diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/App.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/App.tsx
index e90c6ac4196f10..7c0cf3aa5857d8 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/App.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/App.tsx
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ import { Experiment } from './experiments';
 import { workspacesPathMain } from './workspaces/workspaces.routes';
 import { settingsPathAccount, settingsPathIntegrations, settingsPathMain, settingsPathNotifications, settingsPathPlans, settingsPathPreferences, settingsPathTeams, settingsPathTeamsJoin, settingsPathTeamsNew, settingsPathVariables } from './settings/settings.routes';
 import { projectsPathInstallGitHubApp, projectsPathMain, projectsPathMainWithParams, projectsPathNew } from './projects/projects.routes';
+import { refreshSearchData } from './components/RepositoryFinder';
+import { StartWorkspaceModal } from './workspaces/StartWorkspaceModal';
 
 const Setup = React.lazy(() => import(/* webpackPrefetch: true */ './Setup'));
 const Workspaces = React.lazy(() => import(/* webpackPrefetch: true */ './workspaces/Workspaces'));
@@ -35,6 +37,7 @@ const Teams = React.lazy(() => import(/* webpackPrefetch: true */ './settings/Te
 const EnvironmentVariables = React.lazy(() => import(/* webpackPrefetch: true */ './settings/EnvironmentVariables'));
 const Integrations = React.lazy(() => import(/* webpackPrefetch: true */ './settings/Integrations'));
 const Preferences = React.lazy(() => import(/* webpackPrefetch: true */ './settings/Preferences'));
+const Open = React.lazy(() => import(/* webpackPrefetch: true */ './start/Open'));
 const StartWorkspace = React.lazy(() => import(/* webpackPrefetch: true */ './start/StartWorkspace'));
 const CreateWorkspace = React.lazy(() => import(/* webpackPrefetch: true */ './start/CreateWorkspace'));
 const NewTeam = React.lazy(() => import(/* webpackPrefetch: true */ './teams/NewTeam'));
@@ -216,6 +219,12 @@ function App() {
         return () => window.removeEventListener("click", handleButtonOrAnchorTracking, true);
     }, []);
 
+    useEffect(() => {
+        if (user) {
+            refreshSearchData('', user);
+        }
+    }, [user]);
+
     // redirect to website for any website slugs
     if (isGitpodIo() && isWebsiteSlug(window.location.pathname)) {
         window.location.host = 'www.gitpod.io';
@@ -275,6 +284,7 @@ function App() {
             <Menu />
             <Switch>
                 <Route path={projectsPathNew} exact component={NewProject} />
+                <Route path="/open" exact component={Open} />
                 <Route path="/setup" exact component={Setup} />
                 <Route path={workspacesPathMain} exact component={Workspaces} />
                 <Route path={settingsPathAccount} exact component={Account} />
@@ -383,6 +393,7 @@ function App() {
                     }}>
                 </Route>
             </Switch>
+            <StartWorkspaceModal />
         </div>
     </Route>;
 
diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/Menu.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/Menu.tsx
index e9661a1f483c44..d67cf9239d7f1c 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/Menu.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/Menu.tsx
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ export default function Menu() {
     }
 
     // Hide most of the top menu when in a full-page form.
-    const isMinimalUI = ['/new', '/teams/new'].includes(location.pathname);
+    const isMinimalUI = ['/new', '/teams/new', '/open'].includes(location.pathname);
 
