diff --git a/src/test/e2e/bundle_deploy_flags_test.go b/src/test/e2e/bundle_deploy_flags_test.go
index 1146842b..437d8d91 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/bundle_deploy_flags_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/bundle_deploy_flags_test.go
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ package test
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -19,51 +18,52 @@ func TestPackagesFlag(t *testing.T) {
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/03-local-and-remote"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-test-local-and-remote-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
 
-	cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployments -A -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'", " ")
+	cmd := "zarf tools kubectl get deployments -A -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'"
 	t.Run("Test only podinfo deploy (local pkg)", func(t *testing.T) {
-		deployPackagesFlag(bundlePath, "podinfo")
-		deployments, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug --packages %s", bundlePath, "podinfo"))
+		deployments, _ := runCmd(t, cmd)
 		require.Contains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 		require.NotContains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 
-		remove(t, bundlePath)
-		deployments, _, _ = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
+
+		deployments, _ = runCmd(t, cmd)
 		require.NotContains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test only nginx deploy and remove (remote pkg)", func(t *testing.T) {
-		deployPackagesFlag(bundlePath, "nginx")
-		deployments, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug --packages %s", bundlePath, "nginx"))
+		deployments, _ := runCmd(t, cmd)
+
 		require.Contains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 		require.NotContains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
-		remove(t, bundlePath)
 
-		removePackagesFlag(bundlePath, "nginx")
-		deployments, _, _ = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure --packages %s", bundlePath, "nginx"))
+		deployments, _ = runCmd(t, cmd)
 		require.NotContains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test both podinfo and nginx deploy and remove", func(t *testing.T) {
-		deployPackagesFlag(bundlePath, "podinfo,nginx")
-		deployments, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug --packages %s", bundlePath, "podinfo,nginx"))
+		deployments, _ := runCmd(t, cmd)
 		require.Contains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 		require.Contains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 
-		removePackagesFlag(bundlePath, "podinfo,nginx")
-		deployments, _, _ = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure --packages %s", bundlePath, "podinfo,nginx"))
+		deployments, _ = runCmd(t, cmd)
 		require.NotContains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 		require.NotContains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test invalid package deploy", func(t *testing.T) {
-		_, stderr := deployPackagesFlag(bundlePath, "podinfo,nginx,peanuts")
+		_, stderr, _ := runCmdWithErr(fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug --packages %s", bundlePath, "podinfo,nginx,peanuts"))
 		require.Contains(t, stderr, "invalid zarf packages specified by --packages")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test invalid package remove", func(t *testing.T) {
-		_, stderr := removePackagesFlag(bundlePath, "podinfo,nginx,peanuts")
+		_, stderr, _ := runCmdWithErr(fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure --packages %s", bundlePath, "podinfo,nginx,peanuts"))
 		require.Contains(t, stderr, "invalid zarf packages specified by --packages")
 	})
 }
@@ -74,51 +74,52 @@ func TestResumeFlag(t *testing.T) {
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/03-local-and-remote"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-test-local-and-remote-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+
 	inspectLocal(t, bundlePath)
 	inspectLocalAndSBOMExtract(t, bundlePath)
 
-	getDeploymentsCmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployments -A -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'", " ")
+	getDeploymentsCmd := "zarf tools kubectl get deployments -A -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'"
 
 	// Deploy only podinfo (local pkg)
-	deployPackagesFlag(bundlePath, "podinfo")
-	deployments, _, _ := e2e.UDS(getDeploymentsCmd...)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug --packages %s", bundlePath, "podinfo"))
+	deployments, _ := runCmd(t, getDeploymentsCmd)
 	require.Contains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 	require.NotContains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 
 	// Deploy bundle --resume (resumes remote pkg)
-	deployResumeFlag(t, bundlePath)
-	deployments, _, _ = e2e.UDS(getDeploymentsCmd...)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug --resume", bundlePath))
+	deployments, _ = runCmd(t, getDeploymentsCmd)
 	require.Contains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 	require.Contains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 
 	// Remove only podinfo
-	removePackagesFlag(bundlePath, "podinfo")
-	deployments, _, _ = e2e.UDS(getDeploymentsCmd...)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure --packages %s", bundlePath, "podinfo"))
+	deployments, _ = runCmd(t, getDeploymentsCmd)
 	require.NotContains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 	require.Contains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 
 	// Deploy only nginx (remote pkg)
-	deployPackagesFlag(bundlePath, "nginx")
-	deployments, _, _ = e2e.UDS(getDeploymentsCmd...)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug --packages %s", bundlePath, "nginx"))
+	deployments, _ = runCmd(t, getDeploymentsCmd)
 	require.Contains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 	require.NotContains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 
 	// Deploy bundle --resume (resumes remote pkg)
-	deployResumeFlag(t, bundlePath)
-	deployments, _, _ = e2e.UDS(getDeploymentsCmd...)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug --resume", bundlePath))
+	deployments, _ = runCmd(t, getDeploymentsCmd)
 	require.Contains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 	require.Contains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 
 	// Remove only nginx
-	removePackagesFlag(bundlePath, "nginx")
-	deployments, _, _ = e2e.UDS(getDeploymentsCmd...)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure --packages %s", bundlePath, "nginx"))
+	deployments, _ = runCmd(t, getDeploymentsCmd)
 	require.NotContains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 	require.Contains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 
 	// Remove bundle
-	remove(t, bundlePath)
-	deployments, _, _ = e2e.UDS(getDeploymentsCmd...)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
+	deployments, _ = runCmd(t, getDeploymentsCmd)
 	require.NotContains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 	require.NotContains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 }
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/bundle_index_test.go b/src/test/e2e/bundle_index_test.go
index 8fdc3694..652f3ec8 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/bundle_index_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/bundle_index_test.go
@@ -25,10 +25,11 @@ func TestBundleIndexInRemoteOnPublish(t *testing.T) {
 	tarballPath := filepath.Join("build", bundleTarballName)
 
 	// create and push bundles with different archs to the same OCI repo
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, "arm64")
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, "amd64")
-	publishInsecure(t, bundlePathARM, "localhost:888")
-	publishInsecure(t, bundlePathAMD, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, "arm64"))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, "amd64"))
+
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --insecure", bundlePathARM, "localhost:888"))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --insecure", bundlePathAMD, "localhost:888"))
 
 	// curl OCI registry for index
 	index, err := queryIndex(t, "http://localhost:888", bundleName)
@@ -40,7 +41,8 @@ func TestBundleIndexInRemoteOnPublish(t *testing.T) {
 	deployAndRemoveLocalAndRemoteInsecure(t, fmt.Sprintf("oci://localhost:888/%s:0.0.1", bundleName), tarballPath)
 
 	// now test by running 'create -o' over the bundle that was published
-	createRemoteInsecure(t, bundleDir, "oci://localhost:888", e2e.Arch)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --confirm --insecure -a %s", bundleDir, "oci://localhost:888", e2e.Arch))
+
 	index, err = queryIndex(t, "http://localhost:888", bundleName)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	ValidateMultiArchIndex(t, index)
@@ -60,8 +62,8 @@ func TestBundleIndexInRemoteOnCreate(t *testing.T) {
 	tarballPath := filepath.Join("build", bundleTarballName)
 
 	// create and push bundles with different archs to the same OCI repo
-	createRemoteInsecure(t, bundleDir, "oci://localhost:888", "arm64")
-	createRemoteInsecure(t, bundleDir, "oci://localhost:888", "amd64")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --confirm --insecure -a %s", bundleDir, "oci://localhost:888", "arm64"))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --confirm --insecure -a %s", bundleDir, "oci://localhost:888", "amd64"))
 
