diff --git a/components/gitpod-protocol/go/gitpod-service.go b/components/gitpod-protocol/go/gitpod-service.go
index edc26fd97205eb..ce8c9175172bc1 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-protocol/go/gitpod-service.go
+++ b/components/gitpod-protocol/go/gitpod-service.go
@@ -1899,7 +1899,9 @@ type WorkspaceInstanceStatus struct {
 
 // StartWorkspaceOptions is the StartWorkspaceOptions message type
 type StartWorkspaceOptions struct {
-	ForceDefaultImage bool `json:"forceDefaultImage,omitempty"`
+	ForceDefaultImage bool         `json:"forceDefaultImage,omitempty"`
+	WorkspaceClass    string       `json:"workspaceClass,omitempty"`
+	IdeSettings       *IDESettings `json:"ideSettings,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // GetWorkspaceTimeoutResult is the GetWorkspaceTimeoutResult message type
diff --git a/components/gitpod-protocol/src/gitpod-service.ts b/components/gitpod-protocol/src/gitpod-service.ts
index d0affefd45bace..6d4438890b2a79 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-protocol/src/gitpod-service.ts
+++ b/components/gitpod-protocol/src/gitpod-service.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import {
     PrebuiltWorkspace,
     UserSSHPublicKeyValue,
     SSHPublicKeyValue,
+    IDESettings,
 } from "./protocol";
 import {
     Team,
@@ -414,16 +415,20 @@ export namespace GitpodServer {
     export interface GetAccountStatementOptions {
         date?: string;
     }
-    export interface CreateWorkspaceOptions {
+    export interface CreateWorkspaceOptions extends StartWorkspaceOptions {
         contextUrl: string;
+
         // whether running workspaces on the same context should be ignored. If false (default) users will be asked.
         ignoreRunningWorkspaceOnSameCommit?: boolean;
         ignoreRunningPrebuild?: boolean;
         allowUsingPreviousPrebuilds?: boolean;
         forceDefaultConfig?: boolean;
     }
+
     export interface StartWorkspaceOptions {
-        forceDefaultImage: boolean;
+        forceDefaultImage?: boolean;
+        workspaceClass?: string;
+        ideSettings?: IDESettings;
     }
     export interface TakeSnapshotOptions {
         workspaceId: string;
diff --git a/components/server/src/ide-service.ts b/components/server/src/ide-service.ts
index 1a843d3202fad9..c5269ac8e2666d 100644
--- a/components/server/src/ide-service.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/ide-service.ts
@@ -84,18 +84,28 @@ export class IDEService {
         return newIDESettings;
     }
 
-    async resolveWorkspaceConfig(workspace: Workspace, user: User): Promise<ResolveWorkspaceConfigResponse> {
+    async resolveWorkspaceConfig(
+        workspace: Workspace,
+        user: User,
+        userSelectedIdeSettings?: IDESettings,
+    ): Promise<ResolveWorkspaceConfigResponse> {
         const use = await this.configCatClientFactory().getValueAsync("use_IDEService_ResolveWorkspaceConfig", false, {
             user,
         });
         if (use) {
-            return this.doResolveWorkspaceConfig(workspace, user);
+            return this.doResolveWorkspaceConfig(
+                workspace,
+                userSelectedIdeSettings || user.additionalData?.ideSettings,
+            );
         }
 
         const deprecated = await this.resolveDeprecated(workspace, user);
         // assert against ide-service
         (async () => {
-            const config = await this.doResolveWorkspaceConfig(workspace, user);
+            const config = await this.doResolveWorkspaceConfig(
+                workspace,
+                userSelectedIdeSettings || user.additionalData?.ideSettings,
+            );
             const { tasks: configTasks, ...newConfig } = config;
             const { tasks: deprecatedTasks, ...newDeprecated } = deprecated;
             // we omit tasks because we're going to rewrite them soon and the deepEqual was failing
@@ -104,14 +114,17 @@ export class IDEService {
         return deprecated;
     }
 
-    private async doResolveWorkspaceConfig(workspace: Workspace, user: User): Promise<ResolveWorkspaceConfigResponse> {
+    private async doResolveWorkspaceConfig(
+        workspace: Workspace,
+        userSelectedIdeSettings?: IDESettings,
+    ): Promise<ResolveWorkspaceConfigResponse> {
         const workspaceType =
             workspace.type === "prebuild" ? IdeServiceApi.WorkspaceType.PREBUILD : IdeServiceApi.WorkspaceType.REGULAR;
 
         const req: IdeServiceApi.ResolveWorkspaceConfigRequest = {
             type: workspaceType,
             context: JSON.stringify(workspace.context),
-            ideSettings: JSON.stringify(user.additionalData?.ideSettings),
+            ideSettings: JSON.stringify(userSelectedIdeSettings),
             workspaceConfig: JSON.stringify(workspace.config),
         };
         for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 15; attempt++) {
diff --git a/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts b/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
index 8153070162ce43..7d3623e81d6763 100644
--- a/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
@@ -734,9 +734,7 @@ export class GitpodServerImpl implements GitpodServerWithTracing, Disposable {
             await projectPromise,
             await userEnvVars,
             await projectEnvVarsPromise,
-            {
-                forceDefaultImage: !!options.forceDefaultImage,
-            },
+            options,
         );
         traceWI(ctx, { instanceId: result.instanceID });
         return result;
@@ -1207,6 +1205,7 @@ export class GitpodServerImpl implements GitpodServerWithTracing, Disposable {
                 project,
                 await envVars,
                 await projectEnvVarsPromise,
+                options,
             );
             ctx.span?.log({ event: "startWorkspaceComplete", ...startWorkspaceResult });
 
