An invention is provided for an application manager testing interface that provides a public API usable by testing software. The application manager testing interface allows testing software to issue commands to an application manager to test the life cycle and state management abilities of the application manager. A testing program capable of providing commands to test a life cycle of a dependent program controlled by an application manager is provided. In addition, an application manager testing interface is included that is in communication with the testing program and the application manager. The application manager testing interface is capable of receiving the commands from the testing program and providing the commands to the application manager. In this manner, the application manager can control the dependent program based on the commands. In one aspect, the testing program can be controlled by the application manager. For example, the application manager can be an Xlet manager and the testing program is an agent Xlet, or the application manager can be an applet manager and the testing program can be an agent applet.