 	// curl OCI registry for index
 	index, err := queryIndex(t, "http://localhost:888", bundleName)
@@ -73,8 +75,9 @@ func TestBundleIndexInRemoteOnCreate(t *testing.T) {
 	deployAndRemoveLocalAndRemoteInsecure(t, fmt.Sprintf("oci://localhost:888/%s:0.0.1", bundleName), tarballPath)
 
 	// now test by publishing over the bundle that was created with 'create -o'
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
-	publishInsecure(t, tarballPath, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --insecure", tarballPath, "localhost:888"))
+
 	index, err = queryIndex(t, "http://localhost:888", bundleName)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	ValidateMultiArchIndex(t, index)
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/bundle_test.go b/src/test/e2e/bundle_test.go
index 51f06703..56e049eb 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/bundle_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/bundle_test.go
@@ -29,9 +29,8 @@ func TestUDSCmd(t *testing.T) {
 func TestUDSLogs(t *testing.T) {
 	zarfPkgPath := "src/test/packages/no-cluster/real-simple"
 	e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, zarfPkgPath, false)
-	createLocal(t, "src/test/bundles/11-real-simple", e2e.Arch)
-	stdout, _, err := e2e.UDS("logs")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create src/test/bundles/11-real-simple --insecure --confirm -a %s", e2e.Arch))
+	stdout, _ := runCmd(t, "logs")
 	require.Contains(t, stdout, "DEBUG")
 	require.Contains(t, stdout, "UDSBundle")
 }
@@ -41,8 +40,9 @@ func TestSimpleBundleWithZarfAction(t *testing.T) {
 	e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, zarfPkgPath, false)
 	os.Setenv("UDS_LOG_LEVEL", "debug")
 	defer os.Unsetenv("UDS_LOG_LEVEL")
-	createLocal(t, "src/test/bundles/11-real-simple", e2e.Arch)
-	_, stderr := deploy(t, fmt.Sprintf("src/test/bundles/11-real-simple/uds-bundle-real-simple-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create src/test/bundles/11-real-simple --insecure --confirm -a %s", e2e.Arch))
+	tarballPath := fmt.Sprintf("src/test/bundles/11-real-simple/uds-bundle-real-simple-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch)
+	_, stderr := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", tarballPath))
 	require.Contains(t, stderr, "Log level set to debug")
 }
 
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ func TestSimpleBundleWithNameAndVersionFlags(t *testing.T) {
 	name, version := "name-from-flag", "version-from-flag"
 	bundlePath := "src/test/bundles/11-real-simple"
 	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --confirm --name %s --version %s", bundlePath, name, version))
-	_, stderr := deploy(t, fmt.Sprintf("src/test/bundles/11-real-simple/uds-bundle-%s-%s-%s.tar.zst", name, e2e.Arch, version))
+	tarballPath := fmt.Sprintf("src/test/bundles/11-real-simple/uds-bundle-%s-%s-%s.tar.zst", name, e2e.Arch, version)
+	_, stderr := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", tarballPath))
 	require.Contains(t, stderr, "Log level set to debug")
 }
 
@@ -69,10 +70,10 @@ func TestCreateWithNoPath(t *testing.T) {
 	defer e2e.TeardownRegistry(t, 888)
 
 	pkg := filepath.Join(zarfPkgPath1, fmt.Sprintf("zarf-package-output-var-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:888 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	pkg = filepath.Join(zarfPkgPath2, fmt.Sprintf("zarf-package-receive-var-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:888 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	// move the bundle to the current directory so we can test the create command with no path
 	err := os.Link(fmt.Sprintf("src/test/bundles/02-variables/remote/%s", config.BundleYAML), config.BundleYAML)
@@ -81,9 +82,7 @@ func TestCreateWithNoPath(t *testing.T) {
 	defer os.Remove(fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-variables-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 
 	// create
-	cmd := strings.Split("create --confirm --insecure", " ")
-	_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	runCmd(t, "create --confirm --insecure")
 }
 
 func TestBundleWithLocalAndRemotePkgs(t *testing.T) {
@@ -105,23 +104,24 @@ func TestBundleWithLocalAndRemotePkgs(t *testing.T) {
 		Repository: "test-local-and-remote",
 		Reference:  "0.0.1",
 	}
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
+
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
 	inspectLocal(t, bundlePath)
-	deploy(t, bundlePath)
-	remove(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 
 	t.Run("Test pulling and deploying from the same registry", func(t *testing.T) {
-		publishInsecure(t, bundlePath, bundleRef.Registry)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --insecure", bundlePath, bundleRef.Registry))
 		pull(t, bundleRef.String(), bundleTarballName) // note that pull pulls the bundle into the build dir
-		deploy(t, pulledBundlePath)
-		remove(t, pulledBundlePath)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", pulledBundlePath))
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", pulledBundlePath))
 	})
 
 	t.Run(" Test publishing and deploying from different registries", func(t *testing.T) {
-		publishInsecure(t, bundlePath, bundleRef.Registry)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --insecure", bundlePath, bundleRef.Registry))
 		pull(t, bundleRef.String(), bundleTarballName) // note that pull pulls the bundle into the build dir
-		publishInsecure(t, pulledBundlePath, "oci://localhost:889")
-		deployInsecure(t, bundleRef.String())
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --insecure", pulledBundlePath, "oci://localhost:889"))
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --insecure --confirm", bundleRef.String()))
 	})
 }
 
@@ -137,19 +137,19 @@ func TestLocalBundleWithRemotePkgs(t *testing.T) {
 	defer e2e.TeardownRegistry(t, 889)
 
 	pkg := fmt.Sprintf("src/test/packages/nginx/zarf-package-nginx-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch)
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:888 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	pkg = fmt.Sprintf("src/test/packages/podinfo/zarf-package-podinfo-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch)
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:889")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:889 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/01-uds-bundle"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-example-remote-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
 	inspectLocal(t, bundlePath)
 	inspectLocalAndSBOMExtract(t, bundlePath)
-	deploy(t, bundlePath)
-	remove(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 }
 
 func TestRemoteBundleWithRemotePkgs(t *testing.T) {
@@ -163,10 +163,10 @@ func TestRemoteBundleWithRemotePkgs(t *testing.T) {
 	defer e2e.TeardownRegistry(t, 889)
 
 	pkg := fmt.Sprintf("src/test/packages/nginx/zarf-package-nginx-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch)
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:888 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	pkg = fmt.Sprintf("src/test/packages/podinfo/zarf-package-podinfo-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch)
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:889")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:889 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	bundleRef := registry.Reference{
 		Registry: "oci://localhost:888",
@@ -178,10 +178,10 @@ func TestRemoteBundleWithRemotePkgs(t *testing.T) {
 	bundleTarballName := fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-example-remote-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch)
 	tarballPath := filepath.Join("build", bundleTarballName)
 	bundlePath := "src/test/bundles/01-uds-bundle"
-	createRemoteInsecure(t, bundlePath, bundleRef.Registry, e2e.Arch)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --confirm --insecure -a %s", bundlePath, bundleRef.Registry, e2e.Arch))
 