     const [ teamMembers, setTeamMembers ] = useState<Record<string, TeamMemberInfo[]>>({});
     useEffect(() => {
diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/components/Modal.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/components/Modal.tsx
index a53f46392cba96..4e75a78213e841 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/components/Modal.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/components/Modal.tsx
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ export default function Modal(props: {
     return (
         <div className="fixed top-0 left-0 bg-black bg-opacity-70 z-50 w-screen h-screen">
             <div className="w-screen h-screen align-middle" style={{display: 'table-cell'}}>
-                <div className={"relative bg-white dark:bg-gray-900 border border-gray-200 dark:border-gray-800 rounded-xl p-6 max-w-lg mx-auto text-left text-gray-600 " + (props.className || '')} onClick={e => e.stopPropagation()}>
+                <div className={"relative bg-white dark:bg-gray-900 border border-gray-200 dark:border-gray-800 rounded-xl p-6 max-w-lg mx-auto text-left " + (props.className || '')} onClick={e => e.stopPropagation()}>
                     {props.closeable !== false && (
                         <div className="absolute right-7 top-6 cursor-pointer text-gray-800 dark:text-gray-100 hover:bg-gray-200 dark:hover:bg-gray-700 rounded-md p-2" onClick={props.onClose}>
                             <svg version="1.1" width="14px" height="14px"
diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/components/RepositoryFinder.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/components/RepositoryFinder.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..352c9560dc678b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/components/RepositoryFinder.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2022 Gitpod GmbH. All rights reserved.
+ * Licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL).
+ * See License-AGPL.txt in the project root for license information.
+ */
+
+import { User } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
+import React, { useContext, useEffect, useState } from "react";
+import { Link } from "react-router-dom";
+import { getGitpodService } from "../service/service";
+import { UserContext } from "../user-context";
+
+type SearchResult = string;
+type SearchData = SearchResult[];
+
+const LOCAL_STORAGE_KEY = 'open-in-gitpod-search-data';
+const MAX_DISPLAYED_ITEMS = 15;
+
+export default function RepositoryFinder(props: { initialQuery?: string }) {
+    const { user } = useContext(UserContext);
+    const [searchQuery, setSearchQuery] = useState<string>(props.initialQuery || '');
+    const [searchResults, setSearchResults] = useState<SearchResult[]>([]);
+    const [selectedSearchResult, setSelectedSearchResult] = useState<SearchResult | undefined>();
+
+    const onResults = (results: SearchResult[]) => {
+        if (JSON.stringify(results) !== JSON.stringify(searchResults)) {
+            setSearchResults(results);
+            setSelectedSearchResult(results[0]);
+        }
+    }
+
+    const search = async (query: string) => {
+        setSearchQuery(query);
+        await findResults(query, onResults);
+        if (await refreshSearchData(query, user)) {
+            // Re-run search if the underlying search data has changed
+            await findResults(query, onResults);
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Up/Down keyboard navigation between results
+    const onKeyDown = (event: React.KeyboardEvent) => {
+        if (!selectedSearchResult) {
+            return;
+        }
+        const selectedIndex = searchResults.indexOf(selectedSearchResult);
+        const select = (index: number) => {
+            // Implement a true modulus in order to "wrap around" (e.g. `select(-1)` should select the last result)
+            // Source: https://stackoverflow.com/a/4467559/3461173
+            const n = Math.min(searchResults.length, MAX_DISPLAYED_ITEMS);
+            setSelectedSearchResult(searchResults[((index % n) + n) % n]);
+        }
+        if (event.key === 'ArrowDown') {
+            event.preventDefault();
+            select(selectedIndex + 1);
+            return;
+        }
+        if (event.key === 'ArrowUp') {
+            event.preventDefault();
+            select(selectedIndex - 1);
+            return;
+        }
+    }
+
+    useEffect(() => {
+        const element = document.querySelector(`a[href='/#${selectedSearchResult}']`);
+        if (element) {
+            element.scrollIntoView({ behavior: 'smooth', block: 'nearest' });
+        }
+    }, [selectedSearchResult]);
+
+    const onSubmit = (event: React.FormEvent) => {
+        event.preventDefault();
+        if (selectedSearchResult) {
+            window.location.href = '/#' + selectedSearchResult;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return <form onSubmit={onSubmit}>
+        <div className="flex px-4 rounded-xl border border-gray-300 dark:border-gray-500">
+            <div className="py-4">
+                <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16" height="16"><path fill="#A8A29E" d="M6 2a4 4 0 100 8 4 4 0 000-8zM0 6a6 6 0 1110.89 3.477l4.817 4.816a1 1 0 01-1.414 1.414l-4.816-4.816A6 6 0 010 6z" /></svg>
+            </div>
+            <input type="search" className="flex-grow" placeholder="Search repositories and examples" autoFocus value={searchQuery} onChange={e => search(e.target.value)} onKeyDown={onKeyDown} />
+        </div>
+        <div className="mt-3 -mx-5 px-5 flex flex-col space-y-2 h-64 overflow-y-auto">
+            {searchQuery === '' && searchResults.length === 0 &&
+                <div className="mt-12 mx-auto w-96 text-gray-500">
+                    Paste a <a className="gp-link" href="https://www.gitpod.io/docs/context-urls">repository context URL</a>, or start typing to see suggestions from:
+                    <ul className="list-disc mt-4 pl-7 flex flex-col space-y-1">
+                        <li>Your recent repositories</li>
+                        <li>Your repositories from <Link className="gp-link" to="/integrations">connected integrations</Link></li>
+                        <li>Example repositories</li>
+                    </ul>
+                </div>}
+            {searchResults.slice(0, MAX_DISPLAYED_ITEMS).map((result, index) =>
+                <a className={`px-4 py-3 rounded-xl` + (result === selectedSearchResult ? ' bg-gray-600 text-gray-50 dark:bg-gray-700' : '')} href={`/#${result}`} key={`search-result-${index}`} onMouseEnter={() => setSelectedSearchResult(result)}>
+                    {searchQuery.length < 2
+                        ? <span>{result}</span>
+                        : result.split(searchQuery).map((segment, index) => <span>
+                            {index === 0 ? <></> : <strong>{searchQuery}</strong>}
+                            {segment}
+                        </span>)}
+                </a>
+            )}
+            {searchResults.length > MAX_DISPLAYED_ITEMS &&
+                <span className="mt-3 px-4 py-2 text-sm text-gray-400 dark:text-gray-500">{searchResults.length - MAX_DISPLAYED_ITEMS} more result{(searchResults.length - MAX_DISPLAYED_ITEMS) === 1 ? '' : 's'} found</span>}
+        </div>
+    </form>;
+}
+
+function loadSearchData(): SearchData {
+    const string = localStorage.getItem(LOCAL_STORAGE_KEY);
+    if (!string) {
+        return [];
+    }
+    try {
+        const data = JSON.parse(string);
+        return data;
+    } catch (error) {
+        console.warn('Could not load search data from local storage', error);
+        return [];
+    }
+}
+
+function saveSearchData(searchData: SearchData): void {
+    try {
+        window.localStorage.setItem(LOCAL_STORAGE_KEY, JSON.stringify(searchData));
+    } catch (error) {
+        console.warn('Could not save search data into local storage', error);
+    }
+}
+
+let refreshSearchDataPromise: Promise<boolean> | undefined;
+export async function refreshSearchData(query: string, user: User | undefined): Promise<boolean> {
+    if (refreshSearchDataPromise) {
+        // Another refresh is already in progress, no need to run another one in parallel.
+        return refreshSearchDataPromise;
+    }
+    refreshSearchDataPromise = actuallyRefreshSearchData(query, user);
+    const didChange = await refreshSearchDataPromise;
+    refreshSearchDataPromise = undefined;
+    return didChange;
+}
+
+// Fetch all possible search results and cache them into local storage
+async function actuallyRefreshSearchData(query: string, user: User | undefined): Promise<boolean> {
+    console.log('refreshing search data');
+    const oldData = loadSearchData();
+    const newData = await getGitpodService().server.getSuggestedContextURLs();
+    if (JSON.stringify(oldData) !== JSON.stringify(newData)) {
+        console.log('new data:', newData);
+        saveSearchData(newData);
+        return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
+async function findResults(query: string, onResults: (results: string[]) => void) {
+    if (!query) {
+        onResults([]);
+        return;
+    }
+    const searchData = loadSearchData();
+    try {
+        // If the query is a URL, and it's not present in the proposed results, "artificially" add it here.
+        new URL(query);
+        if (!searchData.includes(query)) {
+            searchData.push(query);
+        }
+    } catch {
+    }
+    // console.log('searching', query, 'in', searchData);
+    onResults(searchData.filter(result => result.toLowerCase().includes(query.toLowerCase())));
+}
diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/index.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/index.tsx
index 5057321cacf1ae..ec4e6a3462d755 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/index.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/index.tsx
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { AdminContextProvider } from './admin-context';
 import { TeamsContextProvider } from './teams/teams-context';
 import { ProjectContextProvider } from './projects/project-context';
 import { ThemeContextProvider } from './theme-context';
+import { StartWorkspaceModalContextProvider } from './workspaces/start-workspace-modal-context';
 import { BrowserRouter } from 'react-router-dom';
 
