diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-api/.gitignore b/packages/aws-cdk-api/.gitignore
index 958571d2bf173..0d3ddc5ed0b45 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk-api/.gitignore
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk-api/.gitignore
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@ nyc.config.js
 .LAST_PACKAGE
 *.snk
 
-!test/integ/run-wrappers/dist
-!test/integ/cli/**/*
 assets.json
 npm-shrinkwrap.json
 !.eslintrc.js
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-api/.npmignore b/packages/aws-cdk-api/.npmignore
index d9f0d60e25639..56ec3f1d6e04a 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk-api/.npmignore
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk-api/.npmignore
@@ -11,10 +11,6 @@ dist
 .LAST_BUILD
 *.snk
 
-!lib/init-templates/*/*/tsconfig.json
-!test/integ/cli/**/*.js
-!test/integ/run-wrappers/dist
-
 *.tsbuildinfo
 
 tsconfig.json
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-api/README.md b/packages/aws-cdk-api/README.md
index cb42db5332e3b..845fd89e6e778 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk-api/README.md
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk-api/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# cdk-cli-wrapper
+# AWS CDK API
 <!--BEGIN STABILITY BANNER-->
 
 ---
@@ -15,15 +15,11 @@
 
 <!--END STABILITY BANNER-->
 
-CDK CLI Wrapper Library.
-
-Internal only for now.
-
 ## Overview
 
-This package provides a library which wraps the CDK CLI, allowing you to interact with the CLI programmatically.
+This package provides an API to interact with the AWS CDK CLI programmatically.
 
-Currently this package provides wrappers for:
+Currently this package provides integrations for:
 
 - `cdk deploy`
 - `cdk synth`
@@ -32,66 +28,58 @@ Currently this package provides wrappers for:
 
 ## Usage
 
-First create a new `CdkCliWrapper` with the directory in which you want to execute commands,
-and optionally any environment variables that you want to include in the execution environment.
+First create a new `AwsCdkApi` construct from an existing `App` or `Stage`:
 
 ```ts
-new CdkCliWrapper({
-  directory: '/path/to/project',
-  env: {
-    KEY: 'value',
-  },
-});
+declare app: core.App;
+const cdk = AwsCdkApi.fromApp(app);
+```
+
+```ts
+declare stage: core.Stage;
+const cdk = AwsCdkApi.fromStage(stage);
 ```
 
 ### deploy
 
 ```ts
-const cdk = new CdkCliWrapper({
-  directory: '/project/path',
-});
+declare app: core.App;
+const cdk = AwsCdkApi.fromApp(app);
 
 cdk.deploy({
-  app: 'node bin/my-app.js',
-  stacks: ['my-test-stack'],
+  stacks: ['MyTestStack'],
 });
 ```
 
 ### synth
 
 ```ts
-const cdk = new CdkCliWrapper({
-  directory: '/project/path',
-});
+declare app: core.App;
+const cdk = AwsCdkApi.fromApp(app);
 
 cdk.synth({
-  app: 'node bin/my-app.js',
-  stacks: ['my-test-stack'],
+  stacks: ['MyTestStack'],
 });
 ```
 
 ### destroy
 
 ```ts
-const cdk = new CdkCliWrapper({
-  directory: '/project/path',
-});
+declare app: core.App;
+const cdk = AwsCdkApi.fromApp(app);
 
 cdk.destroy({
-  app: 'node bin/my-app.js',
-  stacks: ['my-test-stack'],
+  stacks: ['MyTestStack'],
 });
 ```
 
 ### list
 
 ```ts
-const cdk = new CdkCliWrapper({
-  directory: '/project/path',
-});
+declare app: core.App;
+const cdk = AwsCdkApi.fromApp(app);
 
 cdk.list({
-  app: 'node bin/my-app.js',
   stacks: ['*'],
 });
 ```
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/api.ts b/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/api.ts
index bb3bd4b3c1545..4bbf2442273d0 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/api.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/api.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import * as core from '@aws-cdk/core';
+import { exec as runCli } from 'aws-cdk/lib';
 import { Synthesizer } from 'aws-cdk/lib/api/cxapp/cloud-executable';
-import { initCommandLine as runCli } from 'aws-cdk/lib/cli';
 import { Construct } from 'constructs';
 import { SharedOptions, DeployOptions, DestroyOptions, SynthOptions, ListOptions, StackActivityProgress } from './commands';
 
@@ -30,8 +30,30 @@ export interface IAwsCdk {
   list(options: ListOptions): Promise<void>;
 }
 