 	// Test without oci prefix
-	createRemoteInsecure(t, bundlePath, "localhost:888", e2e.Arch)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --confirm --insecure -a %s", bundlePath, "localhost:888", e2e.Arch))
 
 	pull(t, bundleRef.String(), bundleTarballName)
 	inspectRemoteInsecure(t, bundleRef.String())
@@ -202,9 +202,9 @@ func TestBundleWithGitRepo(t *testing.T) {
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/05-gitrepo"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-gitrepo-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
-	deploy(t, bundlePath)
-	remove(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 }
 
 func TestBundleWithYmlFile(t *testing.T) {
@@ -214,44 +214,35 @@ func TestBundleWithYmlFile(t *testing.T) {
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/09-uds-bundle-yml"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-yml-example-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
 	inspectLocal(t, bundlePath)
 	inspectLocalAndSBOMExtract(t, bundlePath)
 	os.Setenv("UDS_CONFIG", filepath.Join("src/test/bundles/09-uds-bundle-yml", "uds-config.yml"))
 	defer os.Unsetenv("UDS_CONFIG")
-	deploy(t, bundlePath)
-	remove(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 }
 
 func TestLocalBundleWithOutput(t *testing.T) {
 	path := "src/test/packages/nginx"
-	args := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("zarf package create %s -o %s --confirm", path, path), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(args...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, path, false)
 
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/09-uds-bundle-yml"
 	destDir := "src/test/test/"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(destDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-yml-example-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
-	createLocalWithOuputFlag(t, bundleDir, destDir, e2e.Arch)
-
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s", bundlePath), " ")
-	_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, destDir, e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s", bundlePath))
 }
 
 func TestLocalBundleWithNoSBOM(t *testing.T) {
 	path := "src/test/packages/nginx"
-	args := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("zarf package create %s -o %s --skip-sbom --confirm", path, path), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(args...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package create %s -o %s --skip-sbom --confirm", path, path))
 
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/09-uds-bundle-yml"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-yml-example-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
 
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --sbom --extract", bundlePath), " ")
-	stdout, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	stdout, _ := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --sbom --extract", bundlePath))
 	require.Contains(t, stdout, "Cannot extract, no SBOMs found in bundle")
 	require.Contains(t, stdout, "sboms.tar not found in Zarf pkg")
 }
@@ -266,12 +257,10 @@ func TestRemoteBundleWithNoSBOM(t *testing.T) {
 	defer e2e.TeardownRegistry(t, 888)
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/09-uds-bundle-yml"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-yml-example-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
-	publishInsecure(t, bundlePath, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --insecure", bundlePath, "localhost:888"))
 
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --sbom --extract", bundlePath), " ")
-	stdout, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	stdout, _ := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --sbom --extract", bundlePath))
 	require.Contains(t, stdout, "Cannot extract, no SBOMs found in bundle")
 	require.Contains(t, stdout, "sboms.tar not found in Zarf pkg")
 }
@@ -288,10 +277,10 @@ func TestPackageNaming(t *testing.T) {
 	defer e2e.TeardownRegistry(t, 889)
 
 	pkg := fmt.Sprintf("src/test/packages/nginx/zarf-package-nginx-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch)
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:888 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	pkg = fmt.Sprintf("src/test/packages/podinfo/zarf-package-podinfo-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch)
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:889")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:889 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/10-package-naming"
 	bundleTarballName := fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-package-naming-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch)
@@ -303,14 +292,15 @@ func TestPackageNaming(t *testing.T) {
 		Repository: "package-naming",
 		Reference:  "0.0.1",
 	}
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch) // todo: allow creating from both the folder containing and direct reference to uds-bundle.yaml
-	publishInsecure(t, bundlePath, bundleRef.Registry)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch)) // todo: allow creating from both the folder containing and direct reference to uds-bundle.yaml
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --insecure", bundlePath, bundleRef.Registry))
+
 	pull(t, bundleRef.String(), bundleTarballName)
-	deploy(t, tarballPath)
-	remove(t, tarballPath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", tarballPath))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", tarballPath))
 
 	// Test create -o with zarf package names that don't match the zarf package name in the bundle
-	createRemoteInsecure(t, bundleDir, bundleRef.Registry, e2e.Arch)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --confirm --insecure -a %s", bundleDir, bundleRef.Registry, e2e.Arch))
 	deployAndRemoveLocalAndRemoteInsecure(t, bundleRef.String(), tarballPath)
 }
 
@@ -321,14 +311,14 @@ func TestBundleWithComposedPkgComponent(t *testing.T) {
 	zarfPkgPath := "src/test/packages/prometheus"
 	pkg := filepath.Join(zarfPkgPath, fmt.Sprintf("zarf-package-prometheus-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 	e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, zarfPkgPath, false)
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:888 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/13-composable-component"
 	bundleName := "with-composed"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-%s-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", bundleName, e2e.Arch))
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
-	deploy(t, bundlePath)
-	remove(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 }
 
 func TestBundleTmpDir(t *testing.T) {
@@ -425,8 +415,7 @@ func TestInvalidConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	defer os.Unsetenv("UDS_CONFIG")
 	zarfPkgPath := "src/test/packages/helm"
 	e2e.HelmDepUpdate(t, fmt.Sprintf("%s/unicorn-podinfo", zarfPkgPath))
-	args := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("zarf package create %s -o %s --confirm", zarfPkgPath, zarfPkgPath), " ")
-	_, stdErr, _ := e2e.UDS(args...)
+	_, stdErr, _ := runCmdWithErr(fmt.Sprintf("zarf package create %s -o %s --confirm", zarfPkgPath, zarfPkgPath))
 	count := strings.Count(stdErr, "invalid config option: log_levelx")
 	require.Equal(t, 1, count, "The string 'invalid config option: log_levelx' should appear exactly once")
 	require.NotContains(t, stdErr, "Usage:")
@@ -438,7 +427,7 @@ func TestInvalidBundle(t *testing.T) {
 	e2e.HelmDepUpdate(t, fmt.Sprintf("%s/unicorn-podinfo", zarfPkgPath))
 	e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, zarfPkgPath, false)
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/07-helm-overrides/invalid"
-	stderr := createLocalError(bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
+	_, stderr, _ := runCmdWithErr(fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
 	require.Contains(t, stderr, "unknown field")
 }
 
@@ -455,9 +444,9 @@ func TestArchCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	e2e.CreateZarfPkgWithArch(t, zarfPkgPath, false, testArch)
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/07-helm-overrides"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-helm-overrides-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", testArch))
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, testArch)
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm", bundlePath), " ")
-	_, stderr, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, testArch))
+
+	_, stderr, _ := runCmdWithErr(fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm", bundlePath))
 	require.Contains(t, stderr, fmt.Sprintf("arch %s does not match cluster arch, [%s]", testArch, e2e.Arch))
 }
 
@@ -468,7 +457,7 @@ func TestListImages(t *testing.T) {
 	zarfPkgPath := "src/test/packages/prometheus"
 	pkg := filepath.Join(zarfPkgPath, fmt.Sprintf("zarf-package-prometheus-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 	e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, zarfPkgPath, false)
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:888 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	zarfPkgPath = "src/test/packages/podinfo-nginx"
 	e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, zarfPkgPath, false)
@@ -476,9 +465,7 @@ func TestListImages(t *testing.T) {
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/14-optional-components"
 
 	t.Run("list images on bundle YAML only", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --list-images --insecure", filepath.Join(bundleDir, config.BundleYAML)), " ")
-		stdout, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		stdout, _ := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --list-images --insecure", filepath.Join(bundleDir, config.BundleYAML)))
 		require.Contains(t, stdout, "library/registry")
 		require.Contains(t, stdout, "ghcr.io/zarf-dev/zarf/agent")
 		require.Contains(t, stdout, "nginx")
@@ -522,7 +509,7 @@ func TestListVariables(t *testing.T) {
 	zarfPkgPath := "src/test/packages/prometheus"
 	pkg := filepath.Join(zarfPkgPath, fmt.Sprintf("zarf-package-prometheus-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 	e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, zarfPkgPath, false)
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:888 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	zarfPkgPath = "src/test/packages/podinfo-nginx"
 	e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, zarfPkgPath, false)
@@ -530,28 +517,21 @@ func TestListVariables(t *testing.T) {
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/14-optional-components"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-optional-components-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 	ociRef := "oci://localhost:888/test/bundles"
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
-	publishInsecure(t, bundlePath, ociRef)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --insecure", bundlePath, ociRef))
 