 import "./index.css"
@@ -23,9 +24,11 @@ ReactDOM.render(
                 <TeamsContextProvider>
                     <ProjectContextProvider>
                         <ThemeContextProvider>
-                            <BrowserRouter>
-                                <App />
-                            </BrowserRouter>
+                            <StartWorkspaceModalContextProvider>
+                                <BrowserRouter>
+                                    <App />
+                                </BrowserRouter>
+                            </StartWorkspaceModalContextProvider>
                         </ThemeContextProvider>
                     </ProjectContextProvider>
                 </TeamsContextProvider>
diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/start/Open.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/start/Open.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..b8970c099fd95a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/start/Open.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2022 Gitpod GmbH. All rights reserved.
+ * Licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL).
+ * See License-AGPL.txt in the project root for license information.
+ */
+
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+import RepositoryFinder from "../components/RepositoryFinder";
+
+export default function Open() {
+    const [ initialQuery, setInitialQuery ] = useState<string | undefined>();
+
+    // Support pre-filling the search bar via the URL hash
+    useEffect(() => {
+        const onHashChange = () => {
+            const hash = window.location.hash.slice(1);
+            if (hash) {
+                setInitialQuery(hash);
+            }
+        }
+        onHashChange();
+        window.addEventListener('hashchange', onHashChange, false);
+        return () => {
+            window.removeEventListener('hashchange', onHashChange, false);
+        }
+    }, []);
+
+    return <div className="mt-24 mx-auto w-96 flex flex-col items-stretch">
+        <h1 className="text-center">Open in Gitpod</h1>
+        <div className="mt-8">
+            <RepositoryFinder initialQuery={initialQuery}/>
+        </div>
+    </div>;
+}
diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/StartWorkspaceModal.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/StartWorkspaceModal.tsx
index 86265bc5b26719..fb353d903933d3 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/StartWorkspaceModal.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/StartWorkspaceModal.tsx
@@ -4,70 +4,25 @@
  * See License-AGPL.txt in the project root for license information.
  */
 
