diff --git a/cmd/create.go b/cmd/create.go
index 3de9d40..edea29c 100644
--- a/cmd/create.go
+++ b/cmd/create.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
+	"bufio"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
@@ -15,13 +16,16 @@ import (
 var createEditorFlag bool
 
 var createCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "create <title>",
+	Use:   "create [title]",
 	Short: "Create a new local issue",
 	Args: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		if createEditorFlag {
 			return cobra.NoArgs(cmd, args)
 		}
-		return cobra.ExactArgs(1)(cmd, args)
+		if len(args) > 1 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("accepts at most 1 arg, received %d", len(args))
+		}
+		return nil
 	},
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		root, err := issuesRoot()
@@ -46,31 +50,98 @@ var createCmd = &cobra.Command{
 			}
 		}
 
-		var title, filename string
-		if createEditorFlag {
-			title = ""
+		editor := os.Getenv("VISUAL")
+		if editor == "" {
+			editor = os.Getenv("EDITOR")
+		}
+
+		interactive := !createEditorFlag && len(args) == 0
+
+		var filename string
+		var openEditor bool
+		iss := &issue.Issue{State: "open"}
+
+		switch {
+		case createEditorFlag:
 			filename = fmt.Sprintf("T%d-new-issue.md", maxT+1)
-		} else {
-			title = args[0]
-			filename = fmt.Sprintf("T%d-%s.md", maxT+1, issue.Slug(title))
+			openEditor = true
+			if editor == "" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("no editor set: define $VISUAL or $EDITOR")
+			}
+
+		case interactive:
+			reader := bufio.NewReader(os.Stdin)
+
+			prompt := func(label string) (string, error) {
+				fmt.Print(label)
+				line, err := reader.ReadString('\n')
+				return strings.TrimSpace(line), err
+			}
+
+			iss.Title, err = prompt("Title: ")
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			if iss.Title == "" {
+				fmt.Println(color.YellowString("Aborted.") + " No title, issue discarded.")
+				return nil
+			}
+			filename = fmt.Sprintf("T%d-%s.md", maxT+1, issue.Slug(iss.Title))
+
+			var bodyPrompt string
+			if editor != "" {
+				bodyPrompt = fmt.Sprintf("Body [(e) to launch %s, Enter to skip]: ", filepath.Base(editor))
+			} else {
+				bodyPrompt = "Body [Enter to skip]: "
+			}
+			bodyResp, err := prompt(bodyPrompt)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			openEditor = strings.ToLower(bodyResp) == "e"
+			if openEditor && editor == "" {
+				fmt.Println(color.YellowString("No editor set") + " ($VISUAL/$EDITOR). Skipping body.")
+				openEditor = false
+			}
+
+			labelsResp, err := prompt("Labels (comma-separated, Enter to skip): ")
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			for _, l := range strings.Split(labelsResp, ",") {
+				if l := strings.TrimSpace(l); l != "" {
+					iss.Labels = append(iss.Labels, l)
+				}
+			}
+
+			assigneesResp, err := prompt("Assignees (comma-separated, Enter to skip): ")
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			for _, a := range strings.Split(assigneesResp, ",") {
+				if a := strings.TrimSpace(a); a != "" {
+					iss.Assignees = append(iss.Assignees, a)
+				}
+			}
+
+			iss.Milestone, err = prompt("Milestone (Enter to skip): ")
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+		default:
+			iss.Title = args[0]
+			filename = fmt.Sprintf("T%d-%s.md", maxT+1, issue.Slug(iss.Title))
+			openEditor = editor != ""
 		}
 
-		iss := &issue.Issue{Title: title, State: "open"}
 		path := filepath.Join(openDir(root), filename)
 
 		if err := issue.Write(path, iss); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
-		editor := os.Getenv("VISUAL")
-		if editor == "" {
-			editor = os.Getenv("EDITOR")
-		}
-		if createEditorFlag && editor == "" {
-			_ = os.Remove(path)
-			return fmt.Errorf("no editor set: define $VISUAL or $EDITOR")
-		}
-		if editor != "" {
+		if openEditor {
 			parts := strings.Fields(editor)
 			c := exec.Command(parts[0], append(parts[1:], path)...)
