diff --git a/internal/workspace/create.go b/internal/workspace/create.go
index 9dae4ad..2c0fd5f 100644
--- a/internal/workspace/create.go
+++ b/internal/workspace/create.go
@@ -134,6 +134,19 @@ func Create(opts CreateOpts) (*CreateResult, error) {
 		WorkspacePath: wsDir,
 		ArchivedAt:    nil,
 	}
+	if opts.IsProject {
+		meta.LaunchDir = actualSlug
+	}
+
+	// v0.5: project workspaces get an empty subdirectory named after the
+	// final suffixed slug. ctask does not seed any files inside it; the
+	// user populates it with their project code + their own CLAUDE.md.
+	if opts.IsProject {
+		projDir := filepath.Join(wsDir, actualSlug)
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(projDir, 0755); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("creating project subdir: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
 
 	// task.yaml is always written by ctask, AFTER the seed step, so seeds can
 	// never inject a stale or malformed task.yaml.
diff --git a/internal/workspace/create_test.go b/internal/workspace/create_test.go
index ea00874..52ec018 100644
--- a/internal/workspace/create_test.go
+++ b/internal/workspace/create_test.go
@@ -309,3 +309,83 @@ func TestCreateCollisionSuffix(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("collision slug: got %q, want \"same-name-2\"", meta2.Slug)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestCreateProjectScaffoldsSubdirAndSetsLaunchDir(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	res, err := Create(CreateOpts{
+		Root:      root,
+		Title:     "litlink-v2",
+		Category:  "projects",
+		Mode:      "local",
+		Agent:     "claude",
+		IsProject: true,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Create: %v", err)
+	}
+	subdir := filepath.Join(res.Path, res.Meta.Slug)
+	info, err := os.Stat(subdir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("project subdir missing: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !info.IsDir() {
+		t.Errorf("project subdir exists but is not a directory")
+	}
+	entries, _ := os.ReadDir(subdir)
+	if len(entries) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("project subdir must be empty, got %d entries", len(entries))
+	}
+	if res.Meta.LaunchDir != res.Meta.Slug {
+		t.Errorf("LaunchDir: got %q, want slug %q", res.Meta.LaunchDir, res.Meta.Slug)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCreateProjectSubdirMatchesSuffixedSlug(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	first, err := Create(CreateOpts{
+		Root: root, Title: "dup", Category: "projects",
+		Mode: "local", Agent: "claude", IsProject: true,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("first Create: %v", err)
+	}
+	if first.Meta.Slug != "dup" {
+		t.Fatalf("first slug: got %q, want %q", first.Meta.Slug, "dup")
+	}
+
+	second, err := Create(CreateOpts{
+		Root: root, Title: "dup", Category: "projects",
+		Mode: "local", Agent: "claude", IsProject: true,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("second Create: %v", err)
+	}
+	if second.Meta.Slug == "dup" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected suffixed slug, got %q", second.Meta.Slug)
+	}
+	subdir := filepath.Join(second.Path, second.Meta.Slug)
+	if _, err := os.Stat(subdir); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("subdir %q missing: %v", second.Meta.Slug, err)
+	}
+	if second.Meta.LaunchDir != second.Meta.Slug {
+		t.Errorf("LaunchDir: got %q, want %q", second.Meta.LaunchDir, second.Meta.Slug)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCreateTaskDoesNotScaffoldSubdir(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	res, err := Create(CreateOpts{
+		Root: root, Title: "hello", Category: "general",
+		Mode: "local", Agent: "claude", IsProject: false,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Create: %v", err)
+	}
+	subdir := filepath.Join(res.Path, res.Meta.Slug)
+	if _, err := os.Stat(subdir); err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("task workspace should not have a slug-named subdir; found %s", subdir)
+	}
+	if res.Meta.LaunchDir != "" {
+		t.Errorf("LaunchDir: got %q, want empty", res.Meta.LaunchDir)
+	}
+}