diff --git a/src/cli.rs b/src/cli.rs
index 8c25b5cda32884530c08036ae89ffd826f25d297..ee3b010f5ed75f0b7ea9299c453d8092a8d893ce 100644
--- a/src/cli.rs
+++ b/src/cli.rs
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ pub enum Command {
         #[arg(short, long, default_value_t = 2)]
         priority: i32,
 
+        /// Effort level (1=low, 2=medium, 3=high)
+        #[arg(short, long, default_value_t = 2)]
+        effort: i32,
+
         /// Task type
         #[arg(short = 't', long = "type", default_value = "task")]
         task_type: String,
diff --git a/src/cmd/create.rs b/src/cmd/create.rs
index cd9b782e188f523971e3533a30e76d0a91d659b8..a617ef1d79b07d41475c5c3919c5f9e847cc0b05 100644
--- a/src/cmd/create.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/create.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ use crate::db;
 pub struct Opts<'a> {
     pub title: Option<&'a str>,
     pub priority: i32,
+    pub effort: i32,
     pub task_type: &'a str,
     pub desc: Option<&'a str>,
     pub parent: Option<&'a str>,
@@ -34,14 +35,15 @@ pub fn run(root: &Path, opts: Opts) -> Result<()> {
     };
 
     conn.execute(
-        "INSERT INTO tasks (id, title, description, type, priority, status, parent, created, updated)
-         VALUES (?1, ?2, ?3, ?4, ?5, 'open', ?6, ?7, ?8)",
+        "INSERT INTO tasks (id, title, description, type, priority, status, effort, parent, created, updated)
+         VALUES (?1, ?2, ?3, ?4, ?5, 'open', ?6, ?7, ?8, ?9)",
         rusqlite::params![
             id,
             title,
             desc,
             opts.task_type,
             opts.priority,
+            opts.effort,
             opts.parent.unwrap_or(""),
             ts,
             ts
@@ -68,6 +70,7 @@ pub fn run(root: &Path, opts: Opts) -> Result<()> {
             task_type: opts.task_type.to_string(),
             priority: opts.priority,
             status: "open".to_string(),
+            effort: opts.effort,
             parent: opts.parent.unwrap_or("").to_string(),
             created: ts.clone(),
             updated: ts,
diff --git a/src/cmd/export.rs b/src/cmd/export.rs
index 40014863a11010ba31a3819bce1ea33b4677dc19..f212cc70f3087999b930fd5d2cc88a04a6810aaf 100644
--- a/src/cmd/export.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/export.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ pub fn run(root: &Path) -> Result<()> {
     let conn = db::open(root)?;
 
     let mut stmt = conn.prepare(
-        "SELECT id, title, description, type, priority, status, parent, created, updated
+        "SELECT id, title, description, type, priority, status, effort, parent, created, updated
          FROM tasks ORDER BY id",
     )?;
 
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ pub fn run(root: &Path) -> Result<()> {
                 task_type: t.task_type.clone(),
                 priority: t.priority,
                 status: t.status.clone(),
+                effort: t.effort,
                 parent: t.parent.clone(),
                 created: t.created.clone(),
                 updated: t.updated.clone(),
diff --git a/src/cmd/import.rs b/src/cmd/import.rs
index 23c47b52b47a1b0865b6085ffc5b6f01893f898f..ad0fe3f2fd2e2f71164958ea7b26327e992e1943 100644
--- a/src/cmd/import.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/import.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ struct ImportTask {
     priority: i32,
     #[serde(default = "default_status")]
     status: String,
+    #[serde(default = "default_effort")]
+    effort: i32,
     #[serde(default)]
     parent: String,
     created: String,
@@ -36,6 +38,9 @@ fn default_priority() -> i32 {
 fn default_status() -> String {
     "open".into()
 }
+fn default_effort() -> i32 {
+    2
+}
 
 pub fn run(root: &Path, file: &str) -> Result<()> {
     let conn = db::open(root)?;
@@ -58,8 +63,8 @@ pub fn run(root: &Path, file: &str) -> Result<()> {
 
         conn.execute(
             "INSERT OR REPLACE INTO tasks
-             (id, title, description, type, priority, status, parent, created, updated)
-             VALUES (?1, ?2, ?3, ?4, ?5, ?6, ?7, ?8, ?9)",
+             (id, title, description, type, priority, status, effort, parent, created, updated)
+             VALUES (?1, ?2, ?3, ?4, ?5, ?6, ?7, ?8, ?9, ?10)",
             rusqlite::params![
                 t.id,
                 t.title,
@@ -67,6 +72,7 @@ pub fn run(root: &Path, file: &str) -> Result<()> {
                 t.task_type,
                 t.priority,
                 t.status,
+                t.effort,
                 t.parent,
                 t.created,
                 t.updated,
diff --git a/src/cmd/list.rs b/src/cmd/list.rs
index 4def99d9a349557d25e93c6f89888694ae208dca..6637d323a0c87b3e227e4465a6d71952e29d01a7 100644
--- a/src/cmd/list.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/list.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ pub fn run(
     let conn = db::open(root)?;
 