 			c.Stdin = os.Stdin
diff --git a/cmd/create_test.go b/cmd/create_test.go
index 8570824..2303490 100644
--- a/cmd/create_test.go
+++ b/cmd/create_test.go
@@ -3,9 +3,309 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/jamesjohnsdev/issues/internal/issue"
 )
 
+func resetCreateFlag(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
+	orig := createEditorFlag
+	t.Cleanup(func() { createEditorFlag = orig })
+	createEditorFlag = false
+}
+
+func openIssuesDir(t *testing.T, parent string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	return filepath.Join(parent, issuesDirName, "open")
+}
+
+func TestCreateInteractive(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("empty title aborts with no file", func(t *testing.T) {
+		parent := makeProjectDir(t, nil)
+		chdirTo(t, parent)
+		resetCreateFlag(t)
+		t.Setenv("VISUAL", "")
+		t.Setenv("EDITOR", "")
+
+		injectStdin(t, "\n\n\n\n\n")
+		_ = captureStdout(t, func() {
+			if err := createCmd.RunE(createCmd, nil); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+		})
+
+		if files := readMDFiles(t, openIssuesDir(t, parent)); len(files) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("expected no files after empty title, got %d", len(files))
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("whitespace-only title aborts", func(t *testing.T) {
+		parent := makeProjectDir(t, nil)
+		chdirTo(t, parent)
+		resetCreateFlag(t)
+		t.Setenv("VISUAL", "")
+		t.Setenv("EDITOR", "")
+
+		injectStdin(t, "   \n\n\n\n\n")
+		_ = captureStdout(t, func() {
+			if err := createCmd.RunE(createCmd, nil); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+		})
+
+		if files := readMDFiles(t, openIssuesDir(t, parent)); len(files) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("expected no files after whitespace title, got %d", len(files))
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("title only creates file", func(t *testing.T) {
+		parent := makeProjectDir(t, nil)
+		chdirTo(t, parent)
+		resetCreateFlag(t)
+		t.Setenv("VISUAL", "")
+		t.Setenv("EDITOR", "")
+
+		injectStdin(t, "My Bug\n\n\n\n\n")
+		_ = captureStdout(t, func() {
+			if err := createCmd.RunE(createCmd, nil); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+		})
+
+		files := readMDFiles(t, openIssuesDir(t, parent))
+		if len(files) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("expected 1 file, got %d", len(files))
+		}
+		iss, err := issue.Parse(files[0])
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("parse error: %v", err)
+		}
+		if iss.Title != "My Bug" {
+			t.Errorf("Title = %q, want %q", iss.Title, "My Bug")
+		}
+		if iss.State != "open" {
+			t.Errorf("State = %q, want %q", iss.State, "open")
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(filepath.Base(files[0]), "my-bug") {
+			t.Errorf("filename %q should contain slug %q", filepath.Base(files[0]), "my-bug")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("labels parsed and written", func(t *testing.T) {
+		parent := makeProjectDir(t, nil)
+		chdirTo(t, parent)
+		resetCreateFlag(t)
+		t.Setenv("VISUAL", "")
+		t.Setenv("EDITOR", "")
+
+		injectStdin(t, "Fix Auth\n\nbug, auth\n\n\n")
+		_ = captureStdout(t, func() {
+			if err := createCmd.RunE(createCmd, nil); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+		})
+
+		files := readMDFiles(t, openIssuesDir(t, parent))
+		if len(files) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("expected 1 file, got %d", len(files))
+		}
+		iss, err := issue.Parse(files[0])
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("parse error: %v", err)
+		}
+		want := []string{"bug", "auth"}
+		if len(iss.Labels) != len(want) {
+			t.Fatalf("Labels = %v, want %v", iss.Labels, want)
+		}
+		for i, l := range want {
+			if iss.Labels[i] != l {
+				t.Errorf("Labels[%d] = %q, want %q", i, iss.Labels[i], l)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("assignees parsed and written", func(t *testing.T) {
+		parent := makeProjectDir(t, nil)
+		chdirTo(t, parent)
+		resetCreateFlag(t)
+		t.Setenv("VISUAL", "")
+		t.Setenv("EDITOR", "")
+
+		injectStdin(t, "Fix Auth\n\n\njames, alice\n\n")
+		_ = captureStdout(t, func() {
+			if err := createCmd.RunE(createCmd, nil); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+		})
+
+		files := readMDFiles(t, openIssuesDir(t, parent))
+		if len(files) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("expected 1 file, got %d", len(files))