-interface AwsCdkApiProps {
-  synthesizer: Synthesizer
+/**
+ * Options to create an AWS CDK API from a directory
+ */
+export interface AwsCdkApiFromDirectoryProps {
+  /**
+   * the directory the AWS CDK app is in
+   *
+   * @default - current working directory
+   */
+  readonly directory?: string
+
+  /**
+   * command-line for executing your app or a cloud assembly directory
+   * e.g. "node bin/my-app.js"
+   * or
+   * "cdk.out"
+   *
+   * @default - read from cdk.json
+   */
+  readonly app?: string
+}
+
+interface AwsCdkApiProps extends AwsCdkApiFromDirectoryProps {
+  readonly synthesizer?: Synthesizer
 }
 
 /**
@@ -39,6 +61,7 @@ interface AwsCdkApiProps {
  * wrapping the CLI with exec
  */
 export class AwsCdkApi extends Construct implements IAwsCdk {
+
   /**
    * Create an AwsCdkApi from an App
    */
@@ -56,6 +79,13 @@ export class AwsCdkApi extends Construct implements IAwsCdk {
     });
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Create an AwsCdkApi from a directory
+   */
+  public static fromDirectory(id?: string, props: AwsCdkApiFromDirectoryProps = {}) {
+    return new AwsCdkApi(undefined as any, id ?? 'AwsCdkApi', props);
+  }
+
   private constructor(scope: Construct, id: string, private readonly props: AwsCdkApiProps) {
     super(scope, id);
   }
@@ -135,7 +165,7 @@ export class AwsCdkApi extends Construct implements IAwsCdk {
     this.validateArgs(options);
     const stacks = options.stacks ?? [];
     return [
-      ...options.app ? ['--app', options.app] : [],
+      ...this.defaultAppArgument(),
       ...renderBooleanArg('strict', options.strict),
       ...renderBooleanArg('trace', options.trace),
       ...renderBooleanArg('lookups', options.lookups),
@@ -159,6 +189,14 @@ export class AwsCdkApi extends Construct implements IAwsCdk {
       ...options.all ? ['--all'] : [],
     ];
   }
+
+  private defaultAppArgument(): string[] {
+    if (this.props.synthesizer || !this.props.app) {
+      return [];
+    }
+
+    return ['--app', this.props.app];
+  }
 }
 
 function renderMapArrayArg(flag: string, parameters: { [name: string]: string | undefined }): string[] {
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/commands/common.ts b/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/commands/common.ts
index 80ce648e1eba0..8041e4d535bbd 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/commands/common.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/commands/common.ts
@@ -40,17 +40,6 @@ export interface SharedOptions {
    */
   readonly all?: boolean;
 
-  /**
-   * command-line for executing your app or a cloud assembly directory
-   * e.g. "node bin/my-app.js"
-   * or
-   * "cdk.out"
-   *
-   * @default - read from cdk.json
-   */
-  readonly app?: string;
-
-
   /**
    * Role to pass to CloudFormation for deployment
    *
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/commands/deploy.ts b/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/commands/deploy.ts
index c65f4bd2ac862..a019bc6c04404 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/commands/deploy.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk-api/lib/commands/deploy.ts
@@ -98,9 +98,8 @@ export interface DeployOptions extends SharedOptions {
   /**
    * Display mode for stack activity events
    *
-   * The default in the CLI is StackActivityProgress.BAR, but
-   * since the cli-wrapper will most likely be run in automation it makes
-   * more sense to set the default to StackActivityProgress.EVENTS
+   * The default in the CLI is StackActivityProgress.BAR. But since this is an API
+   * it makes more sense to set the default to StackActivityProgress.EVENTS
    *
    * @default StackActivityProgress.EVENTS
    */
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-api/package.json b/packages/aws-cdk-api/package.json
index 26bd6291b5c9d..8317a0e0323f5 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk-api/package.json
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk-api/package.json
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@
         "BSD-2-Clause",
         "0BSD"
       ],
-      "dontAttribute": "^@aws-cdk/|^aws-cdk$|^cdk-assets$|^cdk-cli-wrapper$"
+      "dontAttribute": "^@aws-cdk/|^aws-cdk$|^cdk-assets$"
     }
   },
   "pkglint": {
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts
index 3827a058a4ac5..f5d0e4f7bacb8 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ if (!process.stdout.isTTY) {
   process.env.FORCE_COLOR = '0';
 }
 
-export async function initCommandLine(args: string[], app?: Synthesizer) {
+export async function exec(args: string[], app?: Synthesizer) {
   const argv = await parseCommandLineArguments(args);
   if (argv.verbose) {
     setLogLevel(argv.verbose);
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ function yargsNegativeAlias<T extends { [x in S | L ]: boolean | undefined }, S
 }
 
 export function cli(args: string[] = process.argv.slice(2)) {
-  initCommandLine(args)
+  exec(args)
     .then(async (value) => {
       if (typeof value === 'number') {
         process.exitCode = value;
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/index.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/index.ts
index 57502a1035caf..a76f253b80ca6 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/index.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/index.ts
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 export * from './api';
-export { cli } from './cli';
+export { cli, exec } from './cli';