diff --git a/apps/admin-x-settings/playwright.config.ts b/apps/admin-x-settings/playwright.config.ts
index bca2d5eed4..c25994f1fc 100644
--- a/apps/admin-x-settings/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/apps/admin-x-settings/playwright.config.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
     /* Retry on CI only */
     retries: process.env.CI ? 2 : 0,
     /* Hardcode to use all cores in CI */
-    workers: process.env.CI ? '100%' : undefined,
+    workers: process.env.CI ? '100%' : (process.env.PLAYWRIGHT_SLOWMO ? 1 : undefined),
     /* Reporter to use. See https://playwright.dev/docs/test-reporters */
     reporter: 'html',
     /* Shared settings for all the projects below. See https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-testoptions. */
diff --git a/apps/admin-x-settings/src/admin-x-ds/global/form/URLTextField.tsx b/apps/admin-x-settings/src/admin-x-ds/global/form/URLTextField.tsx
index ddb0685698..94cf983b94 100644
--- a/apps/admin-x-settings/src/admin-x-ds/global/form/URLTextField.tsx
+++ b/apps/admin-x-settings/src/admin-x-ds/global/form/URLTextField.tsx
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import TextField, {TextFieldProps} from './TextField';
 import validator from 'validator';
 import {useFocusContext} from '../../providers/DesignSystemProvider';
 
-const formatUrl = (value: string, baseUrl?: string) => {
+export const formatUrl = (value: string, baseUrl?: string) => {
     let url = value.trim();
 
     if (!url) {
diff --git a/apps/admin-x-settings/src/api/external-ghost-site.ts b/apps/admin-x-settings/src/api/external-ghost-site.ts
index 4e231c5d57..b6465eab84 100644
--- a/apps/admin-x-settings/src/api/external-ghost-site.ts
+++ b/apps/admin-x-settings/src/api/external-ghost-site.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ export const useExternalGhostSite = () => {
                 const result = await fetchApi(url, {
                     method: 'GET',
                     credentials: 'omit', // Allow CORS wildcard,
-                    timeout: 5000
+                    timeout: 5000,
+                    retry: false
                 });
 
                 // We need to validate all data types here for extra safety
diff --git a/apps/admin-x-settings/src/components/providers/RoutingProvider.tsx b/apps/admin-x-settings/src/components/providers/RoutingProvider.tsx
index a95d19bb45..eab18b4b03 100644
--- a/apps/admin-x-settings/src/components/providers/RoutingProvider.tsx
+++ b/apps/admin-x-settings/src/components/providers/RoutingProvider.tsx
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ export const RouteContext = createContext<RoutingContextData>({
 
 export type RoutingModalProps = {
     pathName: string;
-    params?: Record<string, string>
+    params?: Record<string, string>,
+    searchParams?: URLSearchParams
 }
 
 const modalPaths: {[key: string]: ModalName} = {
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@ const handleNavigation = (currentRoute: string | undefined) => {
     let url = new URL(hash, domain);
 
     const pathName = getHashPath(url.pathname);
+    const searchParams = url.searchParams;
 