+		}
+		iss, err := issue.Parse(files[0])
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("parse error: %v", err)
+		}
+		want := []string{"james", "alice"}
+		if len(iss.Assignees) != len(want) {
+			t.Fatalf("Assignees = %v, want %v", iss.Assignees, want)
+		}
+		for i, a := range want {
+			if iss.Assignees[i] != a {
+				t.Errorf("Assignees[%d] = %q, want %q", i, iss.Assignees[i], a)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("milestone set", func(t *testing.T) {
+		parent := makeProjectDir(t, nil)
+		chdirTo(t, parent)
+		resetCreateFlag(t)
+		t.Setenv("VISUAL", "")
+		t.Setenv("EDITOR", "")
+
+		injectStdin(t, "Fix Auth\n\n\n\nv1.2\n")
+		_ = captureStdout(t, func() {
+			if err := createCmd.RunE(createCmd, nil); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+		})
+
+		files := readMDFiles(t, openIssuesDir(t, parent))
+		if len(files) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("expected 1 file, got %d", len(files))
+		}
+		iss, err := issue.Parse(files[0])
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("parse error: %v", err)
+		}
+		if iss.Milestone != "v1.2" {
+			t.Errorf("Milestone = %q, want %q", iss.Milestone, "v1.2")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("all metadata fields", func(t *testing.T) {
+		parent := makeProjectDir(t, nil)
+		chdirTo(t, parent)
+		resetCreateFlag(t)
+		t.Setenv("VISUAL", "")
+		t.Setenv("EDITOR", "")
+
+		injectStdin(t, "Full Issue\n\nbug\njames\nv2.0\n")
+		_ = captureStdout(t, func() {
+			if err := createCmd.RunE(createCmd, nil); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+		})
+
+		files := readMDFiles(t, openIssuesDir(t, parent))
+		if len(files) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("expected 1 file, got %d", len(files))
+		}
+		iss, err := issue.Parse(files[0])
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("parse error: %v", err)
+		}
+		if iss.Title != "Full Issue" {
+			t.Errorf("Title = %q, want %q", iss.Title, "Full Issue")
+		}
+		if len(iss.Labels) != 1 || iss.Labels[0] != "bug" {
+			t.Errorf("Labels = %v, want [bug]", iss.Labels)
+		}
+		if len(iss.Assignees) != 1 || iss.Assignees[0] != "james" {
+			t.Errorf("Assignees = %v, want [james]", iss.Assignees)
+		}
+		if iss.Milestone != "v2.0" {
+			t.Errorf("Milestone = %q, want %q", iss.Milestone, "v2.0")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("body e with no editor skips and still creates file", func(t *testing.T) {
+		parent := makeProjectDir(t, nil)
+		chdirTo(t, parent)
+		resetCreateFlag(t)
+		t.Setenv("VISUAL", "")
+		t.Setenv("EDITOR", "")
+
+		injectStdin(t, "My Bug\ne\n\n\n\n")
+		_ = captureStdout(t, func() {
+			if err := createCmd.RunE(createCmd, nil); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+		})
+
+		if files := readMDFiles(t, openIssuesDir(t, parent)); len(files) != 1 {
+			t.Errorf("expected 1 file, got %d", len(files))
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("body e with editor writes body", func(t *testing.T) {
+		parent := makeProjectDir(t, nil)
+		chdirTo(t, parent)
+		resetCreateFlag(t)
+
+		script := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "editor.sh")
+		if err := os.WriteFile(script, []byte(
+			"#!/bin/sh\ncat > \"$1\" <<'EOF'\n---\ntitle: My Bug\nstate: open\n---\n\nsome body\nEOF\n",
+		), 0755); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		t.Setenv("VISUAL", "")
+		t.Setenv("EDITOR", script)
+
+		injectStdin(t, "My Bug\ne\n\n\n\n")
+		_ = captureStdout(t, func() {
+			if err := createCmd.RunE(createCmd, nil); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+		})
+
+		files := readMDFiles(t, openIssuesDir(t, parent))
+		if len(files) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("expected 1 file, got %d", len(files))
+		}
+		iss, err := issue.Parse(files[0])
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("parse error: %v", err)
+		}
+		if iss.Body == "" {
+			t.Error("expected non-empty body after editor wrote content")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("T-number increments from existing issues", func(t *testing.T) {
+		parent := makeProjectDir(t, []issueFixture{
+			{"T1-existing.md", issue.Issue{Title: "Existing", State: "open"}},
+			{"T2-another.md", issue.Issue{Title: "Another", State: "open"}},
+		})
+		chdirTo(t, parent)
+		resetCreateFlag(t)
