diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 41a64f2..71c0581 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Please follow along with the [initial release discussion](https://github.com/kid
 
 ## ⚡️ Requirements
 
-- Install [http.nvim](https://github.com/jcdickinson/http.nvim)
+- Instead of using the Jira API directly in all cases, this plugin leverages the [jira-cli tool](https://github.com/ankitpokhrel/jira-cli) to interact with Jira. You'll need to install it and configure it with your Jira credentials in order to use some of the features of this plugin.
 
 ## 📦 Installation
 
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ There is only an Jira <object> <action> [arguments] command.
 |---|---|---|
 | issue | view [issue_id] | View the given issue, if none provided it will attempt to extract one out of the current git branch (disabled via `use_git_branch_issue_id`), else falls back to a prompt |
 |   |  transition [issue_id] [transition_name] | Transition the ticket to a given status. Will attempt to extract issue ID from git branch, and will prompt if no options given
+|   |  create | Create a new issue. Will prompt for all required fields. It will also prompt you to create a branch with the created issue ID in the name.
 
 Additionally, the transition command has a Telescope picker.
 
@@ -95,4 +96,5 @@ There are no default mappings, but you can create your own. Here's an example:
 local t = require 'telescope'
 vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>jv', '<cmd>Jira issue view<cr>', {})
 vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>jt', t.extensions.jira.transitions, {})
+vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>jc', '<cmd>Jira issue create<cr>', {})
 ```
diff --git a/lua/jira/api_client.lua b/lua/jira/api_client.lua
index 9b64674..37d6079 100644
--- a/lua/jira/api_client.lua
+++ b/lua/jira/api_client.lua
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 local utils = require 'jira.utils'
 local config = require 'jira.config'
 local curl = require 'plenary.curl'
+local _, Job = pcall(require, 'plenary.job')
 
 local M = {}
 local transition_cache = {}
@@ -81,4 +82,45 @@ M.transition_issue = function(transition_id, issue_id)
   })
 end
 
+-- Creates an issue with the given type, summary, and optional description file path
+-- @param issue table - the issue to create
+-- @param issue.type string - the type of the issue
+-- @param issue.summary string - the summary of the issue
+-- @param issue.descriptionFile string - the path to the file containing the description
+-- @return table - the issue id and link
+-- e.g. { issue_id = 'ABC-1234', link = 'https://blah.atlassian.net/ABC-1234' }
+M.create_issue = function(issue)
+  local type = issue.type
+  local summary = issue.summary
+  local descriptionFilePath = issue.descriptionFile
+  assert(type, 'Missing issue type')
+  assert(summary, 'Missing issue summary')
+
+  local args = { 'issue', 'create', '-t', type, '-s', summary }
+  if descriptionFilePath then
+    table.insert(args, '-T')
+    table.insert(args, descriptionFilePath)
+  end
+
+  local job = Job:new {
+    enable_recording = true,
+    interactive = false,
+    command = 'jira',
+    args = args,
+    on_exit = function(_, code)
+      if code ~= 0 then
+        vim.nofity('Error creating issue', vim.log.levels.ERROR)
+      end
+    end,
+  }
+  job:sync()
+  local lines = job:result()
+  -- last line is the issue id
+  -- e.g. 'Issue created: ABC-1234'
+  -- extract the issue id:
+  -- 'ABC-1234'
+  local issue_id = lines[#lines]:match '([A-Z]+%-[0-9]+)'
+  return { issue_id = issue_id, link = lines[#lines] }
+end
+
 return M
diff --git a/lua/jira/commands.lua b/lua/jira/commands.lua
index 0783f74..f631740 100644
--- a/lua/jira/commands.lua
+++ b/lua/jira/commands.lua
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 local api_client = require 'jira.api_client'
 local utils = require 'jira.utils'
 local M = {}
+local config = require 'jira.config'
 
 M.setup = function()
   vim.api.nvim_create_user_command('Jira', function(opts)
@@ -16,6 +17,9 @@ M.setup = function()
       transition = function(transition_name, issue_id)
         M.transition_issue_name(transition_name, issue_id)
       end,
+      create = function(args)
+        M.create_issue(args)
+      end,
     },
   }
 end
@@ -106,4 +110,108 @@ function M.transition_issue_name(transition_name, issue_id)
