diff --git a/components/supervisor/.gitignore b/components/supervisor/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..bd452240480f68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/supervisor/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+supervisor
diff --git a/components/supervisor/cmd/run.go b/components/supervisor/cmd/run.go
index 070713ba172023..1d14bb07037651 100644
--- a/components/supervisor/cmd/run.go
+++ b/components/supervisor/cmd/run.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ var runCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short: "starts the supervisor",
 
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-		log.Init(ServiceName, Version, true, os.Getenv("SUPERVISOR_DEBUG_ENABLE") == "true")
+		log.Init(ServiceName, Version, !runOpts.RunGP, os.Getenv("SUPERVISOR_DEBUG_ENABLE") == "true")
 		common_grpc.SetupLogging()
 		supervisor.Version = Version
 		supervisor.Run(supervisor.WithRunGP(runOpts.RunGP))
diff --git a/components/supervisor/hot-swap.sh b/components/supervisor/hot-swap.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000000..3a79a82c1ada27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/supervisor/hot-swap.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# 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.
+
+set -Eeuo pipefail
+
+# This script swaps the backend startup endpoint with a built one
+# in a workspace and restarts the JB backend.
+
+component=${PWD##*/}
+workspaceUrl=$(echo "${1}" |sed -e "s/\/$//")
+echo "URL: $workspaceUrl"
+
+workspaceDesc=$(gpctl workspaces describe "$workspaceUrl" -o=json)
+
+podName=$(echo "$workspaceDesc" | jq .runtime.pod_name -r)
+echo "Pod: $podName"
+
+workspaceId=$(echo "$workspaceDesc" | jq .metadata.meta_id -r)
+echo "ID: $workspaceId"
+
+clusterHost=$(kubectl exec -it "$podName" -- printenv GITPOD_WORKSPACE_CLUSTER_HOST |sed -e "s/\s//g")
+echo "Cluster Host: $clusterHost"
+
+# prepare ssh
+ownerToken=$(kubectl get pod "$podName" -o=json | jq ".metadata.annotations.\"gitpod\/ownerToken\"" -r)
+sshConfig="./ssh-config"
+echo "Host $workspaceId" > "$sshConfig"
+echo "    Hostname \"$workspaceId.ssh.$clusterHost\"" >> "$sshConfig"
+echo "    User \"$workspaceId#$ownerToken\"" >> "$sshConfig"
+
+# build
+go build .
+echo "$component built"
+
+# upload
+uploadDest="/.supervisor/$component"
+echo "Upload Dest: $uploadDest"
+ssh -F "$sshConfig" "$workspaceId" "sudo chmod 777 $uploadDest && sudo rm $uploadDest"
+scp -F "$sshConfig" -r "./supervisor" "$workspaceId":"$uploadDest"
+echo "Swap complete"
diff --git a/components/supervisor/local-hot-swap.sh b/components/supervisor/local-hot-swap.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000000..eb0fde3f888742
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/supervisor/local-hot-swap.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# 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.
+
+set -Eeuo pipefail
+
+# This script swaps the backend startup endpoint with a built one
+# in a workspace and restarts the JB backend.
+
+component=${PWD##*/}
+
+# build
+go build .
+echo "$component built"
+
+sudo rm /.supervisor/supervisor
+sudo mv ./"$component" /.supervisor
+echo "Local Swap complete"
diff --git a/components/supervisor/pkg/supervisor/supervisor.go b/components/supervisor/pkg/supervisor/supervisor.go
index 175bdd83d8b72d..ee04eee817451e 100644
--- a/components/supervisor/pkg/supervisor/supervisor.go
+++ b/components/supervisor/pkg/supervisor/supervisor.go
@@ -191,15 +191,18 @@ func Run(options ...RunOption) {
 	configureGit(cfg, childProcEnvvars)
 
 	tokenService := NewInMemoryTokenService()
-	tkns, err := cfg.GetTokens(true)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.WithError(err).Warn("cannot prepare tokens")
-	}
-	for i := range tkns {
-		_, err = tokenService.SetToken(context.Background(), &tkns[i].SetTokenRequest)
+
+	if !opts.RunGP {
+		tkns, err := cfg.GetTokens(true)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.WithError(err).Warn("cannot prepare tokens")
 		}
+		for i := range tkns {
+			_, err = tokenService.SetToken(context.Background(), &tkns[i].SetTokenRequest)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.WithError(err).Warn("cannot prepare tokens")
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	tunneledPortsService := ports.NewTunneledPortsService(cfg.DebugEnable)
@@ -238,6 +241,12 @@ func Run(options ...RunOption) {
 		desktopIdeReady *ideReadyState = nil
 
 		cstate        = NewInMemoryContentState(cfg.RepoRoot)
+		gitpodService serverapi.APIInterface
+
+		notificationService = NewNotificationService()
+	)
+
+	if !opts.RunGP {
 		gitpodService = serverapi.NewServerApiService(ctx, &serverapi.ServiceConfig{
 			Host:              host,
 			Endpoint:          endpoint,
@@ -245,13 +254,12 @@ func Run(options ...RunOption) {
 			WorkspaceID:       cfg.WorkspaceID,
 			SupervisorVersion: Version,
 		}, tokenService)
+	}
 
