json#key_id');
     if (CONFIG.insecure === undefined)
         CONFIG.insecure = false;
-    assert.bool(CONFIG.insecure, 'test/config.json#insecure');
+    if (CONFIG.destructive === undefined)
+        CONFIG.destructive = false;
+    assert.bool(CONFIG.insecure, 'test/config.json#destructive');
 } catch (e) {
     error('* * *');
     error('node-triton integration tests require a ./test/config.json');