diff --git a/scripts/bash/create-new-feature.sh b/scripts/bash/create-new-feature.sh
index 5cb17fabe..60d37d192 100644
--- a/scripts/bash/create-new-feature.sh
+++ b/scripts/bash/create-new-feature.sh
@@ -3,18 +3,47 @@
 set -e
 
 JSON_MODE=false
+FEATURE_NAME=""
 ARGS=()
-for arg in "$@"; do
-    case "$arg" in
-        --json) JSON_MODE=true ;;
-        --help|-h) echo "Usage: $0 [--json] <feature_description>"; exit 0 ;;
-        *) ARGS+=("$arg") ;;
+
+# Parse arguments
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+    case "$1" in
+        --json)
+            JSON_MODE=true
+            shift
+            ;;
+        --feature-name=*)
+            FEATURE_NAME="${1#*=}"
+            shift
+            ;;
+        --feature-name)
+            if [[ -n "$2" && "$2" != --* ]]; then
+                FEATURE_NAME="$2"
+                shift 2
+            else
+                echo "Error: --feature-name requires a value" >&2
+                exit 1
+            fi
+            ;;
+        --help|-h)
+            echo "Usage: $0 [--json] [--feature-name=<name>] <feature_description>"
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+        -*)
+            echo "Unknown option: $1" >&2
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+        *)
+            ARGS+=("$1")
+            shift
+            ;;
     esac
 done
 
 FEATURE_DESCRIPTION="${ARGS[*]}"
 if [ -z "$FEATURE_DESCRIPTION" ]; then
-    echo "Usage: $0 [--json] <feature_description>" >&2
+    echo "Usage: $0 [--json] [--feature-name=<name>] <feature_description>" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -31,6 +60,34 @@ find_repo_root() {
     return 1
 }
 
+# Normalise AI-provided feature or description text into a kebab-case slug limited by an optional word cap.
+# Assumes input contains valid alphanumeric characters. WordLimit of 0 removes the cap.
+get_feature_slug() {
+    local raw="$1"
+    local word_limit="${2:-3}"
+    
+    # Convert to lowercase and replace non-alphanumeric with dashes
+    local slug=$(echo "$raw" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | sed 's/[^a-z0-9]/-/g' | sed 's/-\+/-/g' | sed 's/^-//' | sed 's/-$//')
+    
+    # Split into words and apply word limit
+    if [ "$word_limit" -le 0 ]; then
+        echo "$slug"
+    else
+        local words=()
+        IFS='-' read -ra ADDR <<< "$slug"
+        local count=0
+        for word in "${ADDR[@]}"; do
+            [ -n "$word" ] || continue
+            words+=("$word")
+            count=$((count + 1))
+            if [ "$count" -ge "$word_limit" ]; then
+                break
+            fi
+        done
+        IFS='-'; echo "${words[*]}"
+    fi
+}
+
 # Resolve repository root. Prefer git information when available, but fall back
 # to searching for repository markers so the workflow still functions in repositories that
 # were initialised with --no-git.
@@ -67,9 +124,14 @@ fi
 NEXT=$((HIGHEST + 1))
 FEATURE_NUM=$(printf "%03d" "$NEXT")
 
-BRANCH_NAME=$(echo "$FEATURE_DESCRIPTION" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | sed 's/[^a-z0-9]/-/g' | sed 's/-\+/-/g' | sed 's/^-//' | sed 's/-$//')
-WORDS=$(echo "$BRANCH_NAME" | tr '-' '\n' | grep -v '^$' | head -3 | tr '\n' '-' | sed 's/-$//')
-BRANCH_NAME="${FEATURE_NUM}-${WORDS}"
+# Generate slug for branch naming from AI-provided text: prioritize explicit feature name over description
+if [ -n "$FEATURE_NAME" ]; then
+    SELECTED_SLUG=$(get_feature_slug "$FEATURE_NAME" 0)
+else
+    SELECTED_SLUG=$(get_feature_slug "$FEATURE_DESCRIPTION" 3)
+fi
+
+BRANCH_NAME="${FEATURE_NUM}-${SELECTED_SLUG}"
 
 if [ "$HAS_GIT" = true ]; then
     git checkout -b "$BRANCH_NAME"
@@ -88,10 +150,11 @@ if [ -f "$TEMPLATE" ]; then cp "$TEMPLATE" "$SPEC_FILE"; else touch "$SPEC_FILE"
 export SPECIFY_FEATURE="$BRANCH_NAME"
 
 if $JSON_MODE; then
-    printf '{"BRANCH_NAME":"%s","SPEC_FILE":"%s","FEATURE_NUM":"%s"}\n' "$BRANCH_NAME" "$SPEC_FILE" "$FEATURE_NUM"
+    printf '{"BRANCH_NAME":"%s","SPEC_FILE":"%s","FEATURE_NUM":"%s","HAS_GIT":%s}\n' "$BRANCH_NAME" "$SPEC_FILE" "$FEATURE_NUM" "$([ "$HAS_GIT" = true ] && echo 'true' || echo 'false')"
 else
     echo "BRANCH_NAME: $BRANCH_NAME"
     echo "SPEC_FILE: $SPEC_FILE"
     echo "FEATURE_NUM: $FEATURE_NUM"
+    echo "HAS_GIT: $HAS_GIT"
     echo "SPECIFY_FEATURE environment variable set to: $BRANCH_NAME"
 fi
diff --git a/scripts/powershell/create-new-feature.ps1 b/scripts/powershell/create-new-feature.ps1
index 0f1f59127..193e0b241 100644
--- a/scripts/powershell/create-new-feature.ps1
+++ b/scripts/powershell/create-new-feature.ps1
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 [CmdletBinding()]
 param(
     [switch]$Json,
+    [string]$FeatureName,
     [Parameter(ValueFromRemainingArguments = $true)]
     [string[]]$FeatureDescription
 )
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ if (-not $FeatureDescription -or $FeatureDescription.Count -eq 0) {
     exit 1
 }
 $featureDesc = ($FeatureDescription -join ' ').Trim()
+$explicitFeatureName = if ($null -ne $FeatureName) { $FeatureName.Trim() } else { $null }
 