-import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+import { useContext, useEffect } from "react";
+import { useLocation } from "react-router";
 import Modal from "../components/Modal";
-import TabMenuItem from "../components/TabMenuItem";
+import RepositoryFinder from "../components/RepositoryFinder";
+import { StartWorkspaceModalContext } from "./start-workspace-modal-context";
 
-export interface WsStartEntry {
-    title: string
-    description: string
-    startUrl: string
-}
-
-interface StartWorkspaceModalProps {
-    visible: boolean;
-    recent: WsStartEntry[];
-    examples: WsStartEntry[];
-    selected?: Mode;
-    onClose: () => void;
-}
+export function StartWorkspaceModal() {
+    const { isStartWorkspaceModalVisible, setIsStartWorkspaceModalVisible } = useContext(StartWorkspaceModalContext);
+    const location = useLocation();
 
-type Mode = 'Recent' | 'Examples';
+    // Close the modal on navigation events.
+    useEffect(() => {
+        setIsStartWorkspaceModalVisible(false);
+    }, [location]);
 
-export function StartWorkspaceModal(p: StartWorkspaceModalProps) {
-    const computeSelection = () => p.selected || (p.recent.length > 0 ? 'Recent' : 'Examples');
-    const [selection, setSelection] = useState(computeSelection());
-    useEffect(() => { !p.visible && setSelection(computeSelection()) }, [p.visible, p.recent, p.selected]);
-
-    const list = (selection === 'Recent' ? p.recent : p.examples).map((e, i) =>
-        <a key={`item-${i}-${e.title}`} href={e.startUrl} className="rounded-xl group hover:bg-gray-100 dark:hover:bg-gray-800 flex p-4 my-1">
-            <div className="w-full">
-                <p className="text-base text-gray-800 dark:text-gray-200 font-semibold">{e.title}</p>
-                <p>{e.description}</p>
-            </div>
-        </a>);
-
-    return <Modal onClose={p.onClose} visible={p.visible}>
-        <h3 className="pb-2">New Workspace</h3>
-        {/* separator */}
-        <div className="border-t border-gray-200 dark:border-gray-800 mt-2 -mx-6 px-6 pt-2">
-            <div className="flex">
-                <TabMenuItem name='Recent' selected={selection === 'Recent'} onClick={() => setSelection('Recent')} />
-                {p.examples.length>0 && <TabMenuItem name='Examples' selected={selection === 'Examples'} onClick={() => setSelection('Examples')} />}
-            </div>
-        </div>
-        <div className="border-t border-gray-200 dark:border-gray-800 -mx-6 px-6 py-2">
-            {list.length > 0 ?
-                <p className="my-4 text-base">
-                    {selection === 'Recent' ?
-                        'Create a new workspace using the default branch.' :
-                        'Create a new workspace using an example project.'}
-                </p> : <p className="h-6 my-4"></p>}
-            <div className="space-y-2 mt-4 overflow-y-scroll h-80 pr-2">
-                {list.length > 0 ? list :
-                    (selection === 'Recent' ?
-                        <div className="flex flex-col pt-10 items-center px-2">
-                            <h3 className="mb-2 text-gray-500 dark:text-gray-400">No Recent Projects</h3>
-                            <p className="text-center">Projects you use frequently will show up here.</p>
-                            <p className="text-center">Prefix a Git repository URL with {window.location.host}/# or start with an example.</p>
-                            <button onClick={() => setSelection('Examples')} className="font-medium mt-8">Select Example</button>
-                        </div> :
-                        <div className="flex flex-col pt-10 items-center px-2">
-                            <h3 className="mb-2 text-gray-500 dark:text-gray-400">No Example Projects</h3>
-                            <p className="text-center">Sorry there seem to be no example projects, that work with your current Git provider.</p>
-                        </div>)
-                }
-            </div>
+    return <Modal onClose={() => setIsStartWorkspaceModalVisible(false)} onEnter={() => false} visible={!!isStartWorkspaceModalVisible}>
+        <h3 className="pb-2">Open in Gitpod</h3>
+        <div className="border-t border-gray-200 dark:border-gray-800 mt-2 -mx-6 px-6 pt-4">
+            <RepositoryFinder />
         </div>
     </Modal>;
 }
diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/Workspaces.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/Workspaces.tsx
index 0b8236893257fb..6156f3248ad585 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/Workspaces.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/Workspaces.tsx
@@ -5,16 +5,16 @@
  */
 