   end
 end
 
+local function get_char_input()
+  local char = vim.fn.getchar()
+  -- if char is escape
+  if char == 27 then
+    return nil
+  end
+  return vim.fn.nr2char(char)
+end
+
+local function clear_prompt()
+  vim.api.nvim_command 'normal! :'
+end
+
+-- create a git branch with the issue id
+-- @param issue_id string - the issue id to use for the branch
+-- @param branch_suffix string - the suffix to append to the branch name
+local create_git_branch = function(issue_id, branch_suffix)
+  local branch_from = config.get_config().git_trunk_branch
+  vim.ui.input({
+    prompt = 'Enter branch to create branch from [esc to cancel]: ',
+    default = branch_from or 'main',
+  }, function(value)
+    branch_from = value
+  end)
+
+  if not branch_from or branch_from == '' then
+    return
+  end
+
+  utils.create_git_branch(issue_id, branch_suffix, branch_from)
+end
+
+function M.create_issue(issueType)
+  if not issueType then
+    vim.ui.input({
+      prompt = 'Issue type: ',
+      default = 'Task',
+    }, function(value)
+      issueType = value
+    end)
+  end
+  if not issueType or issueType == '' then
+    return
+  end
+
+  local summary
+  vim.ui.input({
+    prompt = 'Summary: ',
+  }, function(value)
+    summary = value
+  end)
+
+  if not summary or summary == '' then
+    return
+  end
+
+  clear_prompt()
+  print 'Edit description? (y/N)'
+  local res = get_char_input()
+  clear_prompt()
+  -- if user cancels
+  if res == nil then
+    return
+  end
+  local edit_description = false
+  if res:match '\r' or res:match '\n' or res:match 'n' or res:match 'N' then
+    edit_description = false
+  end
+  if res:match 'y' or res:match 'Y' then
+    edit_description = true
+  end
+
+  if not edit_description then
+    local r = api_client.create_issue {
+      type = issueType,
+      summary = summary,
+    }
+    vim.notify(r.link)
+    create_git_branch(r.issue_id, summary)
+    return
+  end
+
+  local tempfile = vim.fn.tempname()
+  local bufnr = vim.api.nvim_create_buf(true, false)
+  vim.api.nvim_buf_set_name(bufnr, tempfile)
+  vim.api.nvim_buf_set_option(bufnr, 'filetype', 'markdown')
+  vim.cmd 'split'
+  local win = vim.api.nvim_get_current_win()
+  vim.api.nvim_win_set_buf(win, bufnr)
+  vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('BufWritePost', {
+    buffer = bufnr,
+    callback = function()
+      local r = api_client.create_issue {
+        type = issueType,
+        summary = summary,
+        descriptionFile = tempfile,
+      }
+      vim.notify(r.link)
+      create_git_branch(r.issue_id, summary)
+      vim.api.nvim_buf_delete(bufnr, { force = true })
+    end,
+  })
+end
+
 return M
diff --git a/lua/jira/config.lua b/lua/jira/config.lua
index c02caa7..72dd2ec 100644
--- a/lua/jira/config.lua
+++ b/lua/jira/config.lua
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ M.defaults = {
     token = vim.env.JIRA_API_TOKEN,
   },
   use_git_branch_issue_id = true,
+  git_branch_prefix = 'feature/',
 }
 
 local config = {}
@@ -15,6 +16,10 @@ function M.get_config()
   return config or M.defaults
 end
 
+function M.set_current_issue(issue_id)
+  config.current_issue = issue_id
+end
+
 function M.setup(user_config)
   user_config = user_config or {}
   config = vim.tbl_deep_extend('force', M.defaults, user_config)
diff --git a/lua/jira/utils.lua b/lua/jira/utils.lua
index ce05ac8..80ab582 100644
--- a/lua/jira/utils.lua
+++ b/lua/jira/utils.lua
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 local M = {}
+local _, Job = pcall(require, 'plenary.job')
+local config = require 'jira.config'
 
 function Set(list)
   local set = {}
@@ -324,4 +326,23 @@ M.get_issue_id = function(issue_id)
   return issue_id
 end
 
+M.create_git_branch = function(issue_id, branch_suffix, branch_from)
+  -- replace whitespace with hyphens
+  branch_suffix = branch_suffix:gsub('%s', '-')
+  -- lowercase and strip all non-alphanumeric characters
+  branch_suffix = branch_suffix:gsub('[^%w-]+', ''):lower()
+
+  local branch_prefix = config.get_config().git_branch_prefix
+  local branch = branch_prefix .. issue_id .. '/' .. branch_suffix
+  Job:new({
+    command = 'git',
+    args = { 'branch', branch, branch_from or 'main' },
+    on_exit = function(_, code)
+      if code ~= 0 then
+        vim.notify('Error creating branch', vim.log.levels.ERROR)
+      end
+    end,
+  }):sync()
+end
+
 return M