diff --git a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/services/skill/registry/skill-registry-source.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/services/skill/registry/skill-registry-source.test.ts
index a7b966b23..e75137a29 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/services/skill/registry/skill-registry-source.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/services/skill/registry/skill-registry-source.test.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,46 @@ describe("registry sources", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("treats '.', '..', '~/x', and bare relative dirs as local sources", async () => {
+    const temp = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "registry-source-"));
+    const child = path.join(temp, "child");
+    const nested = path.join(child, "nested");
+    await fs.ensureDir(nested);
+
+    try {
+      expect(await normalizeRegistrySourceInput(".", temp)).toBe(
+        pathToFileURL(await fs.realpath(temp)).href,
+      );
+      expect(await normalizeRegistrySourceInput("..", child)).toBe(
+        pathToFileURL(await fs.realpath(temp)).href,
+      );
+      expect(await normalizeRegistrySourceInput("nested", child)).toBe(
+        pathToFileURL(await fs.realpath(nested)).href,
+      );
+      expect(await normalizeRegistrySourceInput("~", temp)).toBe(
+        pathToFileURL(await fs.realpath(os.homedir())).href,
+      );
+    } finally {
+      await fs.remove(temp);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("falls through to git only for scheme-shaped or nonexistent sources", async () => {
+    const temp = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "registry-source-"));
+    try {
+      expect(await normalizeRegistrySourceInput("https://example.com/x.git", temp)).toBe(
+        "https://example.com/x.git",
+      );
+      expect(await normalizeRegistrySourceInput("git@example.com:x/y.git", temp)).toBe(
+        "git@example.com:x/y.git",
+      );
+      // scheme-less path that doesn't exist locally — git handles the error
+      expect(await normalizeRegistrySourceInput("nope/nothere", temp)).toBe("nope/nothere");
+    } finally {
+      await fs.remove(temp);
+    }
+  });
+
   it("reports missing and non-directory local sources clearly", async () => {
     const temp = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "registry-source-"));
     const file = path.join(temp, "file");
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/services/skill/registry/skill-registry-source.ts b/packages/cli/src/services/skill/registry/skill-registry-source.ts
index 53e27fbcf..2d9bfe32e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/services/skill/registry/skill-registry-source.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/services/skill/registry/skill-registry-source.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { CliError } from "../../../util/errors.js";
 import fs from "fs-extra";
+import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
 
@@ -30,8 +31,27 @@ export function parseLocalRegistryPath(value: string): string | null {
   }
 }
 
+/** URL-ish git sources: `proto://...` or scp-style `user@host:path`. */
+const GIT_SOURCE_RE = /^[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9+.-]*:\/\/|^[\w.+-]+@[\w.-]+:/;
+
 function isPathShorthand(value: string): boolean {
-  return path.isAbsolute(value) || /^\.\.?[\\/]/.test(value);
+  return (
+    path.isAbsolute(value) ||
+    value === "." ||
+    value === ".." ||
+    value === "~" ||
+    value.startsWith("~/") ||
+    value.startsWith(`~${path.sep}`) ||
+    /^\.\.?[\\/]/.test(value)
+  );
+}
+
+/** Resolve a candidate local path — expands `~` and joins relative to baseDir. */
+function resolveLocalCandidate(value: string, baseDir: string): string {
+  if (value === "~" || value.startsWith("~/") || value.startsWith(`~${path.sep}`)) {
+    return path.join(os.homedir(), value.slice(1));
+  }
+  return path.resolve(baseDir, value);
 }
 
 export async function normalizeRegistrySourceInput(
@@ -39,11 +59,20 @@ export async function normalizeRegistrySourceInput(
   baseDir: string,
 ): Promise<string> {
   const localPath = parseLocalRegistryPath(value);
-  if (localPath === null && !isPathShorthand(value)) {
+  // Git-vs-local is decided by the filesystem, not string shape: a
+  // scheme-less value that resolves to a real directory is a local
+  // registry (`.`, `myfolder`, `~/x`, ...). Only URL-shaped values or
+  // paths that don't exist locally fall through to git.
+  if (localPath === null && GIT_SOURCE_RE.test(value)) {
+    return value;
+  }
+
+  const requestedPath = localPath ?? resolveLocalCandidate(value, baseDir);
+  const exists = await fs.pathExists(requestedPath);
+  if (localPath === null && !isPathShorthand(value) && !exists) {
     return value;
   }
 
-  const requestedPath = localPath ?? path.resolve(baseDir, value);
   let canonicalPath: string;
   try {
     canonicalPath = await fs.realpath(requestedPath);