 import { useContext, useEffect, useState } from "react";
-import { WhitelistedRepository, Workspace, WorkspaceInfo } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
+import { WhitelistedRepository, WorkspaceInfo } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
 import Header from "../components/Header";
 import DropDown from "../components/DropDown";
 import { WorkspaceModel } from "./workspace-model";
 import { WorkspaceEntry } from "./WorkspaceEntry";
-import { getGitpodService, gitpodHostUrl } from "../service/service";
-import { StartWorkspaceModal, WsStartEntry } from "./StartWorkspaceModal";
+import { getGitpodService } from "../service/service";
 import { ItemsList } from "../components/ItemsList";
-import { getCurrentTeam, TeamsContext } from "../teams/teams-context";
-import { useLocation, useRouteMatch } from "react-router";
+import { TeamsContext } from "../teams/teams-context";
+import { useLocation } from "react-router";
+import { StartWorkspaceModalContext, StartWorkspaceModalKeyBinding } from "./start-workspace-modal-context";
 
 export interface WorkspacesProps {
 }
@@ -29,62 +29,18 @@ export default function () {
     const location = useLocation();
 
     const { teams } = useContext(TeamsContext);
-    const team = getCurrentTeam(location, teams);
-    const match = useRouteMatch<{ team: string, resource: string }>("/(t/)?:team/:resource");
-    const projectSlug = match?.params?.resource !== 'workspaces' ? match?.params?.resource : undefined;
     const [activeWorkspaces, setActiveWorkspaces] = useState<WorkspaceInfo[]>([]);
     const [inactiveWorkspaces, setInactiveWorkspaces] = useState<WorkspaceInfo[]>([]);
-    const [repos, setRepos] = useState<WhitelistedRepository[]>([]);
-    const [isTemplateModelOpen, setIsTemplateModelOpen] = useState<boolean>(false);
     const [workspaceModel, setWorkspaceModel] = useState<WorkspaceModel>();
+    const { setIsStartWorkspaceModalVisible } = useContext(StartWorkspaceModalContext);
 
     useEffect(() => {
-        // only show example repos on the global user context
-        if (!team && !projectSlug) {
-            getGitpodService().server.getFeaturedRepositories().then(setRepos);
-        }
         (async () => {
             const workspaceModel = new WorkspaceModel(setActiveWorkspaces, setInactiveWorkspaces);
             setWorkspaceModel(workspaceModel);
         })();
     }, [teams, location]);
 
-    const showStartWSModal = () => setIsTemplateModelOpen(true);
-    const hideStartWSModal = () => setIsTemplateModelOpen(false);
-
-    const getRecentSuggestions: () => WsStartEntry[] = () => {
-        if (workspaceModel) {
-            const all = workspaceModel.getAllFetchedWorkspaces();
-            if (all && all.size > 0) {
-                const index = new Map<string, WsStartEntry & { lastUse: string }>();
-                for (const ws of Array.from(all.values())) {
-                    const repoUrl = Workspace.getFullRepositoryUrl(ws.workspace);
-                    if (repoUrl) {
-                        const lastUse = WorkspaceInfo.lastActiveISODate(ws);
-                        let entry = index.get(repoUrl);
-                        if (!entry) {
-                            entry = {
-                                title: Workspace.getFullRepositoryName(ws.workspace) || repoUrl,
-                                description: repoUrl,
-                                startUrl: gitpodHostUrl.withContext(repoUrl).toString(),
-                                lastUse,
-                            };
-                            index.set(repoUrl, entry);
-                        } else {
-                            if (entry.lastUse.localeCompare(lastUse) < 0) {
-                                entry.lastUse = lastUse;
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
-                const list = Array.from(index.values());
-                list.sort((a, b) => b.lastUse.localeCompare(a.lastUse));
-                return list;
-            }
-        }
-        return [];
-    }
-
     return <>
         <Header title="Workspaces" subtitle="Manage recent and stopped workspaces." />
 