     if (pathName) {
         const [, currentModalName] = Object.entries(modalPaths).find(([modalPath]) => matchRoute(currentRoute || '', modalPath)) || [];
@@ -93,9 +95,9 @@ const handleNavigation = (currentRoute: string | undefined) => {
         return {
             pathName,
             changingModal: modalName && modalName !== currentModalName,
-            modal: (path && modalName) ?
+            modal: (path && modalName) ? // we should consider adding '&& modalName !== currentModalName' here, but this breaks tests
                 import('./routing/modals').then(({default: modals}) => {
-                    NiceModal.show(modals[modalName] as ModalComponent, {pathName, params: matchRoute(pathName, path)});
+                    NiceModal.show(modals[modalName] as ModalComponent, {pathName, params: matchRoute(pathName, path), searchParams});
                 }) :
                 undefined
         };
diff --git a/apps/admin-x-settings/src/components/settings/site/recommendations/AddRecommendationModal.tsx b/apps/admin-x-settings/src/components/settings/site/recommendations/AddRecommendationModal.tsx
index cb7b1b490d..fb1ae20ed2 100644
--- a/apps/admin-x-settings/src/components/settings/site/recommendations/AddRecommendationModal.tsx
+++ b/apps/admin-x-settings/src/components/settings/site/recommendations/AddRecommendationModal.tsx
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@ import useForm from '../../../../hooks/useForm';
 import useRouting from '../../../../hooks/useRouting';
 import {AlreadyExistsError} from '../../../../utils/errors';
 import {EditOrAddRecommendation, RecommendationResponseType, useGetRecommendationByUrl} from '../../../../api/recommendations';
+import {LoadingIndicator} from '../../../../admin-x-ds/global/LoadingIndicator';
 import {RoutingModalProps} from '../../../providers/RoutingProvider';
 import {dismissAllToasts, showToast} from '../../../../admin-x-ds/global/Toast';
+import {formatUrl} from '../../../../admin-x-ds/global/form/URLTextField';
 import {trimSearchAndHash} from '../../../../utils/url';
 import {useExternalGhostSite} from '../../../../api/external-ghost-site';
 import {useGetOembed} from '../../../../api/oembed';
@@ -19,7 +21,11 @@ interface AddRecommendationModalProps {
     animate?: boolean
 }
 
-const AddRecommendationModal: React.FC<RoutingModalProps & AddRecommendationModalProps> = ({recommendation, animate}) => {
+const doFormatUrl = (url: string) => {
+    return formatUrl(url).save;
+};
+
+const AddRecommendationModal: React.FC<RoutingModalProps & AddRecommendationModalProps> = ({searchParams, recommendation, animate}) => {
     const [enterPressed, setEnterPressed] = useState(false);
     const modal = useModal();
     const {updateRoute} = useRouting();
@@ -27,10 +33,18 @@ const AddRecommendationModal: React.FC<RoutingModalProps & AddRecommendationModa
     const {query: queryExternalGhostSite} = useExternalGhostSite();
     const {query: getRecommendationByUrl} = useGetRecommendationByUrl();
 
+    // Handle a URL that was passed via the URL
+    const initialUrl = recommendation ? '' : (searchParams?.get('url') ?? '');
+    const {save: initialUrlCleaned} = initialUrl ? formatUrl(initialUrl) : {save: ''};
+
+    // Show loading view when we had an initial URL
+    const didInitialSubmit = React.useRef(false);
+    const [showLoadingView, setShowLoadingView] = React.useState(!!initialUrlCleaned);
+
     const {formState, updateForm, handleSave, errors, saveState, clearError} = useForm({
         initialState: recommendation ?? {
             title: '',
-            url: '',
+            url: initialUrlCleaned,
             reason: '',
             excerpt: null,
             featured_image: null,
@@ -89,6 +103,10 @@ const AddRecommendationModal: React.FC<RoutingModalProps & AddRecommendationModa
 
             // Switch modal without changing the route (the second modal is not reachable by URL)
             modal.remove();
+
+            // todo: we should change the URL, but this also keeps adding a new modal -> infinite loop
+            // updateRoute('recommendations/add?url=' + encodeURIComponent(updatedRecommendation.url));
+
             NiceModal.show(AddRecommendationModalConfirm, {
                 animate: false,
                 recommendation: updatedRecommendation
@@ -108,11 +126,16 @@ const AddRecommendationModal: React.FC<RoutingModalProps & AddRecommendationModa
                 newErrors.url = 'Please enter a valid URL.';
             }
 
+            // If we have errors: close direct submit view
+            if (showLoadingView) {
+                setShowLoadingView(Object.keys(newErrors).length === 0);
+            }
+
             return newErrors;
         }
     });
 
