diff --git a/create_ticket_api.php b/create_ticket_api.php
index 8ca211c..f08b56d 100644
--- a/create_ticket_api.php
+++ b/create_ticket_api.php
@@ -84,6 +84,22 @@ $conn->query($createTableSQL);
 $rawInput = file_get_contents('php://input');
 $data = json_decode($rawInput, true);
 
+// Validate required fields before any processing
+if (!is_array($data) || empty($data['title'])) {
+    // Try URL-encoded fallback
+    if (empty($data['title'])) {
+        parse_str($rawInput, $urlData);
+        if (!empty($urlData['title'])) {
+            $data = $urlData;
+        }
+    }
+    if (!is_array($data) || empty($data['title'])) {
+        http_response_code(400);
+        echo json_encode(['success' => false, 'error' => 'title is required']);
+        exit;
+    }
+}
+
 // Generate hash from stable components
 function generateTicketHash($data) {
     // Extract device name if present (matches /dev/sdX, /dev/nvmeXnY patterns)
@@ -167,11 +183,6 @@ if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
 // Force JSON content type for all incoming requests
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
 
-if (!$data) {
-    // Try parsing as URL-encoded data
-    parse_str($rawInput, $data);
-}
-
 // Generate ticket ID (9-digit format with leading zeros)
 $ticket_id = sprintf('%09d', mt_rand(1, 999999999));