@@ -113,7 +69,7 @@ export default function () {
                                 onClick: () => { if (workspaceModel) workspaceModel.limit = 200; }
                             }]} />
                         </div>
-                        <button onClick={showStartWSModal} className="ml-2">New Workspace</button>
+                        <button onClick={() => setIsStartWorkspaceModalVisible(true)} className="ml-2">New Workspace <span className="opacity-60 hidden md:inline">{StartWorkspaceModalKeyBinding}</span></button>
                     </div>
                     <ItemsList className="app-container pb-40">
                         <div className="border-t border-gray-200 dark:border-gray-800"></div>
@@ -143,24 +99,13 @@ export default function () {
                                 <h3 className="text-center pb-3 text-gray-500 dark:text-gray-400">No Workspaces</h3>
                                 <div className="text-center pb-6 text-gray-500">Prefix any Git repository URL with {window.location.host}/# or create a new workspace for a recently used project. <a className="gp-link" href="https://www.gitpod.io/docs/getting-started/">Learn more</a></div>
                                 <span>
-                                    <button onClick={showStartWSModal}>New Workspace</button>
+                                    <button onClick={() => setIsStartWorkspaceModalVisible(true)}>New Workspace <span className="opacity-60 hidden md:inline">{StartWorkspaceModalKeyBinding}</span></button>
                                 </span>
                             </>
                         </div>
                     </div>
                 </div>
         )}
-        <StartWorkspaceModal
-            onClose={hideStartWSModal}
-            visible={!!isTemplateModelOpen}
-            examples={repos && repos.map(r => ({
-                title: r.name,
-                description: r.description || r.url,
-                startUrl: gitpodHostUrl.withContext(r.url).toString()
-            }))}
-            recent={workspaceModel && activeWorkspaces ?
-                getRecentSuggestions()
-                : []} />
     </>;
 
 }
diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/start-workspace-modal-context.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/start-workspace-modal-context.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..b1ce5493c6b5c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/start-workspace-modal-context.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2022 Gitpod GmbH. All rights reserved.
+ * Licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL).
+ * See License-AGPL.txt in the project root for license information.
+ */
+
+import React, { createContext, useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+
+export const StartWorkspaceModalContext = createContext<{
+    isStartWorkspaceModalVisible?: boolean,
+    setIsStartWorkspaceModalVisible: React.Dispatch<boolean>,
+}>({
+    setIsStartWorkspaceModalVisible: () => null,
+});
+
+export const StartWorkspaceModalContextProvider: React.FC = ({ children }) => {
+    const [ isStartWorkspaceModalVisible, setIsStartWorkspaceModalVisible ] = useState<boolean>(false);
+
+    useEffect(() => {
+        const onKeyDown = (event: KeyboardEvent) => {
+            if ((event.metaKey || event.ctrlKey) && event.key === 'o') {
+                event.preventDefault();
+                setIsStartWorkspaceModalVisible(true);
+            }
+        };
+        window.addEventListener('keydown', onKeyDown);
+        return () => {
+            window.removeEventListener('keydown', onKeyDown);
+        }
+    }, []);
+
+    return <StartWorkspaceModalContext.Provider value={{ isStartWorkspaceModalVisible, setIsStartWorkspaceModalVisible }}>
+        {children}
+    </StartWorkspaceModalContext.Provider>;
+}
+
+export const StartWorkspaceModalKeyBinding = `${/(Mac|iPhone|iPod|iPad)/i.test(navigator.platform) ? '⌘' : 'Ctrl﹢'}O`;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/components/gitpod-protocol/src/gitpod-service.ts b/components/gitpod-protocol/src/gitpod-service.ts
index ae7491038e48c0..363bf56f8d796e 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-protocol/src/gitpod-service.ts
+++ b/components/gitpod-protocol/src/gitpod-service.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ export interface GitpodServer extends JsonRpcServer<GitpodClient>, AdminServer,
     getWorkspaceOwner(workspaceId: string): Promise<UserInfo | undefined>;
     getWorkspaceUsers(workspaceId: string): Promise<WorkspaceInstanceUser[]>;
     getFeaturedRepositories(): Promise<WhitelistedRepository[]>;
+    getSuggestedContextURLs(): Promise<string[]>;
     /**
      * **Security:**
      * Sensitive information like an owner token is erased, since it allows access for all team members.
diff --git a/components/server/ee/src/user/eligibility-service.ts b/components/server/ee/src/user/eligibility-service.ts
index fca188d7e6a5ca..e9cc15dc8a02f1 100644
--- a/components/server/ee/src/user/eligibility-service.ts
+++ b/components/server/ee/src/user/eligibility-service.ts
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ export class EligibilityService {
             return { student: false, faculty: false };
         }
 