-		notificationService = NewNotificationService()
-	)
 	if cfg.DesktopIDE != nil {
 		desktopIdeReady = &ideReadyState{cond: sync.NewCond(&sync.Mutex{})}
 	}
-	if !cfg.isHeadless() {
+	if !cfg.isHeadless() && !opts.RunGP {
 		go trackReadiness(ctx, gitpodService, cfg, cstate, ideReady, desktopIdeReady)
 	}
 	tokenService.provider[KindGit] = []tokenProvider{NewGitTokenProvider(gitpodService, cfg.WorkspaceConfig, notificationService)}
@@ -259,8 +267,15 @@ func Run(options ...RunOption) {
 	gitpodConfigService := config.NewConfigService(cfg.RepoRoot+"/.gitpod.yml", cstate.ContentReady(), log.Log)
 	go gitpodConfigService.Watch(ctx)
 
+	var exposedPorts ports.ExposedPortsInterface
+
+	if !opts.RunGP {
+		exposedPorts = createExposedPortsImpl(cfg, gitpodService)
+	}
+
+	// createExposedPortsImpl(cfg, gitpodService)
 	portMgmt := ports.NewManager(
-		createExposedPortsImpl(cfg, gitpodService),
+		exposedPorts,
 		&ports.PollingServedPortsObserver{
 			RefreshInterval: 2 * time.Second,
 		},
@@ -270,7 +285,10 @@ func Run(options ...RunOption) {
 	)
 
 	topService := NewTopService()
-	topService.Observe(ctx)
+
+	if !opts.RunGP {
+		topService.Observe(ctx)
+	}
 
 	supervisorMetrics := metrics.NewMetrics()
 	var metricsReporter *metrics.GrpcMetricsReporter
@@ -355,17 +373,28 @@ func Run(options ...RunOption) {
 		wg       sync.WaitGroup
 		shutdown = make(chan ShutdownReason, 1)
 	)
-	wg.Add(1)
-	go startContentInit(ctx, cfg, &wg, cstate, supervisorMetrics)
+
+	if !opts.RunGP {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go startContentInit(ctx, cfg, &wg, cstate, supervisorMetrics)
+	}
+
 	wg.Add(1)
 	go startAPIEndpoint(ctx, cfg, &wg, apiServices, tunneledPortsService, metricsReporter, apiEndpointOpts...)
-	wg.Add(1)
-	go startSSHServer(ctx, cfg, &wg, childProcEnvvars)
+
+	if !opts.RunGP {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go startSSHServer(ctx, cfg, &wg, childProcEnvvars)
+	}
+
 	wg.Add(1)
 	tasksSuccessChan := make(chan taskSuccess, 1)
 	go taskManager.Run(ctx, &wg, tasksSuccessChan)
-	wg.Add(1)
-	go socketActivationForDocker(ctx, &wg, termMux)
+
+	if !opts.RunGP {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go socketActivationForDocker(ctx, &wg, termMux)
+	}
 
 	if cfg.isHeadless() {
 		wg.Add(1)
@@ -899,7 +928,7 @@ func prepareIDELaunch(cfg *Config, ideConfig *IDEConfig, childProcEnvvars []stri
 // of envvars. If envvars is nil, os.Environ() is used.
 //
 // Beware: if config contains an OTS URL the results may differ on subsequent calls.
-func buildChildProcEnv(cfg *Config, envvars []string) []string {
+func buildChildProcEnv(cfg *Config, envvars []string, runGP bool) []string {
 	if envvars == nil {
 		envvars = os.Environ()
 	}
@@ -919,7 +948,10 @@ func buildChildProcEnv(cfg *Config, envvars []string) []string {
 
 		envs[nme] = val
 	}
-	envs["SUPERVISOR_ADDR"] = fmt.Sprintf("localhost:%d", cfg.APIEndpointPort)
+
+	if !runGP {
+		envs["SUPERVISOR_ADDR"] = fmt.Sprintf("localhost:%d", cfg.APIEndpointPort)
+	}
 
 	if cfg.EnvvarOTS != "" {
 		es, err := downloadEnvvarOTS(cfg.EnvvarOTS)