diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 219a4cb9..bb47e365 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,29 @@ All notable changes to the Specify CLI and templates are documented here.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.0.20] - 2025-10-14
+
+### Added
+
+- **Intelligent Branch Naming**: `create-new-feature` scripts now support `--short-name` parameter for custom branch names
+  - When `--short-name` provided: Uses the custom name directly (cleaned and formatted)
+  - When omitted: Automatically generates meaningful names using stop word filtering and length-based filtering
+  - Filters out common stop words (I, want, to, the, for, etc.)
+  - Removes words shorter than 3 characters (unless they're uppercase acronyms)
+  - Takes 3-4 most meaningful words from the description
+  - **Enforces GitHub's 244-byte branch name limit** with automatic truncation and warnings
+  - Examples:
+    - "I want to create user authentication" → `001-create-user-authentication`
+    - "Implement OAuth2 integration for API" → `001-implement-oauth2-integration-api`
+    - "Fix payment processing bug" → `001-fix-payment-processing`
+    - Very long descriptions are automatically truncated at word boundaries to stay within limits
+  - Designed for AI agents to provide semantic short names while maintaining standalone usability
+
+### Changed
+
+- Enhanced help documentation for `create-new-feature.sh` and `create-new-feature.ps1` scripts with examples
+- Branch names now validated against GitHub's 244-byte limit with automatic truncation if needed
+
 ## [0.0.19] - 2025-10-10
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/scripts/bash/create-new-feature.sh b/scripts/bash/create-new-feature.sh
index 5cb17fab..574e9152 100644
--- a/scripts/bash/create-new-feature.sh
+++ b/scripts/bash/create-new-feature.sh
@@ -3,18 +3,42 @@
 set -e
 
 JSON_MODE=false
+SHORT_NAME=""
 ARGS=()
-for arg in "$@"; do
+i=0
+while [ $i -lt $# ]; do
+    arg="${!i}"
     case "$arg" in
-        --json) JSON_MODE=true ;;
-        --help|-h) echo "Usage: $0 [--json] <feature_description>"; exit 0 ;;
-        *) ARGS+=("$arg") ;;
+        --json) 
+            JSON_MODE=true 
+            ;;
+        --short-name)
+            i=$((i + 1))
+            SHORT_NAME="${!i}"
+            ;;
+        --help|-h) 
+            echo "Usage: $0 [--json] [--short-name <name>] <feature_description>"
+            echo ""
+            echo "Options:"
+            echo "  --json              Output in JSON format"
+            echo "  --short-name <name> Provide a custom short name (2-4 words) for the branch"
+            echo "  --help, -h          Show this help message"
+            echo ""
+            echo "Examples:"
+            echo "  $0 'Add user authentication system' --short-name 'user-auth'"
+            echo "  $0 'Implement OAuth2 integration for API'"
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+        *) 
+            ARGS+=("$arg") 
+            ;;
     esac
+    i=$((i + 1))
 done
 