+        const logCtx = { userId: user.id };
         try {
             const rawResponse = await fetch("https://education.github.com/api/user", {
                 headers: {
@@ -100,15 +101,18 @@ export class EligibilityService {
                     "faculty-check-preview": "true"
                 }
             });
+            if (!rawResponse.ok) {
+                log.warn(logCtx, `fetching the GitHub Education API failed with status ${rawResponse.status}: ${rawResponse.statusText}`);
+            }
             const result : GitHubEducationPack = JSON.parse(await rawResponse.text());
             if(result.student && result.faculty) {
                 // That violates the API contract: `student` and `faculty` need to be mutually exclusive
-                log.warn({userId: user.id}, "result of GitHub Eduction API violates the API contract: student and faculty need to be mutually exclusive", result);
+                log.warn(logCtx, "result of GitHub Eduction API violates the API contract: student and faculty need to be mutually exclusive", result);
                 return { student: false, faculty: false };
             }
             return result;
         } catch (err) {
-            log.warn({ userId: user.id }, "error while checking student pack status", err);
+            log.warn(logCtx, "error while checking student pack status", err);
         }
         return { student: false, faculty: false };
     }
diff --git a/components/server/src/auth/rate-limiter.ts b/components/server/src/auth/rate-limiter.ts
index 60dce27003a58b..70f881e7591eda 100644
--- a/components/server/src/auth/rate-limiter.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/auth/rate-limiter.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ function getConfig(config: RateLimiterConfig): RateLimiterConfig {
         "getWorkspaceOwner": { group: "default", points: 1 },
         "getWorkspaceUsers": { group: "default", points: 1 },
         "getFeaturedRepositories": { group: "default", points: 1 },
+        "getSuggestedContextURLs": { group: "default", points: 1 },
         "getWorkspace": { group: "default", points: 1 },
         "isWorkspaceOwner": { group: "default", points: 1 },
         "getOwnerToken": { group: "default", points: 1 },
diff --git a/components/server/src/bitbucket/bitbucket-repository-provider.ts b/components/server/src/bitbucket/bitbucket-repository-provider.ts
index 9c303fba8ce00c..e6a7ded2f974bc 100644
--- a/components/server/src/bitbucket/bitbucket-repository-provider.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/bitbucket/bitbucket-repository-provider.ts
@@ -98,4 +98,9 @@ export class BitbucketRepositoryProvider implements RepositoryProvider {
             authorAvatarUrl: commit.author?.user?.links?.avatar?.href,
         };
     }
+
+    async getUserRepos(user: User): Promise<string[]> {
+        // FIXME(janx): Not implemented yet
+        return [];
+    }
 }
diff --git a/components/server/src/github/github-repository-provider.ts b/components/server/src/github/github-repository-provider.ts
index 6795fcd79f28bb..52707ed244bd0e 100644
--- a/components/server/src/github/github-repository-provider.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/github/github-repository-provider.ts
@@ -106,4 +106,26 @@ export class GithubRepositoryProvider implements RepositoryProvider {
         const commit = await this.github.getCommit(user, { repo, owner, ref });
         return commit;
     }
+
+    async getUserRepos(user: User): Promise<string[]> {
+        // Hint: Use this to get richer results:
+        //   node {
+        //       nameWithOwner
+        //       shortDescriptionHTML(limit: 120)
+        //       url
+        //   }
+        const result: any = await this.githubQueryApi.runQuery(user, `
+            query {
+                viewer {
+                    repositoriesContributedTo(includeUserRepositories: true, first: 100) {
+                        edges {
+                            node {
+                                url
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }`);
+        return (result.data.viewer?.repositoriesContributedTo?.edges || []).map((edge: any) => edge.node.url)
+    }
 }
diff --git a/components/server/src/gitlab/gitlab-repository-provider.ts b/components/server/src/gitlab/gitlab-repository-provider.ts
index 2c4d93a16d03f6..b534e0ca6c0e84 100644
--- a/components/server/src/gitlab/gitlab-repository-provider.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/gitlab/gitlab-repository-provider.ts
@@ -94,4 +94,9 @@ export class GitlabRepositoryProvider implements RepositoryProvider {
             authorAvatarUrl: "",
         };
     }
+
+    async getUserRepos(user: User): Promise<string[]> {
+        // FIXME(janx): Not implemented yet
+        return [];
+    }
 }
diff --git a/components/server/src/repohost/repository-provider.ts b/components/server/src/repohost/repository-provider.ts
index 365171013842d7..f5fa0480ad5918 100644
--- a/components/server/src/repohost/repository-provider.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/repohost/repository-provider.ts
@@ -12,5 +12,6 @@ export interface RepositoryProvider {
     getRepo(user: User, owner: string, repo: string): Promise<Repository>;
     getBranch(user: User, owner: string, repo: string, branch: string): Promise<Branch>;
     getBranches(user: User, owner: string, repo: string): Promise<Branch[]>;
-    getCommitInfo(user: User, owner: string, repo: string, ref: string): Promise<CommitInfo | undefined>
+    getCommitInfo(user: User, owner: string, repo: string, ref: string): Promise<CommitInfo | undefined>;
+    getUserRepos(user: User): Promise<string[]>;
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts b/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
index ba04dd7a651431..036f6c69f4faef 100644
--- a/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
@@ -996,6 +996,77 @@ export class GitpodServerImpl implements GitpodServerWithTracing, Disposable {
             ))).filter(e => e !== undefined) as WhitelistedRepository[];
     }
 