diff --git a/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts b/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts
index 1d9e94fdb50d41..9b92d9f846af40 100644
--- a/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ import {
     EnvVarWithValue,
     BillingTier,
     Project,
+    GitpodServer,
+    IDESettings,
 } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
 import { IAnalyticsWriter } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/analytics";
 import { log } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/util/logging";
@@ -127,9 +129,8 @@ import { AttributionId } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/attribution";
 import { LogContext } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/util/logging";
 import { repeat } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/util/repeat";
 
-export interface StartWorkspaceOptions {
+export interface StartWorkspaceOptions extends GitpodServer.StartWorkspaceOptions {
     rethrow?: boolean;
-    forceDefaultImage?: boolean;
     excludeFeatureFlags?: NamedWorkspaceFeatureFlag[];
 }
 
@@ -139,21 +140,31 @@ const INSTANCE_START_RETRY_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 2;
 export async function getWorkspaceClassForInstance(
     ctx: TraceContext,
     workspace: Workspace,
+    previousInstance: WorkspaceInstance | undefined,
     user: User,
     project: Project | undefined,
+    workspaceClassOverride: string | undefined,
     entitlementService: EntitlementService,
     config: WorkspaceClassesConfig,
 ): Promise<string> {
     const span = TraceContext.startSpan("getWorkspaceClassForInstance", ctx);
     try {
         let workspaceClass: string | undefined;
-        switch (workspace.type) {
-            case "prebuild":
-                workspaceClass = project?.settings?.workspaceClasses?.prebuild;
-                break;
-            case "regular":
-                workspaceClass = project?.settings?.workspaceClasses?.regular;
-                break;
+        if (workspaceClassOverride) {
+            workspaceClass = workspaceClassOverride;
+        }
+        if (!workspaceClass && previousInstance) {
+            workspaceClass = previousInstance.workspaceClass;
+        }
+        if (!workspaceClass) {
+            switch (workspace.type) {
+                case "prebuild":
+                    workspaceClass = project?.settings?.workspaceClasses?.prebuild;
+                    break;
+                case "regular":
+                    workspaceClass = project?.settings?.workspaceClasses?.regular;
+                    break;
+            }
         }
         if (!workspaceClass && (await entitlementService.userGetsMoreResources(user))) {
             workspaceClass = config.find((c) => !!c.marker?.moreResources)?.id;
@@ -269,7 +280,7 @@ export class WorkspaceStarter {
                 }
             }
 
-            const ideConfig = await this.resolveIDEConfiguration(ctx, workspace, user);
+            const ideConfig = await this.resolveIDEConfiguration(ctx, workspace, user, options.ideSettings);
 
             // create and store instance
             let instance = await this.workspaceDb
@@ -283,6 +294,7 @@ export class WorkspaceStarter {
                         project,
                         options.excludeFeatureFlags || [],
                         ideConfig,
+                        options.workspaceClass,
                     ),
                 );
             span.log({ newInstance: instance.id });
@@ -350,7 +362,12 @@ export class WorkspaceStarter {
         }
     }
 
-    private async resolveIDEConfiguration(ctx: TraceContext, workspace: Workspace, user: User) {
+    private async resolveIDEConfiguration(
+        ctx: TraceContext,
+        workspace: Workspace,
+        user: User,
+        userSelectedIdeSettings?: IDESettings,
+    ) {
         const span = TraceContext.startSpan("resolveIDEConfiguration", ctx);
         try {
             const migrated = this.ideService.migrateSettings(user);
@@ -358,7 +375,7 @@ export class WorkspaceStarter {
                 user.additionalData.ideSettings = migrated;
             }
 
-            const resp = await this.ideService.resolveWorkspaceConfig(workspace, user);
+            const resp = await this.ideService.resolveWorkspaceConfig(workspace, user, userSelectedIdeSettings);
             if (!user.additionalData?.ideSettings && resp.refererIde) {
                 // A user does not have IDE settings configured yet configure it with a referrer ide as default.
                 const additionalData = user?.additionalData || {};
@@ -770,6 +787,7 @@ export class WorkspaceStarter {
         project: Project | undefined,
         excludeFeatureFlags: NamedWorkspaceFeatureFlag[],
         ideConfig: IdeServiceApi.ResolveWorkspaceConfigResponse,
+        workspaceClassOverride?: string,
     ): Promise<WorkspaceInstance> {
         const span = TraceContext.startSpan("newInstance", ctx);
         try {
@@ -814,8 +832,10 @@ export class WorkspaceStarter {
             let workspaceClass = await getWorkspaceClassForInstance(
                 ctx,
                 workspace,
+                previousInstance,
                 user,
                 project,
+                workspaceClassOverride,
                 this.entitlementService,
                 this.config.workspaceClasses,
             );