 FEATURE_DESCRIPTION="${ARGS[*]}"
 if [ -z "$FEATURE_DESCRIPTION" ]; then
-    echo "Usage: $0 [--json] <feature_description>" >&2
+    echo "Usage: $0 [--json] [--short-name <name>] <feature_description>" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -67,9 +91,84 @@ 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}"
+# Function to generate branch name with stop word filtering and length filtering
+generate_branch_name() {
+    local description="$1"
+    
+    # Common stop words to filter out
+    local stop_words="^(i|a|an|the|to|for|of|in|on|at|by|with|from|is|are|was|were|be|been|being|have|has|had|do|does|did|will|would|should|could|can|may|might|must|shall|this|that|these|those|my|your|our|their|want|need|add|get|set)$"
+    
+    # Convert to lowercase and split into words
+    local clean_name=$(echo "$description" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | sed 's/[^a-z0-9]/ /g')
+    
+    # Filter words: remove stop words and words shorter than 3 chars (unless they're uppercase acronyms in original)
+    local meaningful_words=()
+    for word in $clean_name; do
+        # Skip empty words
+        [ -z "$word" ] && continue
+        
+        # Keep words that are NOT stop words AND (length >= 3 OR are potential acronyms)
+        if ! echo "$word" | grep -qiE "$stop_words"; then
+            if [ ${#word} -ge 3 ]; then
+                meaningful_words+=("$word")
+            elif echo "$description" | grep -q "\b${word^^}\b"; then
+                # Keep short words if they appear as uppercase in original (likely acronyms)
+                meaningful_words+=("$word")
+            fi
+        fi
+    done
+    
+    # If we have meaningful words, use first 3-4 of them
+    if [ ${#meaningful_words[@]} -gt 0 ]; then
+        local max_words=3
+        if [ ${#meaningful_words[@]} -eq 4 ]; then max_words=4; fi
+        
+        local result=""
+        local count=0
+        for word in "${meaningful_words[@]}"; do
+            if [ $count -ge $max_words ]; then break; fi
+            if [ -n "$result" ]; then result="$result-"; fi
+            result="$result$word"
+            count=$((count + 1))
+        done
+        echo "$result"
+    else
+        # Fallback to original logic if no meaningful words found
+        echo "$description" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | sed 's/[^a-z0-9]/-/g' | sed 's/-\+/-/g' | sed 's/^-//' | sed 's/-$//' | tr '-' '\n' | grep -v '^$' | head -3 | tr '\n' '-' | sed 's/-$//'
+    fi
+}
+
+# Generate branch name
+if [ -n "$SHORT_NAME" ]; then
+    # Use provided short name, just clean it up
+    BRANCH_SUFFIX=$(echo "$SHORT_NAME" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | sed 's/[^a-z0-9]/-/g' | sed 's/-\+/-/g' | sed 's/^-//' | sed 's/-$//')
+else
+    # Generate from description with smart filtering
+    BRANCH_SUFFIX=$(generate_branch_name "$FEATURE_DESCRIPTION")
+fi
+
+BRANCH_NAME="${FEATURE_NUM}-${BRANCH_SUFFIX}"
+
+# GitHub enforces a 244-byte limit on branch names
+# Validate and truncate if necessary
+MAX_BRANCH_LENGTH=244
+if [ ${#BRANCH_NAME} -gt $MAX_BRANCH_LENGTH ]; then
+    # Calculate how much we need to trim from suffix
+    # Account for: feature number (3) + hyphen (1) = 4 chars
+    MAX_SUFFIX_LENGTH=$((MAX_BRANCH_LENGTH - 4))
+    
+    # Truncate suffix at word boundary if possible
+    TRUNCATED_SUFFIX=$(echo "$BRANCH_SUFFIX" | cut -c1-$MAX_SUFFIX_LENGTH)
+    # Remove trailing hyphen if truncation created one
+    TRUNCATED_SUFFIX=$(echo "$TRUNCATED_SUFFIX" | sed 's/-$//')
+    
+    ORIGINAL_BRANCH_NAME="$BRANCH_NAME"
+    BRANCH_NAME="${FEATURE_NUM}-${TRUNCATED_SUFFIX}"
+    
+    >&2 echo "[specify] Warning: Branch name exceeded GitHub's 244-byte limit"
+    >&2 echo "[specify] Original: $ORIGINAL_BRANCH_NAME (${#ORIGINAL_BRANCH_NAME} bytes)"
+    >&2 echo "[specify] Truncated to: $BRANCH_NAME (${#BRANCH_NAME} bytes)"
+fi
 
 if [ "$HAS_GIT" = true ]; then
     git checkout -b "$BRANCH_NAME"
diff --git a/scripts/powershell/create-new-feature.ps1 b/scripts/powershell/create-new-feature.ps1
index 0f1f5912..a9a57ef9 100644
--- a/scripts/powershell/create-new-feature.ps1
+++ b/scripts/powershell/create-new-feature.ps1
@@ -3,15 +3,34 @@
 [CmdletBinding()]
 param(
     [switch]$Json,
+    [string]$ShortName,
     [Parameter(ValueFromRemainingArguments = $true)]
     [string[]]$FeatureDescription
 )
 $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
 
-if (-not $FeatureDescription -or $FeatureDescription.Count -eq 0) {
-    Write-Error "Usage: ./create-new-feature.ps1 [-Json] <feature description>"
-    exit 1
+# Show help if requested or no description provided
+if (($FeatureDescription -contains '--help') -or ($FeatureDescription -contains '-h') -or 
+    (-not $FeatureDescription) -or ($FeatureDescription.Count -eq 0)) {
+    
+    if (($FeatureDescription -contains '--help') -or ($FeatureDescription -contains '-h')) {
+        Write-Host "Usage: ./create-new-feature.ps1 [-Json] [-ShortName <name>] <feature description>"
+        Write-Host ""
+        Write-Host "Options:"
+        Write-Host "  -Json               Output in JSON format"
+        Write-Host "  -ShortName <name>   Provide a custom short name (2-4 words) for the branch"
+        Write-Host "  -h, --help          Show this help message"
+        Write-Host ""
+        Write-Host "Examples:"
+        Write-Host "  ./create-new-feature.ps1 'Add user authentication system' -ShortName 'user-auth'"
+        Write-Host "  ./create-new-feature.ps1 'Implement OAuth2 integration for API'"
+        exit 0
+    } else {
+        Write-Error "Usage: ./create-new-feature.ps1 [-Json] [-ShortName <name>] <feature description>"
+        exit 1
+    }
 }
+
 $featureDesc = ($FeatureDescription -join ' ').Trim()
 