     let mut sql = String::from(
-        "SELECT id, title, description, type, priority, status, parent, created, updated
+        "SELECT id, title, description, type, priority, status, effort, parent, created, updated
          FROM tasks WHERE 1=1",
     );
     let mut params: Vec<Box<dyn rusqlite::types::ToSql>> = Vec::new();
diff --git a/src/cmd/mod.rs b/src/cmd/mod.rs
index 52ed422b69e79e8d89b0d6e04a5a11c3df4ccc53..090b271a359f9f2d9cb4ed977a2aa2a5870e7b32 100644
--- a/src/cmd/mod.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/mod.rs
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ pub fn dispatch(cli: &Cli) -> Result<()> {
         Command::Create {
             title,
             priority,
+            effort,
             task_type,
             desc,
             parent,
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ pub fn dispatch(cli: &Cli) -> Result<()> {
                 create::Opts {
                     title: title.as_deref(),
                     priority: *priority,
+                    effort: *effort,
                     task_type,
                     desc: desc.as_deref(),
                     parent: parent.as_deref(),
diff --git a/src/cmd/ready.rs b/src/cmd/ready.rs
index b0cfd129260912847eb6b95003b2910e34362a8e..b5e75b6cc0a1cb10d6f8d7cd0a32fd64973907c1 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ready.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/ready.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ pub fn run(root: &Path, json: bool) -> Result<()> {
     let conn = db::open(root)?;
 
     let mut stmt = conn.prepare(
-        "SELECT id, title, description, type, priority, status, parent, created, updated
+        "SELECT id, title, description, type, priority, status, effort, parent, created, updated
          FROM tasks
          WHERE status = 'open'
            AND id NOT IN (
diff --git a/src/cmd/search.rs b/src/cmd/search.rs
index 91400b66fd6b7138575f336be106db93bf84dc7d..12cebb75af4f84e77f6bccf09bd15a3e272edbb1 100644
--- a/src/cmd/search.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/search.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ pub fn run(root: &Path, query: &str, json: bool) -> Result<()> {
     let pattern = format!("%{query}%");
 
     let mut stmt = conn.prepare(
-        "SELECT id, title, description, type, priority, status, parent, created, updated
+        "SELECT id, title, description, type, priority, status, effort, parent, created, updated
          FROM tasks
          WHERE title LIKE ?1 OR description LIKE ?1",
     )?;
diff --git a/src/cmd/show.rs b/src/cmd/show.rs
index 385016d9f04800238dd0dd1219878ae5519d9fb8..4e689da657e9cca48e561c3222b2483c7497f4a5 100644
--- a/src/cmd/show.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/show.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ pub fn run(root: &Path, id: &str, json: bool) -> Result<()> {
         println!("{}       title{} = {}", c.bold, c.reset, t.title);
         println!("{}      status{} = {}", c.bold, c.reset, t.status);
         println!("{}    priority{} = {}", c.bold, c.reset, t.priority);
+        println!("{}      effort{} = {}", c.bold, c.reset, t.effort);
         println!("{}        type{} = {}", c.bold, c.reset, t.task_type);
         if !t.description.is_empty() {
             println!("{} description{} = {}", c.bold, c.reset, t.description);
diff --git a/src/db.rs b/src/db.rs
index ccc95040c8a48551a4922b16e65ef4772867a2dc..8d4bec2c35d4535c675857deb3161a02b7628f8b 100644
--- a/src/db.rs
+++ b/src/db.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ pub struct Task {
     pub task_type: String,
     pub priority: i32,
     pub status: String,
+    pub effort: i32,
     pub parent: String,
     pub created: String,
     pub updated: String,
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ pub fn row_to_task(row: &rusqlite::Row) -> rusqlite::Result<Task> {
         task_type: row.get("type")?,
         priority: row.get("priority")?,
         status: row.get("status")?,
+        effort: row.get("effort")?,
         parent: row.get("parent")?,
         created: row.get("created")?,
         updated: row.get("updated")?,
@@ -89,7 +91,7 @@ pub fn load_blockers(conn: &Connection, task_id: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>> {
 /// Load a full task with labels and blockers.
 pub fn load_task_detail(conn: &Connection, id: &str) -> Result<TaskDetail> {
     let task = conn.query_row(
-        "SELECT id, title, description, type, priority, status, parent, created, updated
+        "SELECT id, title, description, type, priority, status, effort, parent, created, updated
          FROM tasks WHERE id = ?1",
         [id],
         row_to_task,
diff --git a/src/migrate.rs b/src/migrate.rs
index e5dad9633bf1f871cd2aaf167ed12d2ab5c6970f..069541f489a7543d1542b06eb1f844c0781de3b2 100644
--- a/src/migrate.rs
+++ b/src/migrate.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ static MIGRATIONS: &[Migration] = &[
         post_hook_up: None,
         post_hook_down: None,
     },
+    // 1 → 2: add effort column (integer-backed, default medium)
+    Migration {
+        up_sql: include_str!("migrations/0002_add_effort.up.sql"),
+        down_sql: include_str!("migrations/0002_add_effort.down.sql"),
+        post_hook_up: None,
+        post_hook_down: None,
+    },
 ];
 
 /// Read the current schema version from the database.
diff --git a/src/migrations/0002_add_effort.down.sql b/src/migrations/0002_add_effort.down.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..559eafc10acba632f3ae8fdc571b4ff7d5cb94dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/migrations/0002_add_effort.down.sql
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ALTER TABLE tasks DROP COLUMN effort;
diff --git a/src/migrations/0002_add_effort.up.sql b/src/migrations/0002_add_effort.up.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f88cc4c429153c06a1343579562d3919bf7b2812
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/migrations/0002_add_effort.up.sql
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ALTER TABLE tasks ADD COLUMN effort INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 2;