 # Resolve repository root. Prefer git information when available, but fall back
 # to searching for repository markers so the workflow still functions in repositories that
@@ -37,6 +39,31 @@ function Find-RepositoryRoot {
         $current = $parent
     }
 }
+
+# Normalise AI-provided feature or description text into a kebab-case slug limited by an optional word cap.
+# Assumes input contains valid alphanumeric characters. WordLimit of 0 removes the cap.
+function Get-FeatureSlug {
+    param(
+        [string]$Raw,
+        [int]$WordLimit = 3
+    )
+
+    $slug = $Raw.ToLower()
+    $slug = $slug -replace '[^a-z0-9]', '-' -replace '-{2,}', '-' -replace '^-', '' -replace '-$', ''
+
+    $parts = ($slug -split '-') | Where-Object { $_ }
+
+    if ($WordLimit -le 0) {
+        return [string]::Join('-', $parts)
+    }
+
+    if ($parts.Count -gt $WordLimit) {
+        $parts = $parts[0..($WordLimit - 1)]
+    }
+
+    return [string]::Join('-', $parts)
+}
+
 $fallbackRoot = (Find-RepositoryRoot -StartDir $PSScriptRoot)
 if (-not $fallbackRoot) {
     Write-Error "Error: Could not determine repository root. Please run this script from within the repository."
@@ -72,9 +99,15 @@ if (Test-Path $specsDir) {
 $next = $highest + 1
 $featureNum = ('{0:000}' -f $next)
 
-$branchName = $featureDesc.ToLower() -replace '[^a-z0-9]', '-' -replace '-{2,}', '-' -replace '^-', '' -replace '-$', ''
-$words = ($branchName -split '-') | Where-Object { $_ } | Select-Object -First 3
-$branchName = "$featureNum-$([string]::Join('-', $words))"
+# Generate slug for branch naming from AI-provided text: prioritize explicit feature name over description
+if (-not [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($explicitFeatureName)) {
+    $selectedSlug = Get-FeatureSlug -Raw $explicitFeatureName -WordLimit 0
+}
+else {
+    $selectedSlug = Get-FeatureSlug -Raw $featureDesc -WordLimit 3
+}
+
+$branchName = "$featureNum-$selectedSlug"
 
 if ($hasGit) {
     try {
diff --git a/templates/commands/specify.md b/templates/commands/specify.md
index 652c86a27..5648b630c 100644
--- a/templates/commands/specify.md
+++ b/templates/commands/specify.md
@@ -11,14 +11,21 @@ User input:
 
 $ARGUMENTS
 
-The text the user typed after `/specify` in the triggering message **is** the feature description. Assume you always have it available in this conversation even if `{ARGS}` appears literally below. Do not ask the user to repeat it unless they provided an empty command.
+The text the user typed after `/specify` in the triggering message **is** the feature description. Assume you always have it available in this conversation even if `$ARGUMENTS` appears literally below. Do not ask the user to repeat it unless they provided an empty command.
 
 Given that feature description, do this:
 
-1. Run the script `{SCRIPT}` from repo root and parse its JSON output for BRANCH_NAME and SPEC_FILE. All file paths must be absolute.
-  **IMPORTANT** You must only ever run this script once. The JSON is provided in the terminal as output - always refer to it to get the actual content you're looking for.
-2. Load `templates/spec-template.md` to understand required sections.
-3. Write the specification to SPEC_FILE using the template structure, replacing placeholders with concrete details derived from the feature description (arguments) while preserving section order and headings.
-4. Report completion with branch name, spec file path, and readiness for the next phase.
+1. Inspect the user input for an explicit feature name directive. Treat any line matching (case-insensitive) `feature-name:`, `feature name:`, `branch-name:`, or `branch name:` as providing the feature name; trim the value. Remove that directive line from the text you consider the feature description. If the trimmed value is empty, treat it as though no directive was supplied.
+2. If no explicit name was provided, synthesize a concise feature name from the description before continuing:
+   - Summarize the feature into a short 3–5 word phrase (Title Case, human readable).
+   - Avoid punctuation except spaces and basic hyphens.
+   - Use that generated phrase when passing `-FeatureName` in the next step.
+3. From repo root, run the script `.specify/scripts/powershell/create-new-feature.ps1 -Json` **exactly once**:
+   - Pass the cleaned feature description as positional arguments.
+   - Always include `-FeatureName "<value>"` where `<value>` is either the explicit directive or the synthesized name.
+   - Parse the JSON output for `BRANCH_NAME` and `SPEC_FILE`. All file paths must be absolute.
+4. Load `.specify/templates/spec-template.md` to understand required sections.
+5. Write the specification to SPEC_FILE using the template structure, replacing placeholders with concrete details derived from the feature description while preserving section order and headings.
+6. Report completion with branch name, spec file path, and readiness for the next phase.
 
 Note: The script creates and checks out the new branch and initializes the spec file before writing.