 # Resolve repository root. Prefer git information when available, but fall back
@@ -72,9 +91,82 @@ 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('-', $words))"
+# Function to generate branch name with stop word filtering and length filtering
+function Get-BranchName {
+    param([string]$Description)
+    
+    # Common stop words to filter out
+    $stopWords = @(
+        'i', 'a', 'an', 'the', 'to', 'for', 'of', 'in', 'on', 'at', 'by', 'with', 'from',
+        'is', 'are', 'was', 'were', 'be', 'been', 'being', 'have', 'has', 'had',
+        'do', 'does', 'did', 'will', 'would', 'should', 'could', 'can', 'may', 'might', 'must', 'shall',
+        'this', 'that', 'these', 'those', 'my', 'your', 'our', 'their',
+        'want', 'need', 'add', 'get', 'set'
+    )
+    
+    # Convert to lowercase and extract words (alphanumeric only)
+    $cleanName = $Description.ToLower() -replace '[^a-z0-9\s]', ' '
+    $words = $cleanName -split '\s+' | Where-Object { $_ }
+    
+    # Filter words: remove stop words and words shorter than 3 chars (unless they're uppercase acronyms in original)
+    $meaningfulWords = @()
+    foreach ($word in $words) {
+        # Skip stop words
+        if ($stopWords -contains $word) { continue }
+        
+        # Keep words that are length >= 3 OR appear as uppercase in original (likely acronyms)
+        if ($word.Length -ge 3) {
+            $meaningfulWords += $word
+        } elseif ($Description -match "\b$($word.ToUpper())\b") {
+            # Keep short words if they appear as uppercase in original (likely acronyms)
+            $meaningfulWords += $word
+        }
+    }
+    
+    # If we have meaningful words, use first 3-4 of them
+    if ($meaningfulWords.Count -gt 0) {
+        $maxWords = if ($meaningfulWords.Count -eq 4) { 4 } else { 3 }
+        $result = ($meaningfulWords | Select-Object -First $maxWords) -join '-'
+        return $result
+    } else {
+        # Fallback to original logic if no meaningful words found
+        $result = $Description.ToLower() -replace '[^a-z0-9]', '-' -replace '-{2,}', '-' -replace '^-', '' -replace '-$', ''
+        $fallbackWords = ($result -split '-') | Where-Object { $_ } | Select-Object -First 3
+        return [string]::Join('-', $fallbackWords)
+    }
+}
+
+# Generate branch name
+if ($ShortName) {
+    # Use provided short name, just clean it up
+    $branchSuffix = $ShortName.ToLower() -replace '[^a-z0-9]', '-' -replace '-{2,}', '-' -replace '^-', '' -replace '-$', ''
+} else {
+    # Generate from description with smart filtering
+    $branchSuffix = Get-BranchName -Description $featureDesc
+}
+
+$branchName = "$featureNum-$branchSuffix"
+
+# GitHub enforces a 244-byte limit on branch names
+# Validate and truncate if necessary
+$maxBranchLength = 244
+if ($branchName.Length -gt $maxBranchLength) {
+    # Calculate how much we need to trim from suffix
+    # Account for: feature number (3) + hyphen (1) = 4 chars
+    $maxSuffixLength = $maxBranchLength - 4
+    
+    # Truncate suffix
+    $truncatedSuffix = $branchSuffix.Substring(0, [Math]::Min($branchSuffix.Length, $maxSuffixLength))
+    # Remove trailing hyphen if truncation created one
+    $truncatedSuffix = $truncatedSuffix -replace '-$', ''
+    
+    $originalBranchName = $branchName
+    $branchName = "$featureNum-$truncatedSuffix"
+    
+    Write-Warning "[specify] Branch name exceeded GitHub's 244-byte limit"
+    Write-Warning "[specify] Original: $originalBranchName ($($originalBranchName.Length) bytes)"
+    Write-Warning "[specify] Truncated to: $branchName ($($branchName.Length) bytes)"
+}
 
 if ($hasGit) {
     try {