 	t.Run("list variables for local tarball with no color", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --list-variables --no-color", bundlePath), " ")
-		stdout, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		stdout, _ := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --list-variables --no-color", bundlePath))
 		require.Contains(t, stdout, "prometheus:\n  variables: []\n")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("list variables for local tarball with color", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --list-variables", bundlePath), " ")
-		stdout, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		stdout, _ := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --list-variables", bundlePath))
 		require.Contains(t, stdout, "\x1b")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("list variables for remote tarball", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --list-variables --insecure", fmt.Sprintf("%s/optional-components:0.0.1", ociRef)), " ")
-		stdout, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
+		stdout, _ := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --list-variables --insecure", fmt.Sprintf("%s/optional-components:0.0.1", ociRef)))
 		ansiRegex := regexp.MustCompile("\x1b\\[[0-9;]*[a-zA-Z]")
 		cleaned := ansiRegex.ReplaceAllString(stdout, "")
 		require.Contains(t, cleaned, "prometheus:\n  variables: []\n")
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/commands_test.go b/src/test/e2e/commands_test.go
index 0ccaf602..9884c278 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/commands_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/commands_test.go
@@ -25,114 +25,47 @@ import (
 
 // This file contains helpers for running UDS CLI commands (ie. uds create/deploy/etc with various flags and options)
 
-func zarfPublish(t *testing.T, path string, reg string) {
-	args := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://%s --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", path, reg), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(args...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-
-func createLocal(t *testing.T, bundlePath string, arch string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundlePath, arch), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-
-func createLocalError(bundlePath string, arch string) (stderr string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundlePath, arch), " ")
-	_, stderr, _ = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	return stderr
-}
-
-func createLocalWithOuputFlag(t *testing.T, bundlePath string, destPath string, arch string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundlePath, destPath, arch), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-
-func createRemoteInsecure(t *testing.T, bundlePath, registry, arch string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --confirm --insecure -a %s", bundlePath, registry, arch), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-
-func createRemote(t *testing.T, bundlePath, registry, arch string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --confirm -a %s", bundlePath, registry, arch), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-
 func inspectRemoteInsecure(t *testing.T, ref string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --insecure --sbom", ref), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	_, err = os.Stat(config.BundleSBOMTar)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --insecure --sbom", ref))
+	_, err := os.Stat(config.BundleSBOMTar)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	err = os.Remove(config.BundleSBOMTar)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 }
 
 func inspectRemote(t *testing.T, ref string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --sbom", ref), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	_, err = os.Stat(config.BundleSBOMTar)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --sbom", ref))
+	_, err := os.Stat(config.BundleSBOMTar)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	err = os.Remove(config.BundleSBOMTar)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 }
 
 func inspectRemoteAndSBOMExtract(t *testing.T, ref string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --insecure --sbom --extract", ref), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	_, err = os.Stat(config.BundleSBOM)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --insecure --sbom --extract", ref))
+	_, err := os.Stat(config.BundleSBOM)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	err = os.RemoveAll(config.BundleSBOM)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 }
 
 func inspectLocal(t *testing.T, tarballPath string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --sbom --no-color", tarballPath), " ")
-	stdout, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	stdout, _ := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --sbom --no-color", tarballPath))
 	require.NotContains(t, stdout, "\x1b")
-	_, err = os.Stat(config.BundleSBOMTar)
+	_, err := os.Stat(config.BundleSBOMTar)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	err = os.Remove(config.BundleSBOMTar)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 }
 
 func inspectLocalAndSBOMExtract(t *testing.T, tarballPath string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --sbom --extract", tarballPath), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	_, err = os.Stat(config.BundleSBOM)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("inspect %s --sbom --extract", tarballPath))
+	_, err := os.Stat(config.BundleSBOM)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	err = os.RemoveAll(config.BundleSBOM)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 }
 
-func deploy(t *testing.T, tarballPath string) (stdout string, stderr string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", tarballPath), " ")
-	stdout, stderr, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	return stdout, stderr
-}
-
-func devDeploy(t *testing.T, bundlePath string) (stdout string, stderr string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s", bundlePath), " ")
-	stdout, stderr, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	return stdout, stderr
-}
-
-func devDeployPackages(t *testing.T, tarballPath string, packages string) (stdout string, stderr string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s --packages %s", tarballPath, packages), " ")
-	stdout, stderr, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	return stdout, stderr
-}
-
 func runCmd(t *testing.T, input string) (stdout string, stderr string) {
 	cmd := strings.Split(input, " ")
 	stdout, stderr, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
@@ -140,68 +73,27 @@ func runCmd(t *testing.T, input string) (stdout string, stderr string) {
 	return stdout, stderr
 }
 
-func deployPackagesFlag(tarballPath string, packages string) (stdout string, stderr string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug --packages %s", tarballPath, packages), " ")
-	stdout, stderr, _ = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	return stdout, stderr
-}
-
-func deployResumeFlag(t *testing.T, tarballPath string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug --resume", tarballPath), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-
-func remove(t *testing.T, source string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", source), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-
-func removePackagesFlag(tarballPath string, packages string) (stdout string, stderr string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure --packages %s", tarballPath, packages), " ")
-	stdout, stderr, _ = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	return stdout, stderr
-}
-
-func deployInsecure(t *testing.T, ref string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --insecure --confirm", ref), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-
-func removeInsecure(t *testing.T, remote string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --insecure --confirm", remote), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+func runCmdWithErr(input string) (stdout string, stderr string, err error) {
+	cmd := strings.Split(input, " ")
+	stdout, stderr, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+	return stdout, stderr, err
 }
 
 func deployAndRemoveLocalAndRemoteInsecure(t *testing.T, ref string, tarballPath string) {
-	var cmd []string
 	// test both paths because we want to test that the pulled tarball works as well
 	t.Run(
 		"deploy+remove bundle via OCI",
 		func(t *testing.T) {
-			cmd = strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --insecure --confirm", ref), " ")
-			_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-			require.NoError(t, err)
-
-			cmd = strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", ref), " ")
-			_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-			require.NoError(t, err)
+			runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --insecure --confirm", ref))
+			runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", ref))
 		},
 	)
 
 	t.Run(
 		"deploy+remove bundle via local tarball",
 		func(t *testing.T) {
-			cmd = strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm", tarballPath), " ")
-			_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-			require.NoError(t, err)
-
-			cmd = strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm", tarballPath), " ")
-			_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-			require.NoError(t, err)
+			runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm", tarballPath))
+			runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm", tarballPath))
 		},
 	)
 }
@@ -217,16 +109,12 @@ func pull(t *testing.T, ref string, tarballName string) {
 		t.Fatalf("second arg to pull() must be the name a bundle tarball, got %s", tarballName)
 	}
 	// todo: output somewhere other than build?
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("pull %s -o build --insecure --oci-concurrency=10", ref), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("pull %s -o build --insecure --oci-concurrency=10", ref))
 
 	decompressed := "build/decompressed-bundle"
 	defer e2e.CleanFiles(decompressed)
 
-	cmd = []string{"zarf", "tools", "archiver", "decompress", filepath.Join("build", tarballName), decompressed}
-	_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf tools archiver decompress %s %s", filepath.Join("build", tarballName), decompressed))
 
 	index := ocispec.Index{}
 	b, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(decompressed, "index.json"))
@@ -260,18 +148,6 @@ func pull(t *testing.T, ref string, tarballName string) {
 	}
 }
 
