diff --git a/src/components/CreateTaskModal.tsx b/src/components/CreateTaskModal.tsx
index baf309a..61ed735 100644
--- a/src/components/CreateTaskModal.tsx
+++ b/src/components/CreateTaskModal.tsx
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import type { Milestone, Project, Task } from '@/types'
 const TASK_TYPES = [
   { value: 'story', label: 'Story', subtypes: ['improvement', 'refactor'] },  // P9.6: 'feature' removed — must come from propose accept
   { value: 'issue', label: 'Issue', subtypes: ['infrastructure', 'performance', 'regression', 'security', 'user_experience', 'defect'] },
-  { value: 'task', label: 'Task', subtypes: ['defect'] },
+  // P7.1: 'task' type removed — defect subtype migrated to issue/defect
   { value: 'test', label: 'Test', subtypes: ['regression', 'security', 'smoke', 'stress'] },
   { value: 'maintenance', label: 'Maintenance', subtypes: ['deploy'] },  // P9.6: 'release' removed — controlled via milestone flow
   { value: 'research', label: 'Research', subtypes: [] },
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ const makeInitialForm = (projectId = 0, milestoneId = 0): FormState => ({
   description: '',
   project_id: projectId,
   milestone_id: milestoneId,
-  task_type: 'task',
+  task_type: 'issue',  // P7.1: default changed from 'task' to 'issue'
   task_subtype: '',
   priority: 'medium',
   tags: '',
diff --git a/src/pages/CreateTaskPage.tsx b/src/pages/CreateTaskPage.tsx
index 90b1604..8a1c82e 100644
--- a/src/pages/CreateTaskPage.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/CreateTaskPage.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import type { Project, Milestone } from '@/types'
 const TASK_TYPES = [
   { value: 'story', label: 'Story', subtypes: ['improvement', 'refactor'] },  // P9.6: 'feature' removed — must come from propose accept
   { value: 'issue', label: 'Issue', subtypes: ['infrastructure', 'performance', 'regression', 'security', 'user_experience', 'defect'] },
-  { value: 'task', label: 'Task', subtypes: ['defect'] },
+  // P7.1: 'task' type removed — defect subtype migrated to issue/defect
   { value: 'test', label: 'Test', subtypes: ['regression', 'security', 'smoke', 'stress'] },
   { value: 'maintenance', label: 'Maintenance', subtypes: ['deploy'] },  // P9.6: 'release' removed — controlled via milestone flow
   { value: 'research', label: 'Research', subtypes: [] },
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export default function CreateTaskPage() {
   const [projects, setProjects] = useState<Project[]>([])
   const [milestones, setMilestones] = useState<Milestone[]>([])
   const [form, setForm] = useState({
-    title: '', description: '', project_id: 0, milestone_id: 0, task_type: 'task',
+    title: '', description: '', project_id: 0, milestone_id: 0, task_type: 'issue',  // P7.1: default changed from 'task' to 'issue'
     task_subtype: '', priority: 'medium', tags: '', reporter_id: 1,
   })
 
diff --git a/src/types/index.ts b/src/types/index.ts
index 1000962..bdb3594 100644
--- a/src/types/index.ts
+++ b/src/types/index.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ export interface Task {
   id: number
   title: string
   description: string | null
-  task_type: 'issue' | 'maintenance' | 'research' | 'review' | 'story' | 'test' | 'resolution' | 'task'
+  task_type: 'issue' | 'maintenance' | 'research' | 'review' | 'story' | 'test' | 'resolution'  // P7.1: 'task' removed
   task_subtype: string | null
   status: 'open' | 'pending' | 'undergoing' | 'completed' | 'closed'
   priority: 'low' | 'medium' | 'high' | 'critical'