+		t.Setenv("VISUAL", "")
+		t.Setenv("EDITOR", "")
+
+		injectStdin(t, "New Issue\n\n\n\n\n")
+		_ = captureStdout(t, func() {
+			if err := createCmd.RunE(createCmd, nil); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+		})
+
+		files := readMDFiles(t, openIssuesDir(t, parent))
+		var newFile string
+		for _, f := range files {
+			base := filepath.Base(f)
+			if strings.HasPrefix(base, "T3-") {
+				newFile = f
+			}
+		}
+		if newFile == "" {
+			t.Errorf("expected a file prefixed T3-, got files: %v", files)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
 func TestCreateEditorFlag(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("no editor set returns error", func(t *testing.T) {
 		parent := makeProjectDir(t, nil)
diff --git a/cmd/fuzz_test.go b/cmd/fuzz_test.go
index 293d238..84c99de 100644
--- a/cmd/fuzz_test.go
+++ b/cmd/fuzz_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/jamesjohnsdev/issues/internal/issue"
@@ -72,3 +73,64 @@ func FuzzFindLocalByID(f *testing.F) {
 		}
 	})
 }
+
+func FuzzCreateInteractive(f *testing.F) {
+	f.Add("Fix the bug", "", "", "", "")
+	f.Add("Add feature", "e", "bug,feature", "alice", "v2.0")
+	f.Add("", "", "", "", "")
+	f.Add("title: with colon", "", "l1, l2", "a, b", "ms 1")
+	f.Add(strings.Repeat("x", 200), "", "label", "", "")
+	f.Add("  ", "", "", "", "")
+	f.Add("Nö ASCII", "", "", "", "")
+	f.Add("a", "e", "", "", "")
+
+	f.Fuzz(func(t *testing.T, title, bodyResp, labels, assignees, milestone string) {
+		parent := makeProjectDir(t, nil)
+		chdirTo(t, parent)
+
+		orig := createEditorFlag
+		t.Cleanup(func() { createEditorFlag = orig })
+		createEditorFlag = false
+
+		t.Setenv("VISUAL", "")
+		t.Setenv("EDITOR", "")
+
+		// Strip embedded newlines from each field so they don't bleed into
+		// adjacent prompts.
+		clean := func(s string) string { return strings.ReplaceAll(s, "\n", " ") }
+		stdin := strings.Join([]string{
+			clean(title), clean(bodyResp), clean(labels), clean(assignees), clean(milestone),
+		}, "\n") + "\n"
+
+		injectStdin(t, stdin)
+		_ = captureStdout(t, func() {
+			_ = createCmd.RunE(createCmd, nil)
+		})
+
+		openDir := filepath.Join(parent, issuesDirName, "open")
+		files := readMDFiles(t, openDir)
+
+		wantTitle := strings.TrimSpace(title)
+		if wantTitle == "" {
+			if len(files) != 0 {
+				t.Errorf("empty title produced %d files, want 0", len(files))
+			}
+			return
+		}
+
+		if len(files) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("title %q produced %d files, want 1", title, len(files))
+		}
+
+		iss, err := issue.Parse(files[0])
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("created file not parseable: %v", err)
+		}
+		if iss.Title != wantTitle {
+			t.Errorf("Title = %q, want %q", iss.Title, wantTitle)
+		}
+		if iss.State != "open" {
+			t.Errorf("State = %q, want open", iss.State)
+		}
+	})
+}
diff --git a/cmd/util_test.go b/cmd/util_test.go
index 6648edb..3167aba 100644
--- a/cmd/util_test.go
+++ b/cmd/util_test.go
@@ -82,6 +82,46 @@ func chdirTo(t *testing.T, dir string) {
 	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = os.Chdir(orig) })
 }
 
+// injectStdin replaces os.Stdin with a reader containing content for the
+// duration of the test.
+func injectStdin(t *testing.T, content string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	r, w, err := os.Pipe()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := w.WriteString(content); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := w.Close(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	old := os.Stdin
+	os.Stdin = r
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		os.Stdin = old
+		if err := r.Close(); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("injectStdin: close pipe: %v", err)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+// readMDFiles returns absolute paths to all .md files directly inside dir.
+func readMDFiles(t *testing.T, dir string) []string {
+	t.Helper()
+	entries, err := os.ReadDir(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var files []string
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		if !e.IsDir() && filepath.Ext(e.Name()) == ".md" {
+			files = append(files, filepath.Join(dir, e.Name()))
+		}
+	}
+	return files
+}
+
 // captureStdout runs fn and returns everything written to os.Stdout during its
 // execution.
 func captureStdout(t *testing.T, fn func()) string {