diff --git a/src/cli/commands/promote.ts b/src/cli/commands/promote.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f950f5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cli/commands/promote.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+import { Command } from 'commander';
+import { getEventById, getRecentEvents, createEvent } from '../../core/eventService.js';
+import { findOrCreateTask } from '../../core/taskService.js';
+import { findOrCreateTopic } from '../../core/topicService.js';
+import { findOrCreateProject } from '../../core/projectService.js';
+import { formatNextActionsOutput } from '../../lib/formatting.js';
+
+export function registerPromote(program: Command): void {
+  program
+    .command('promote')
+    .description('Promote a next action to a task (list next actions if --next is omitted)')
+    .option('--next <event-id>', 'Next action event ID to promote')
+    .option('--title <text>', 'Task title (defaults to next action summary)')
+    .option('--topic <name>', 'Topic name')
+    .option('--project <name>', 'Project name')
+    .action(async (options) => {
+      try {
+        // No --next: list recent next actions
+        if (!options.next) {
+          const events = getRecentEvents({
+            eventTypes: ['next_action_defined'],
+            limit: 20,
+          });
+          console.log(formatNextActionsOutput(events));
+          return;
+        }
+
+        // Find the target event
+        const event = getEventById(options.next);
+        if (!event) {
+          console.error(`Event not found: ${options.next}`);
+          process.exit(1);
+        }
+        if (event.event_type !== 'next_action_defined') {
+          console.error(`Event ${options.next} is not a next_action_defined event (got: ${event.event_type})`);
+          process.exit(1);
+        }
+
+        // Resolve project / topic
+        let projectId: string | undefined;
+        if (options.project) {
+          const project = findOrCreateProject(options.project);
+          projectId = project.id;
+        }
+
+        let topicId: string | undefined;
+        if (options.topic) {
+          topicId = findOrCreateTopic(options.topic, projectId).id;
+        } else if (event.topic_id) {
+          // Inherit topic from the original next_action event
+          topicId = event.topic_id;
+        }
+
+        // Create the task
+        const taskTitle = options.title ?? event.summary;
+        const task = findOrCreateTask(taskTitle, projectId);
+
+        // Record task_started event linked to the new task
+        const startEvent = createEvent({
+          event_type: 'task_started',
+          task_id: task.id,
+          topic_id: topicId,
+          project_id: projectId,
+          actor: 'human',
+          origin: 'manual',
+          summary: `Promoted from next action: ${event.summary}`,
+        });
+
+        console.log(`Task created: ${task.id}`);
+        console.log(`Title  : ${task.title}`);
+        console.log(`Event  : ${startEvent.id}`);
+        console.log(`Source : next_action ${event.id} (${event.occurred_at})`);
+        if (topicId) console.log(`Topic  : ${topicId}`);
+      } catch (err) {
+        console.error('Error:', err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err));
+        process.exit(1);
+      }
+    });
+}
diff --git a/src/cli/index.ts b/src/cli/index.ts
index b3284d4..3a76de7 100644
--- a/src/cli/index.ts
+++ b/src/cli/index.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import { registerLog } from './commands/log.js';
 import { registerTopics } from './commands/topics.js';
 import { registerTasks } from './commands/tasks.js';
 import { registerShow } from './commands/show.js';
+import { registerPromote } from './commands/promote.js';
 
 // Ensure ~/.worklog directory and DB exist on startup
 const worklogDir = join(process.env.HOME ?? '.', '.worklog');
@@ -50,5 +51,6 @@ registerLog(program);
 registerTopics(program);
 registerTasks(program);
 registerShow(program);
+registerPromote(program);
 
 program.parse();
diff --git a/src/core/eventService.ts b/src/core/eventService.ts
index 7338d52..8034b01 100644
--- a/src/core/eventService.ts
+++ b/src/core/eventService.ts
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ export function createEvent(input: CreateEventInput): Event {
   return getEventById(id)!;
 }
 
-function getEventById(id: string): Event | null {
+export function getEventById(id: string): Event | null {
   const db = getDb();
   const stmt = db.prepare('SELECT * FROM events WHERE id = ?');
   return (stmt.get(id) as Event) ?? null;
diff --git a/src/lib/formatting.ts b/src/lib/formatting.ts
index aa4bf7c..5fc1216 100644
--- a/src/lib/formatting.ts
+++ b/src/lib/formatting.ts
@@ -255,6 +255,28 @@ export function formatTopicsOutput(
   return lines.join('\n');
 }
 
+export function formatNextActionsOutput(events: Event[]): string {
+  if (events.length === 0) {
+    return 'No next actions found.';
+  }
+
+  const lines: string[] = [];
+  lines.push('='.repeat(72));
+  lines.push(`NEXT ACTIONS  (${events.length} entries)`);
+  lines.push('='.repeat(72));
+  lines.push(`${'ID'.padEnd(21)} ${'DATE'.padEnd(16)} ${'SUMMARY'}`);
+  lines.push('-'.repeat(72));
+
+  for (const e of events) {
+    const date = formatDate(e.occurred_at).padEnd(16);
+    lines.push(`${e.id.padEnd(21)} ${date} ${truncate(e.summary, 30)}`);
+  }
+
+  lines.push('='.repeat(72));
+  lines.push('To promote: ingest promote --next <ID> [--title <custom title>]');
+  return lines.join('\n');
+}
+
 const STATUS_LABELS: Record<string, string> = {
   active: 'ACTIVE',
   paused: 'PAUSED',