+    public async getSuggestedContextURLs(ctx: TraceContext): Promise<string[]> {
+        const user = this.checkUser("getSuggestedContextURLs");
+        const suggestions: string[] = [];
+        const logCtx: LogContext = { userId: user.id };
+
+        // Fetch all data sources in parallel for maximum speed (don't await in this scope before `Promise.allSettled(promises)` below!)
+        const promises = [];
+
+        // Example repositories
+        promises.push(this.getFeaturedRepositories(ctx).then(exampleRepos => {
+            exampleRepos.forEach(r => suggestions.push(r.url));
+        }).catch(error => {
+            log.error(logCtx, 'Could not get example repositories', error);
+        }));
+
+        // User repositories (from Apps)
+        promises.push(this.getAuthProviders(ctx).then(authProviders => Promise.all(authProviders.map(async (p) => {
+            try {
+                const userRepos = await this.getProviderRepositoriesForUser(ctx, { provider: p.host });
+                userRepos.forEach(r => suggestions.push(r.cloneUrl.replace(/\.git$/, '')));
+            } catch (error) {
+                log.debug(logCtx, 'Could not get user repositories from App for ' + p.host, error);
+            }
+        }))).catch(error => {
+            log.error(logCtx, 'Could not get auth providers', error);
+        }));
+
+        // User repositories (from Git hosts directly)
+        promises.push(this.getAuthProviders(ctx).then(authProviders => Promise.all(authProviders.map(async (p) => {
+            try {
+                const hostContext = this.hostContextProvider.get(p.host);
+                const services = hostContext?.services;
+                if (!services) {
+                    log.error(logCtx, 'Unsupported repository host: ' + p.host);
+                    return;
+                }
+                const userRepos = await services.repositoryProvider.getUserRepos(user);
+                userRepos.forEach(r => suggestions.push(r.replace(/\.git$/, '')));
+            } catch (error) {
+                log.debug(logCtx, 'Could not get user repositories from host ' + p.host, error);
+            }
+        }))).catch(error => {
+            log.error(logCtx, 'Could not get auth providers', error);
+        }));
+
+        // Recent repositories
+        promises.push(this.getWorkspaces(ctx, { /* limit: 20 */ }).then(workspaces => {
+            workspaces.forEach(ws => {
+                const repoUrl = Workspace.getFullRepositoryUrl(ws.workspace);
+                if (repoUrl) {
+                    suggestions.push(repoUrl);
+                }
+            });
+        }).catch(error => {
+            log.error(logCtx, 'Could not fetch recent workspace repositories', error);
+        }));
+
+        await Promise.allSettled(promises);
+
+        const uniqueURLs = new Set();
+        return suggestions
+            .sort((a, b) => a > b ? 1 : -1)
+            .filter(r => {
+                if (uniqueURLs.has(r)) {
+                    return false;
+                }
+                uniqueURLs.add(r);
+                return true;
+            });
+    }
+
     public async setWorkspaceTimeout(ctx: TraceContext, workspaceId: string, duration: WorkspaceTimeoutDuration): Promise<SetWorkspaceTimeoutResult> {
         throw new ResponseError(ErrorCodes.EE_FEATURE, `Custom workspace timeout is implemented in Gitpod's Enterprise Edition`);
     }