-    const saveForm = async () => {
+    const onOk = React.useCallback(async () => {
         if (saveState === 'saving') {
             // Already saving
             return;
@@ -120,7 +143,9 @@ const AddRecommendationModal: React.FC<RoutingModalProps & AddRecommendationModa
 
         dismissAllToasts();
         try {
-            await handleSave({force: true});
+            if (await handleSave({force: true})) {
+                return;
+            }
         } catch (e) {
             const message = e instanceof AlreadyExistsError ? e.message : 'Something went wrong while checking this URL, please try again.';
             showToast({
@@ -128,22 +153,44 @@ const AddRecommendationModal: React.FC<RoutingModalProps & AddRecommendationModa
                 message
             });
         }
-    };
+
+        // If we have errors: close direct submit view
+        if (showLoadingView) {
+            setShowLoadingView(false);
+        }
+    }, [handleSave, saveState, showLoadingView, setShowLoadingView]);
+
+    // Make sure we submit initially when opening in loading view state
+    React.useEffect(() => {
+        if (showLoadingView && !didInitialSubmit.current) {
+            didInitialSubmit.current = true;
+            onOk();
+        }
+    }, [showLoadingView, onOk]);
 
     useEffect(() => {
         if (enterPressed) {
-            saveForm();
+            onOk();
             setEnterPressed(false); // Reset for future use
         }
     // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
     }, [formState]);
 
-    const formatUrl = (url: string) => {
-        if (!url.startsWith('http://') && !url.startsWith('https://')) {
-            url = `https://${url}`;
-        }
-        return url;
-    };
+    if (showLoadingView) {
+        return <Modal
+            afterClose={() => {
+                // Closed without saving: reset route
+                updateRoute('recommendations');
+            }}
+            animate={animate ?? true}
+            backDropClick={false}
+            cancelLabel=''
+            okLabel=''
+            size='sm'
+        >
+            <LoadingIndicator />
+        </Modal>;
+    }
 
     return <Modal
         afterClose={() => {
@@ -158,7 +205,7 @@ const AddRecommendationModal: React.FC<RoutingModalProps & AddRecommendationModa
         size='sm'
         testId='add-recommendation-modal'
         title='Add recommendation'
-        onOk={saveForm}
+        onOk={onOk}
     >
         <p className="mt-4">You can recommend any site your audience will find valuable, not just those published on Ghost.</p>
         <Form
@@ -172,7 +219,7 @@ const AddRecommendationModal: React.FC<RoutingModalProps & AddRecommendationModa
                 placeholder='https://www.example.com'
                 title='URL'
                 value={formState.url}
-                onBlur={() => updateForm(state => ({...state, url: formatUrl(formState.url)}))}
+                onBlur={() => updateForm(state => ({...state, url: doFormatUrl(formState.url)}))}
                 onChange={(e) => {
                     clearError?.('url');
                     updateForm(state => ({...state, url: e.target.value}));
@@ -180,7 +227,7 @@ const AddRecommendationModal: React.FC<RoutingModalProps & AddRecommendationModa
                 onKeyDown={(e) => {
                     if (e.key === 'Enter') {
                         e.preventDefault();
-                        updateForm(state => ({...state, url: formatUrl(formState.url)}));
+                        updateForm(state => ({...state, url: doFormatUrl(formState.url)}));
                         setEnterPressed(true);
                     }
                 }}
diff --git a/apps/admin-x-settings/src/utils/api/hooks.ts b/apps/admin-x-settings/src/utils/api/hooks.ts
index 5ad4a4153c..65635773ae 100644
--- a/apps/admin-x-settings/src/utils/api/hooks.ts
+++ b/apps/admin-x-settings/src/utils/api/hooks.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ interface RequestOptions {
     };
     credentials?: 'include' | 'omit' | 'same-origin';
     timeout?: number;
+    retry?: boolean;
 }
 
 export const useFetchApi = () => {
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ export const useFetchApi = () => {
     const sentryDSN = useSentryDSN();
 
     // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
-    return async <ResponseData = any>(endpoint: string | URL, options: RequestOptions = {}) => {
+    return async <ResponseData = any>(endpoint: string | URL, options: RequestOptions = {}): Promise<ResponseData> => {
         // By default, we set the Content-Type header to application/json
         const defaultHeaders: Record<string, string> = {
             'app-pragma': 'no-cache',
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ export const useFetchApi = () => {
         // 1. Server Unreachable error from the browser (code 0 or TypeError), typically from short internet blips
         // 2. Maintenance error from Ghost, upgrade in progress so API is temporarily unavailable
         let attempts = 0;
+        let shouldRetry = options.retry === true || options.retry === undefined;
         let retryingMs = 0;
         const startTime = Date.now();
         const maxRetryingMs = 15_000;
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ export const useFetchApi = () => {
             return data;
         };
 
-        while (true) {
+        while (attempts === 0 || shouldRetry) {
             try {
                 const response = await fetch(endpoint, {
                     headers: {
@@ -97,7 +99,7 @@ export const useFetchApi = () => {
             } catch (error) {
                 retryingMs = Date.now() - startTime;
 
-                if (import.meta.env.MODE !== 'development' && retryableErrors.some(errorClass => error instanceof errorClass) && retryingMs <= maxRetryingMs) {
+                if (shouldRetry && (import.meta.env.MODE !== 'development' && retryableErrors.some(errorClass => error instanceof errorClass) && retryingMs <= maxRetryingMs)) {
                     await new Promise((resolve) => {
                         setTimeout(resolve, retryPeriods[attempts] || retryPeriods[retryPeriods.length - 1]);
                     });
@@ -122,6 +124,11 @@ export const useFetchApi = () => {
                 throw newError;
             };
         }
+
+        // Used for type checking
+        // this can't happen, but TS isn't smart enough to undeerstand that the loop will never exit without an error or return
+        // because of shouldRetry + attemps usage combination
+        return undefined as never;
     };
 };
 
diff --git a/ghost/core/test/e2e-server/services/__snapshots__/recommendation-emails.test.js.snap b/ghost/core/test/e2e-server/services/__snapshots__/recommendation-emails.test.js.snap
index 23af02bac2..95ffc8e9b6 100644
--- a/ghost/core/test/e2e-server/services/__snapshots__/recommendation-emails.test.js.snap
+++ b/ghost/core/test/e2e-server/services/__snapshots__/recommendation-emails.test.js.snap
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ exports[`Incoming Recommendation Emails Sends an email if we receive a recommend
                                 <table border=\\"0\\" cellpadding=\\"0\\" cellspacing=\\"0\\" style=\\"border-collapse: separate; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: auto;\\">
                                   <tbody>
                                     <tr>
-                                            <td style=\\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; background-color: #FF1A75; border-radius: 5px; text-align: center;\\"> <a href=\\"http://127.0.0.1:2369/ghost/#/settings-x/recommendations\\" target=\\"_blank\\" style=\\"display: inline-block; color: #ffffff; background-color: #FF1A75; border: solid 1px #FF1A75; border-radius: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; padding: 9px 22px 10px; border-color: #FF1A75;\\">Recommend back</a></td>
+                                            <td style=\\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; background-color: #FF1A75; border-radius: 5px; text-align: center;\\"> <a href=\\"http://127.0.0.1:2369/ghost/#/settings-x/recommendations/add?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.otherghostsite.com%2F\\" target=\\"_blank\\" style=\\"display: inline-block; color: #ffffff; background-color: #FF1A75; border: solid 1px #FF1A75; border-radius: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; padding: 9px 22px 10px; border-color: #FF1A75;\\">Recommend back</a></td>
                                     </tr>
                                   </tbody>
                                 </table>
@@ -563,7 +563,7 @@ exports[`Incoming Recommendation Emails Sends an email if we receive a recommend
                                 <table border=\\"0\\" cellpadding=\\"0\\" cellspacing=\\"0\\" style=\\"border-collapse: separate; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: auto;\\">
                                   <tbody>
                                     <tr>
-                                            <td style=\\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; background-color: #FF1A75; border-radius: 5px; text-align: center;\\"> <a href=\\"http://127.0.0.1:2369/ghost/#/settings-x/recommendations\\" target=\\"_blank\\" style=\\"display: inline-block; color: #ffffff; background-color: #FF1A75; border: solid 1px #FF1A75; border-radius: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; padding: 9px 22px 10px; border-color: #FF1A75;\\">Recommend back</a></td>
+                                            <td style=\\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; background-color: #FF1A75; border-radius: 5px; text-align: center;\\"> <a href=\\"http://127.0.0.1:2369/ghost/#/settings-x/recommendations/add?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.otherghostsite.com%2F\\" target=\\"_blank\\" style=\\"display: inline-block; color: #ffffff; background-color: #FF1A75; border: solid 1px #FF1A75; border-radius: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; padding: 9px 22px 10px; border-color: #FF1A75;\\">Recommend back</a></td>
                                     </tr>
                                   </tbody>
                                 </table>
diff --git a/ghost/recommendations/src/IncomingRecommendationService.ts b/ghost/recommendations/src/IncomingRecommendationService.ts
index 08ecc1a070..d5c56e27ad 100644
--- a/ghost/recommendations/src/IncomingRecommendationService.ts
+++ b/ghost/recommendations/src/IncomingRecommendationService.ts
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ export class IncomingRecommendationService {
 