-func publish(t *testing.T, bundlePath, ociPath string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --oci-concurrency=10", bundlePath, ociPath), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-
-func publishInsecure(t *testing.T, bundlePath, ociPath string) {
-	cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --insecure", bundlePath, ociPath), " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-
 func queryIndex(t *testing.T, registryURL, bundlePath string) (ocispec.Index, error) {
 	url := fmt.Sprintf("%s/v2/%s/manifests/0.0.1", registryURL, bundlePath)
 	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)
@@ -300,10 +176,8 @@ func queryIndex(t *testing.T, registryURL, bundlePath string) (ocispec.Index, er
 }
 
 func removeZarfInit() {
-	cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl delete namespace zarf", " ")
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+	_, _, err := runCmdWithErr("zarf tools kubectl delete namespace zarf")
 	message.WarnErr(err, "Failed to delete zarf namespace")
-	cmd = strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl delete mutatingwebhookconfiguration.admissionregistration.k8s.io/zarf", " ")
-	_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+	_, _, err = runCmdWithErr("zarf tools kubectl delete mutatingwebhookconfiguration.admissionregistration.k8s.io/zarf")
 	message.WarnErr(err, "Failed to delete zarf webhook")
 }
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/completion_test.go b/src/test/e2e/completion_test.go
index eb3efe86..9c1c7e81 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/completion_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/completion_test.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 package test
 
 import (
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/defenseunicorns/uds-cli/src/config/lang"
@@ -15,26 +14,22 @@ import (
 func TestCompletion(t *testing.T) {
 
 	t.Run("Test Completion", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("completion", " ")
-		output, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		output, _ := runCmd(t, "completion")
 		require.Contains(t, output, lang.CompletionCmdLong)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test Bash Completion", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("completion bash", " ")
-		output, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		output, _ := runCmd(t, "completion bash")
 		require.Contains(t, output, "bash completion V2 for uds")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test ZSH Completion", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("completion zsh", " ")
-		output, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		output, _ := runCmd(t, "completion zsh")
 		require.Contains(t, output, "zsh completion for uds")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test Fish Completion", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("completion fish", " ")
-		output, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		output, _ := runCmd(t, "completion fish")
 		require.Contains(t, output, "fish completion for uds")
 	})
 }
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/dev_test.go b/src/test/e2e/dev_test.go
index e9a14798..c9bd9a0a 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/dev_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/dev_test.go
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ package test
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -18,89 +17,68 @@ func TestDevDeploy(t *testing.T) {
 	removeZarfInit()
 
 	t.Run("Test dev deploy with local and remote pkgs", func(t *testing.T) {
-
 		e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, "src/test/packages/podinfo", false)
 
 		bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/03-local-and-remote"
 		bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-test-local-and-remote-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 
-		devDeploy(t, bundleDir)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s", bundleDir))
 
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployments -A -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'", " ")
-		deployments, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		deployments, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployments -A -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'")
 		require.Contains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 		require.Contains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 
-		remove(t, bundlePath)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test dev deploy with CreateLocalPkgs", func(t *testing.T) {
-
 		e2e.DeleteZarfPkg(t, "src/test/packages/podinfo")
 
 		bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/03-local-and-remote"
 		bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-test-local-and-remote-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 
-		devDeployPackages(t, bundleDir, "podinfo")
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s --packages %s", bundleDir, "podinfo"))
 
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployments -A -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'", " ")
-		deployments, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		deployments, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployments -A -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'")
 		require.Contains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 		require.NotContains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 
-		remove(t, bundlePath)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test dev deploy with ref flag", func(t *testing.T) {
 		e2e.DeleteZarfPkg(t, "src/test/packages/podinfo")
 		bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/03-local-and-remote"
 
-		cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s --ref %s", bundleDir, "nginx=0.0.2"), " ")
-		_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s --ref %s", bundleDir, "nginx=0.0.2"))
 
-		cmd = strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n nginx nginx-deployment -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'", " ")
-		ref, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		ref, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n nginx nginx-deployment -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'")
 		require.Contains(t, ref, "nginx:1.26.0")
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		cmd = strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl delete ns podinfo nginx zarf", " ")
-		_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl delete ns podinfo nginx zarf")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test dev deploy with flavor flag", func(t *testing.T) {
 		e2e.DeleteZarfPkg(t, "src/test/packages/podinfo/flavors")
 		bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/15-dev-deploy"
 
-		cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s --flavor %s", bundleDir, "podinfo=patchVersion3"), " ")
-		_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s --flavor %s", bundleDir, "podinfo=patchVersion3"))
 
-		cmd = strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo-flavor podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'", " ")
-		ref, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		ref, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo-flavor podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'")
 		require.Contains(t, ref, "ghcr.io/stefanprodan/podinfo:6.6.3")
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		cmd = strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl delete ns zarf podinfo-flavor", " ")
-		_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl delete ns zarf podinfo-flavor")
 	})
+
 	t.Run("Test dev deploy with global flavor", func(t *testing.T) {
 		bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/15-dev-deploy"
 
-		cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s --flavor %s --force-create", bundleDir, "patchVersion3"), " ")
-		_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s --flavor %s --force-create", bundleDir, "patchVersion3"))
 
-		cmd = strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo-flavor podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'", " ")
-		ref, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		ref, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo-flavor podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'")
 		require.Contains(t, ref, "ghcr.io/stefanprodan/podinfo:6.6.3")
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		cmd = strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl delete ns zarf podinfo-flavor", " ")
-		_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl delete ns zarf podinfo-flavor")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test dev deploy with flavor and force create", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -109,37 +87,27 @@ func TestDevDeploy(t *testing.T) {
 
 		// create flavor patchVersion3 podinfo-flavor package
 		pkgDir := "src/test/packages/podinfo"
-		cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("zarf package create %s --flavor %s --confirm -o %s", pkgDir, "patchVersion3", pkgDir), " ")
-		_, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package create %s --flavor %s --confirm -o %s", pkgDir, "patchVersion3", pkgDir))
 
 		// dev deploy with flavor patchVersion2 and --force-create
-		cmd = strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s --flavor %s --force-create", bundleDir, "podinfo=patchVersion2"), " ")
-		_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s --flavor %s --force-create", bundleDir, "podinfo=patchVersion2"))
 
-		cmd = strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo-flavor podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'", " ")
-		ref, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		ref, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo-flavor podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'")
 		// assert that podinfo package with flavor patchVersion2 was deployed.
 		require.Contains(t, ref, "ghcr.io/stefanprodan/podinfo:6.6.2")
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		cmd = strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl delete ns zarf podinfo-flavor", " ")
-		_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl delete ns zarf podinfo-flavor")
 	})
 	t.Run("Test dev deploy with remote bundle", func(t *testing.T) {
-
 		bundle := "oci://ghcr.io/defenseunicorns/packages/uds-cli/test/publish/ghcr-test:0.0.1"
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("dev deploy %s", bundle))
 
-		devDeploy(t, bundle)
-
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployments -A -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'", " ")
-		deployments, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		deployments, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployments -A -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'")
 		require.Contains(t, deployments, "podinfo")
 		require.Contains(t, deployments, "nginx")
 
-		remove(t, bundle)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundle))
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Test dev deploy with --set flag", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -148,7 +116,7 @@ func TestDevDeploy(t *testing.T) {
 		_, stderr := runCmd(t, "dev deploy "+bundleDir+" --set ANIMAL=Longhorns --set COUNTRY=Texas -l=debug")
 		require.Contains(t, stderr, "This fun-fact was imported: Longhorns are the national animal of Texas")
 		require.NotContains(t, stderr, "This fun-fact was imported: Unicorns are the national animal of Scotland")
-		remove(t, bundleTarballPath)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundleTarballPath))
 	})
 
