diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/api.ts b/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/api.ts
index 4bbf2442273d0..f3e94188c3ea6 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/api.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/api.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ export interface IAwsCdk {
   /**
    * cdk list
    */
-  list(options: ListOptions): Promise<void>;
+  list(options?: ListOptions): Promise<void>;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -96,11 +96,11 @@ export class AwsCdkApi extends Construct implements IAwsCdk {
 
   private validateArgs(options: SharedOptions): void {
     if (!options.stacks && !options.all) {
-      throw new Error('one of "app" or "stacks" must be provided');
+      throw new Error('one of "all" or "stacks" must be provided');
     }
   }
 
-  public async list(options: ListOptions) {
+  public async list(options: ListOptions = { all: true }) {
     const listCommandArgs: string[] = [
       ...renderBooleanArg('long', options.long),
       ...this.createDefaultArguments(options),
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-api/test/aws-cdk-api.test.ts b/packages/aws-cdk-api/test/aws-cdk-api.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..77ca8233d91b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk-api/test/aws-cdk-api.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,309 @@
+import * as core from '@aws-cdk/core';
+import * as cli from 'aws-cdk/lib';
+import { AwsCdkApi } from '../lib';
+import { RequireApproval, StackActivityProgress } from '../lib/commands';
+
+jest.mock('aws-cdk/lib');
+jest.mocked(cli.exec).mockResolvedValue(0);
+
+const app = new core.App();
+new core.Stack(app, 'Stack1');
+new core.Stack(app, 'Stack2');
+
+const cdk = AwsCdkApi.fromApp(app);
+
+describe('commands', () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.mocked(cli.exec).mockClear();
+  });
+
+  describe('deploy', () => {
+    test('default deploy', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await await cdk.deploy({
+        stacks: ['Stack1'],
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        ['deploy', '--progress', 'events', 'Stack1'],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+
+
+    test('deploy with all arguments', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await await cdk.deploy({
+        stacks: ['Stack1'],
+        ci: false,
+        json: true,
+        color: false,
+        debug: false,
+        force: true,
+        proxy: 'https://proxy',
+        trace: false,
+        output: 'cdk.out',
+        strict: false,
+        execute: true,
+        lookups: false,
+        notices: true,
+        profile: 'my-profile',
+        roleArn: 'arn:aws:iam::1111111111:role/my-role',
+        staging: false,
+        verbose: true,
+        ec2Creds: true,
+        rollback: false,
+        exclusively: true,
+        outputsFile: 'outputs.json',
+        reuseAssets: [
+          'asset1234',
+          'asset5678',
+        ],
+        caBundlePath: '/some/path',
+        ignoreErrors: false,
+        pathMetadata: false,
+        assetMetadata: true,
+        changeSetName: 'my-change-set',
+        requireApproval: RequireApproval.NEVER,
+        toolkitStackName: 'Toolkit',
+        versionReporting: true,
+        usePreviousParameters: true,
+        progress: StackActivityProgress.BAR,
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.arrayContaining([
+          'deploy',
+          '--no-strict',
+          '--no-trace',
+          '--no-lookups',
+          '--no-ignore-errors',
+          '--json',
+          '--verbose',
+          '--no-debug',
+          '--ec2creds',
+          '--version-reporting',
+          '--no-path-metadata',
+          '--asset-metadata',
+          '--notices',
+          '--no-color',
+          '--profile', 'my-profile',
+          '--proxy', 'https://proxy',
+          '--ca-bundle-path', '/some/path',
+          '--role-arn', 'arn:aws:iam::1111111111:role/my-role',
+          '--output', 'cdk.out',
+          '--no-ci',
+          '--execute',
+          '--exclusively',
+          '--force',
+          '--no-rollback',
+          '--no-staging',
+          '--reuse-assets', 'asset1234',
+          '--reuse-assets', 'asset5678',
+          '--outputs-file', 'outputs.json',
+          '--require-approval', 'never',
+          '--change-set-name', 'my-change-set',
+          '--toolkit-stack-name', 'Toolkit',
+          '--previous-parameters',
+          '--progress', 'bar',
+          'Stack1',
+        ]),
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+
+
+    test('can parse boolean arguments', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await await cdk.deploy({
+        stacks: ['Stack1'],
+        json: true,
+        color: false,
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        [
+          'deploy',
+          '--progress', 'events',
+          '--json',
+          '--no-color',
+          'Stack1',
+        ],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+
+    test('can parse parameters', async() => {
+      // WHEN
+      await await cdk.deploy({
+        stacks: ['Stack1'],
+        parameters: {
+          'myparam': 'test',
+          'Stack1:myotherparam': 'test',
+        },
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        [
+          'deploy',
+          '--parameters', 'myparam=test',
+          '--parameters', 'Stack1:myotherparam=test',
+          '--progress', 'events',
+          'Stack1',
+        ],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+
+
+    test('can parse context', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await cdk.deploy({
+        stacks: ['Stack1'],
+        context: {
+          'myContext': 'value',
+          'Stack1:OtherContext': 'otherValue',
+        },
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        [
+          'deploy',
+          '--progress', 'events',
+          '--context', 'myContext=value',
+          '--context', 'Stack1:OtherContext=otherValue',
+          'Stack1',
+        ],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+
+    test('can parse array arguments', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await cdk.deploy({
+        stacks: ['Stack1'],
+        notificationArns: [
+          'arn:aws:us-east-1:1111111111:some:resource',
+          'arn:aws:us-east-1:1111111111:some:other-resource',
+        ],
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        [
+          'deploy',
+          '--notification-arns', 'arn:aws:us-east-1:1111111111:some:resource',
+          '--notification-arns', 'arn:aws:us-east-1:1111111111:some:other-resource',
+          '--progress', 'events',
+          'Stack1',
+        ],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('synth', () => {
+    test('default synth', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await cdk.synth({
+        stacks: ['Stack1'],
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        ['synth', 'Stack1'],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+
+    test('synth arguments', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await cdk.destroy({
+        stacks: ['Stack1'],
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        ['destroy', 'Stack1'],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('destroy', () => {
+    test('default destroy', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await cdk.destroy({
+        stacks: ['Stack1'],
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        ['destroy', 'Stack1'],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+
+    test('destroy arguments', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await cdk.destroy({
+        stacks: ['Stack1'],
+        force: true,
+        exclusively: false,
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        ['destroy', '--force', '--no-exclusively', 'Stack1'],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+
+  describe('list', () => {
+
+    test('default list', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await cdk.list({
+        stacks: ['*'],
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        ['ls', '*'],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+
+    test('list arguments', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await cdk.list({
+        stacks: ['*'],
+        long: true,
+      });
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        ['ls', '--long', '*'],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+
+    test('list without options', async () => {
+      // WHEN
+      await cdk.list();
+
+      // THEN
+      expect(jest.mocked(cli.exec)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        ['ls', '--all'],
+        expect.anything(),
+      );
+    });
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file