             // Check if we are also recommending this URL
             const existing = await this.#recommendationService.countRecommendations({
-                filter: `url:~^'${url}'`
+                filter: `url:~'${url}'`
             });
             const recommendingBack = existing > 0;
 
diff --git a/ghost/staff-service/lib/StaffServiceEmails.js b/ghost/staff-service/lib/StaffServiceEmails.js
index 516c84d31c..685e8affd7 100644
--- a/ghost/staff-service/lib/StaffServiceEmails.js
+++ b/ghost/staff-service/lib/StaffServiceEmails.js
@@ -494,6 +494,10 @@ class StaffServiceEmails {
             }
             return array.slice(0,limit);
         });
+
+        this.Handlebars.registerHelper('encodeURIComponent', function (string) {
+            return encodeURIComponent(string);
+        });
     }
 
     async renderHTML(templateName, data) {
diff --git a/ghost/staff-service/lib/email-templates/recommendation-received.hbs b/ghost/staff-service/lib/email-templates/recommendation-received.hbs
index 975116d5a7..e9c1855d6e 100644
--- a/ghost/staff-service/lib/email-templates/recommendation-received.hbs
+++ b/ghost/staff-service/lib/email-templates/recommendation-received.hbs
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
                                         {{#if recommendation.recommendingBack}}
                                             <td style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; background-color: {{accentColor}}; border-radius: 5px; text-align: center;"> <a href="{{siteUrl}}ghost/#/settings-x/recommendations" target="_blank" style="display: inline-block; color: #ffffff; background-color: {{accentColor}}; border: solid 1px {{accentColor}}; border-radius: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; padding: 9px 22px 10px; border-color: {{accentColor}};">View recommendations</a></td>
                                         {{else}}
-                                            <td style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; background-color: {{accentColor}}; border-radius: 5px; text-align: center;"> <a href="{{siteUrl}}ghost/#/settings-x/recommendations" target="_blank" style="display: inline-block; color: #ffffff; background-color: {{accentColor}}; border: solid 1px {{accentColor}}; border-radius: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; padding: 9px 22px 10px; border-color: {{accentColor}};">Recommend back</a></td>
+                                            <td style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; background-color: {{accentColor}}; border-radius: 5px; text-align: center;"> <a href="{{siteUrl}}ghost/#/settings-x/recommendations/add?url={{ encodeURIComponent recommendation.url }}" target="_blank" style="display: inline-block; color: #ffffff; background-color: {{accentColor}}; border: solid 1px {{accentColor}}; border-radius: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; padding: 9px 22px 10px; border-color: {{accentColor}};">Recommend back</a></td>
                                         {{/if}}
                                     </tr>
                                   </tbody>