 	// delete packages because other tests depend on them being created with SBOMs (ie. force other tests to re-create)
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/ghcr_test.go b/src/test/e2e/ghcr_test.go
index 6de4a123..d50eac97 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/ghcr_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/ghcr_test.go
@@ -34,16 +34,18 @@ func TestBundleCreateAndPublishGHCR(t *testing.T) {
 		Reference:  "0.0.1",
 	}
 
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, "arm64")
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, "amd64")
-	publish(t, bundlePathARM, registryURL)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, "arm64"))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, "amd64"))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --oci-concurrency=10", bundlePathARM, registryURL))
+
 	// test without oci prefix
 	registryURL = "ghcr.io/defenseunicorns/packages/uds-cli/test/publish"
-	publish(t, bundlePathAMD, registryURL)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s %s --oci-concurrency=10", bundlePathAMD, registryURL))
+
 	inspectRemote(t, bundlePathARM)
 	pull(t, bundleRef.String(), bundleTarballName)
-	deploy(t, bundleRef.String())
-	remove(t, bundleRef.String())
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundleRef.String()))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundleRef.String()))
 
 	// ensure the bundle index is present
 	index, err := queryIndex(t, "https://ghcr.io", fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", bundleGHCRPath, bundleName))
@@ -64,11 +66,13 @@ func TestBundleCreateRemoteAndDeployGHCR(t *testing.T) {
 		Repository: "ghcr-test",
 		Reference:  "0.0.1",
 	}
-	createRemote(t, bundleDir, registryURL, "arm64")
-	createRemote(t, bundleDir, registryURL, "amd64")
+
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, registryURL, "arm64"))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s -o %s --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, registryURL, "amd64"))
+
 	inspectRemote(t, bundleRef.String())
-	deploy(t, bundleRef.String())
-	remove(t, bundleRef.String())
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundleRef.String()))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundleRef.String()))
 
 	// ensure the bundle index is present
 	index, err := queryIndex(t, "https://ghcr.io", fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", bundleGHCRPath, bundleName))
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/main_test.go b/src/test/e2e/main_test.go
index 2301983f..34019ff0 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/main_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/main_test.go
@@ -111,24 +111,18 @@ func deployZarfInit(t *testing.T) {
 		bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-all-the-inits-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 
 		// Create
-		cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("create %s --confirm --insecure", bundleDir), " ")
-		_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --confirm --insecure", bundleDir))
 
 		// Deploy
-		cmd = strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug", bundlePath), " ")
-		_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --confirm -l=debug", bundlePath))
 	}
 }
 
 func zarfInitDeployed() bool {
-	cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployments zarf-docker-registry --namespace zarf", " ")
-	_, stderr, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+	_, stderr, _ := runCmdWithErr("zarf tools kubectl get deployments zarf-docker-registry --namespace zarf")
 	registryDeployed := !strings.Contains(stderr, "No resources found in zarf namespace") && !strings.Contains(stderr, "not found")
 
-	cmd = strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployments agent-hook --namespace zarf", " ")
-	_, stderr, _ = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+	_, stderr, _ = runCmdWithErr("zarf tools kubectl get deployments agent-hook --namespace zarf")
 	agentDeployed := !strings.Contains(stderr, "No resources found in zarf namespace") && !strings.Contains(stderr, "not found")
 	return registryDeployed && agentDeployed
 }
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/monitor_test.go b/src/test/e2e/monitor_test.go
index 199f7813..8400f406 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/monitor_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/monitor_test.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 package test
 
 import (
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -14,27 +13,26 @@ import (
 func TestMonitor(t *testing.T) {
 	// this test assumes a running k3d cluster with the UDS operator and admission controller installed
 	// recommend running with uds run test:engine-e2e to install controllers
-	cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployments -n pepr-system -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'", " ")
-	deployments, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+	deployments, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployments -n pepr-system -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'")
 	require.Contains(t, deployments, "pepr-uds-core")
 	require.Contains(t, deployments, "pepr-uds-core-watcher")
 
 	// we expect this command to fail because UDS Core doesn't allow some of the configs in this package
-	_, _, err := e2e.UDS("zarf", "dev", "deploy", "src/test/packages/engine", "--retries=1")
+	_, _, err := runCmdWithErr("zarf dev deploy src/test/packages/engine --retries=1")
 	require.Error(t, err)
 
 	t.Run("test mutated policies", func(t *testing.T) {
-		stdout, _, _ := e2e.UDS("monitor", "pepr", "mutated")
+		stdout, _ := runCmd(t, "monitor pepr mutated")
 		require.Contains(t, stdout, "✎ MUTATED   podinfo")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("test allowed policies", func(t *testing.T) {
-		stdout, _, _ := e2e.UDS("monitor", "pepr", "allowed")
+		stdout, _ := runCmd(t, "monitor pepr allowed")
 		require.Contains(t, stdout, "✓ ALLOWED   podinfo")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("test denied policies", func(t *testing.T) {
-		stdout, _, _ := e2e.UDS("monitor", "pepr", "denied")
+		stdout, _ := runCmd(t, "monitor pepr denied")
 		require.Contains(t, stdout, "✗ DENIED    podinfo")
 	})
 }
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/optional_bundle_test.go b/src/test/e2e/optional_bundle_test.go
index c07755c1..ada883c2 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/optional_bundle_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/optional_bundle_test.go
@@ -27,15 +27,15 @@ func TestBundleOptionalComponents(t *testing.T) {
 	zarfPkgPath = "src/test/packages/prometheus"
 	pkg := filepath.Join(zarfPkgPath, fmt.Sprintf("zarf-package-prometheus-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 	e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, zarfPkgPath, false)
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:888 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 
 	// create bundle and publish
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/14-optional-components"
 	bundleName := "optional-components"
 	bundleTarballName := fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-%s-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", bundleName, e2e.Arch)
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, bundleTarballName)
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
-	publishInsecure(t, bundlePath, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s localhost:888 --insecure", bundlePath))
 
 	t.Run("look through contents of local bundle to ensure only selected components are present", func(t *testing.T) {
 		// local pkgs will have a correct pkg manifest (ie. missing non-selected optional component tarballs)
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ func TestBundleOptionalComponents(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 
 	t.Run("test local deploy", func(t *testing.T) {
-		deploy(t, bundlePath)
-		remove(t, bundlePath)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 	})
 
 	t.Run("test remote deploy + pulled deploy", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -69,9 +69,7 @@ func introspectOptionalComponentsBundle(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// decompress the bundle
 	bundlePath := fmt.Sprintf("src/test/bundles/14-optional-components/uds-bundle-optional-components-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch)
-	cmd := []string{"zarf", "tools", "archiver", "decompress", bundlePath, decompressionLoc}
-	_, _, err = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf tools archiver decompress %s %s", bundlePath, decompressionLoc))
 
 	// read in the bundle's index.json
 	index := ocispec.Index{}
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/security_hub_test.go b/src/test/e2e/security_hub_test.go
index 537c34cf..11d64f9a 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/security_hub_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/security_hub_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 package test
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
@@ -24,8 +25,7 @@ func TestScanCommand(t *testing.T) {
 		defer os.RemoveAll(tempDir)
 		outputFile := filepath.Join(tempDir, "zarf-init.csv")
 
-		_, stdErr, err := e2e.UDS("scan", "--org", "defenseunicorns", "--package-name", "packages/init", "--tag", "v0.34.0", "--output-file", outputFile)
-		require.NoError(t, err, stdErr)
+		_, stdErr := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("scan --org defenseunicorns --package-name packages/init --tag v0.36.1 --output-file %s", outputFile))
 		require.FileExists(t, outputFile)
 		fileInfo, err := os.Stat(outputFile)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/variable_test.go b/src/test/e2e/variable_test.go
index 3b7f296d..03323766 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/variable_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/variable_test.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -24,17 +23,15 @@ func TestBundleVariables(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("simple vars and global export", func(t *testing.T) {
 		bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/02-variables"
 		bundleTarballPath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-variables-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
-		cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch), " ")
-		_, stderr, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		_, stderr := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
 		require.Contains(t, stderr, "failed strict unmarshalling")
-		_, stderr = deploy(t, bundleTarballPath)
+		_, stderr = runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundleTarballPath))
 		bundleVariablesTestChecks(t, stderr, bundleTarballPath)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("bad var name in import", func(t *testing.T) {
 		bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/02-variables/bad-var-name"
-		stderr := createLocalError(bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
+		_, stderr, _ := runCmdWithErr(fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
 		require.Contains(t, stderr, "does not have a matching export")
 	})
 
@@ -42,8 +39,8 @@ func TestBundleVariables(t *testing.T) {
 		e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, "src/test/packages/no-cluster/output-var-collision", false)
 		bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/02-variables/export-name-collision"
 		bundleTarballPath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-export-name-collision-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
-		createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
-		_, stderr := deploy(t, bundleTarballPath)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+		_, stderr := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundleTarballPath))
 		require.Contains(t, stderr, "This fun-fact was imported: Daffodils are the national flower of Wales")
 		require.NotContains(t, stderr, "This fun-fact was imported: Unicorns are the national animal of Scotland")
 	})
@@ -82,100 +79,77 @@ func TestBundleWithHelmOverrides(t *testing.T) {
 	err := os.Setenv("UDS_CONFIG", filepath.Join(bundleDir, "uds-config.yaml"))
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
-	deploy(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --confirm --insecure -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
 
 	// test values overrides
 	t.Run("check values overrides", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.replicas}'", " ")
-		outputNumReplicas, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		outputNumReplicas, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.replicas}'")
 		require.Equal(t, "'2'", outputNumReplicas)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check object-type override in values", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.metadata.annotations}'", " ")
-		annotations, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		annotations, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.metadata.annotations}'")
 		require.Contains(t, annotations, "\"customAnnotation\":\"customValue\"")
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check list-type override in values", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.tolerations}'", " ")
-		tolerations, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		tolerations, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.tolerations}'")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"key\":\"uds\"")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"value\":\"defense\"")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"key\":\"unicorn\"")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"effect\":\"NoSchedule\"")
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	// test variables overrides
 	t.Run("check variables overrides, use default", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deploy unicorn-podinfo -n podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[*].command[*]}'", " ")
-		podCmd, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		podCmd, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deploy unicorn-podinfo -n podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[*].command[*]}'")
 		require.Contains(t, podCmd, "--level=debug")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check variables overrides, default overwritten by config", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_COLOR\")].value}'", " ")
-		outputUIColor, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		outputUIColor, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_COLOR\")].value}'")
 		require.Equal(t, "'green, yellow'", outputUIColor)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check variables overrides, no default but set in config", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_MESSAGE\")].value}'", " ")
-		outputMsg, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		outputMsg, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_MESSAGE\")].value}'")
 		require.Equal(t, "'Hello Unicorn'", outputMsg)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check variables overrides, no default and not set in config", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get secret test-secret -n podinfo -o jsonpath=\"{.data.test}\"", " ")
-		secretValue, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		secretValue, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get secret test-secret -n podinfo -o jsonpath=\"{.data.test}\"")
 		// expect the value to be from the underlying chart's values.yaml, no overrides
 		require.Equal(t, "\"dGVzdC1zZWNyZXQ=\"", secretValue)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check variables overrides with an object-type value", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].securityContext}'", " ")
-		securityContext, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		securityContext, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].securityContext}'")
 		require.Contains(t, securityContext, "NET_ADMIN")
 		require.Contains(t, securityContext, "\"runAsGroup\":4000")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check variables overrides with a list-type value", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get ingress -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.rules[*].host}''", " ")
-		hosts, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		hosts, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get ingress -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.rules[*].host}''")
 		require.Contains(t, hosts, "podinfo.burning.boats")
 		require.Contains(t, hosts, "podinfo.unicorns")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check variables overrides with a file type value", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get secret -n podinfo test-file-secret -o=jsonpath={.data.test}", " ")
-		stdout, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		stdout, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get secret -n podinfo test-file-secret -o=jsonpath={.data.test}")
 		decoded, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(stdout)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.Contains(t, string(decoded), "ssh-rsa")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check multiple charts under same component deploy", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get secret -n second-chart second-chart-secret -o=jsonpath={.data.test}", " ")
-		stdout, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		stdout, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get secret -n second-chart second-chart-secret -o=jsonpath={.data.test}")
 		decoded, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(stdout)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.Contains(t, string(decoded), "ssh-rsa")
 	})
 
-	remove(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 }
 
 func TestBundleWithHelmOverridesValuesFile(t *testing.T) {
@@ -187,33 +161,26 @@ func TestBundleWithHelmOverridesValuesFile(t *testing.T) {
 	err := os.Setenv("UDS_CONFIG", filepath.Join("src/test/bundles/07-helm-overrides", "uds-config.yaml"))
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
-	deploy(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
 
 	// test values overrides
 	t.Run("check values overrides", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.replicas}'", " ")
-		outputNumReplicas, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		outputNumReplicas, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.replicas}'")
 		require.Equal(t, "'2'", outputNumReplicas)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check object-type override in values", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.metadata.annotations}'", " ")
-		annotations, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		annotations, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.metadata.annotations}'")
 		require.Contains(t, annotations, "\"customAnnotation\":\"customValue2\"")
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check list-type override in values", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.tolerations}'", " ")
-		tolerations, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		tolerations, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.tolerations}'")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"key\":\"uds\"")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"value\":\"defense\"")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"key\":\"unicorn\"")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"effect\":\"NoSchedule\"")
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-
 	})
 }
 
@@ -226,38 +193,37 @@ func TestBundleWithDupPkgs(t *testing.T) {
 	e2e.CreateZarfPkg(t, zarfPkgPath, false)
 	name := "duplicates"
 	pkg := filepath.Join(zarfPkgPath, fmt.Sprintf("zarf-package-helm-overrides-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
-	zarfPublish(t, pkg, "localhost:888")
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf package publish %s oci://localhost:888 --insecure --oci-concurrency=10 -l debug --no-progress", pkg))
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/07-helm-overrides/duplicate"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-%s-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", name, e2e.Arch))
 
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
 
 	// remove namespace after tests
 	defer func() {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl delete ns override-ns another-override-ns", " ")
-		_, _, _ = e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl delete ns override-ns another-override-ns")
 	}()
 
 	// helper fn to check the different namespaces for the deployment
 	checkDeployments := func(t *testing.T) {
 		for _, ns := range []string{"override-ns", "another-override-ns"} {
-			cmd := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n %s -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'", ns), " ")
-			deployment, _, _ := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+			deployment, _ := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n %s -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'", ns))
 			require.Equal(t, "'unicorn-podinfo'", deployment)
 		}
 	}
 
 	t.Run("test namespace override + dup pkgs in local bundle", func(t *testing.T) {
-		deploy(t, bundlePath)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
 		checkDeployments(t)
-		remove(t, bundlePath)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 	})
 
 	t.Run("test namespace override + dup pkgs in remote bundle", func(t *testing.T) {
-		publishInsecure(t, bundlePath, "localhost:888")
-		deployInsecure(t, fmt.Sprintf("localhost:888/%s:0.0.1", name))
+		ref := fmt.Sprintf("localhost:888/%s:0.0.1", name)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("publish %s localhost:888 --insecure", bundlePath))
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --insecure --confirm", ref))
 		checkDeployments(t)
-		removeInsecure(t, fmt.Sprintf("localhost:888/%s:0.0.1", name))
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", ref))
 	})
 }
 
@@ -280,40 +246,30 @@ func TestBundleWithEnvVarHelmOverrides(t *testing.T) {
 	// create and deploy bundle
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/07-helm-overrides"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-helm-overrides-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
-	deploy(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
 
 	t.Run("check override variables, ensure they are coming from env vars and take highest precedence", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("z tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_COLOR\")].value}'", " ")
-		outputUIColor, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		outputUIColor, _ := runCmd(t, "z tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_COLOR\")].value}'")
 		require.Equal(t, fmt.Sprintf("'%s'", color), outputUIColor)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check override secret val", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("z tools kubectl get secret test-secret -n podinfo -o jsonpath=\"{.data.test}\"", " ")
-		secretValue, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		secretValue, _ := runCmd(t, "z tools kubectl get secret test-secret -n podinfo -o jsonpath=\"{.data.test}\"")
 		require.Equal(t, fmt.Sprintf("\"%s\"", b64Secret), secretValue)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("ensure --set overrides take precedence over env vars", func(t *testing.T) {
-		deployCmd := fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --set UI_COLOR=orange --set helm-overrides.ui_msg=foo --confirm", bundlePath)
-		_, _, err := e2e.UDS(strings.Split(deployCmd, " ")...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --set UI_COLOR=orange --set helm-overrides.ui_msg=foo --confirm", bundlePath))
 
-		cmd := strings.Split("z tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_COLOR\")].value}'", " ")
-		outputUIColor, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		outputUIColor, _ := runCmd(t, "z tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_COLOR\")].value}'")
 		require.Equal(t, "'orange'", outputUIColor)
 
-		cmd = strings.Split("z tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_MESSAGE\")].value}'", " ")
-		outputMsg, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		outputMsg, _ := runCmd(t, "z tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_MESSAGE\")].value}'")
 		require.Equal(t, "'foo'", outputMsg)
 	})
 
-	remove(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 }
 
 func TestVariablePrecedence(t *testing.T) {
@@ -326,19 +282,17 @@ func TestVariablePrecedence(t *testing.T) {
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-var-precedence-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 	err := os.Setenv("UDS_CONFIG", filepath.Join("src/test/bundles/08-var-precedence", "uds-config.yaml"))
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
 
 	color := "green"
 	err = os.Setenv("UDS_UI_COLOR", color)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	_, stderr := deploy(t, bundlePath)
+	_, stderr := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
 
 	t.Run("test precedence, env var > uds-config.variables > uds-config.shared", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_COLOR\")].value}'", " ")
 		// test env har taking highest precedence
-		outputUIColor, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		outputUIColor, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_COLOR\")].value}'")
 		require.Equal(t, fmt.Sprintf("'%s'", color), outputUIColor)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 
 		// test uds-config.variables overriding a shared var
 		require.Contains(t, stderr, "shared var in output-var pkg: unicorns.uds.dev")
@@ -348,13 +302,11 @@ func TestVariablePrecedence(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 
 	t.Run("test uds-config.shared overriding values in a Helm chart (ie. bundle overrides)", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deploy unicorn-podinfo -n podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_BACKEND_URL\")].value}'", " ")
-		backend, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		backend, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deploy unicorn-podinfo -n podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_BACKEND_URL\")].value}'")
 		require.Equal(t, fmt.Sprintf("'%s'", "burning.boats"), backend)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
-	remove(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 }
 
 func TestExportVarsAsGlobalVars(t *testing.T) {
@@ -365,32 +317,26 @@ func TestExportVarsAsGlobalVars(t *testing.T) {
 	bundleDir := "src/test/bundles/12-exported-pkg-vars"
 	bundlePath := filepath.Join(bundleDir, fmt.Sprintf("uds-bundle-export-vars-%s-0.0.1.tar.zst", e2e.Arch))
 
-	createLocal(t, bundleDir, e2e.Arch)
-	deploy(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("create %s --insecure --confirm -a %s", bundleDir, e2e.Arch))
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("deploy %s --retries 1 --confirm", bundlePath))
 
 	t.Run("check templated variables overrides in values", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_COLOR\")].value}'", " ")
-		outputUIColor, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		outputUIColor, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deploy -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[?(@.name==\"PODINFO_UI_COLOR\")].value}'")
 		require.Equal(t, "'orange'", outputUIColor)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check multiple templated variables as object overrides in values", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.metadata.annotations}'", " ")
-		annotations, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		annotations, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.metadata.annotations}'")
 		require.Contains(t, annotations, "\"customAnnotation\":\"orangeAnnotation\"")
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("check templated variable list-type overrides in values", func(t *testing.T) {
-		cmd := strings.Split("zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.tolerations}'", " ")
-		tolerations, _, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
+		tolerations, _ := runCmd(t, "zarf tools kubectl get deployment -n podinfo unicorn-podinfo -o=jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.tolerations}'")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"key\":\"uds\"")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"value\":\"true\"")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"key\":\"unicorn\"")
 		require.Contains(t, tolerations, "\"value\":\"defense\"")
-		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
-	remove(t, bundlePath)
+	runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("remove %s --confirm --insecure", bundlePath))
 }
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/zarf_test.go b/src/test/e2e/zarf_test.go
index 1d41c392..15288021 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/zarf_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/zarf_test.go
@@ -17,10 +17,8 @@ import (
 
 // TestZarfLint tests to ensure that the `zarf dev lint` command functions (which requires the zarf schema to be embedded in main.go)
 func TestZarfLint(t *testing.T) {
-	cmd := strings.Split("zarf dev lint src/test/packages/podinfo", " ")
-	_, stdErr, err := e2e.UDS(cmd...)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Contains(t, stdErr, "Image not pinned with digest - ghcr.io/stefanprodan/podinfo:6.4.0")
+	_, stderr := runCmd(t, "zarf dev lint src/test/packages/podinfo")
+	require.Contains(t, stderr, "Image not pinned with digest - ghcr.io/stefanprodan/podinfo:6.4.0")
 }
 
 func TestZarfToolsVersions(t *testing.T) {
@@ -56,9 +54,7 @@ func TestZarfToolsVersions(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
-		cmdArgs := fmt.Sprintf("zarf tools %s version", tt.args.tool)
-		res, stdErr, err := e2e.UDS(strings.Split(cmdArgs, " ")...)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		res, stderr := runCmd(t, fmt.Sprintf("zarf tools %s version", tt.args.tool))
 
 		toolRepoVerArgs := fmt.Sprintf("list -f '{{.Version}}' -m %s", tt.args.toolRepo)
 		verRes, _, verErr := exec.Cmd("go", strings.Split(toolRepoVerArgs, " ")...)
@@ -67,7 +63,7 @@ func TestZarfToolsVersions(t *testing.T) {
 		toolVersion := strings.Split(verRes, "'")[1]
 		output := res
 		if res == "" {
-			output = stdErr
+			output = stderr
 		}
 		require.Contains(t, output, toolVersion)
 	}
diff --git a/tasks/tests.yaml b/tasks/tests.yaml
index 0d88ec60..8f0a75d5 100644
--- a/tasks/tests.yaml
+++ b/tasks/tests.yaml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ tasks:
   - name: completion
     description: only run tests in completion_test.go
     actions:
-      - cmd: cd src/test/e2e && go test -failfast -v -timeout 30m completion_test.go main_test.go
+      - cmd: cd src/test/e2e && go test -failfast -v -timeout 30m completion_test.go commands_test.go main_test.go
 
   - name: dev
     description: only run tests in dev.go