diff --git a/src/server/__tests__/skills.test.ts b/src/server/__tests__/skills.test.ts
index 9232124fa..17f87a1d2 100644
--- a/src/server/__tests__/skills.test.ts
+++ b/src/server/__tests__/skills.test.ts
@@ -89,6 +89,35 @@ describe('Skills API', () => {
     expect(body.skills).toContainEqual(expect.objectContaining({ name: 'project-skill', source: 'project' }))
   })
 
+  it('includes skills installed via symlinks in user skills directory', async () => {
+    const userSkillsRoot = path.join(tmpHome, '.claude', 'skills')
+    const realSkillDir = path.join(tmpHome, 'skill-store', 'symlinked-skill')
+
+    await writeSkill(
+      realSkillDir,
+      '',
+      ['---', 'description: Symlinked skill', '---', '', '# Symlinked'].join('\n'),
+    )
+
+    // symlink the skill directory into the user skills folder (skip on platforms without symlink support)
+    const symlinkTarget = path.join(userSkillsRoot, 'symlinked-skill')
+    try {
+      await fs.symlink(realSkillDir, symlinkTarget, 'dir')
+    } catch {
+      // symlinks not supported in this test environment, skip this assertion
+      return
+    }
+
+    const { req, url, segments } = makeRequest('/api/skills')
+    const res = await handleSkillsApi(req, url, segments)
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200)
+    const body = await res.json() as { skills: Array<{ name: string; source: string }> }
+    expect(body.skills).toContainEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({ name: 'symlinked-skill', source: 'user' }),
+    )
+  })
+
   it('resolves project skill details from the nearest project skills directory', async () => {
     const projectRoot = path.join(tmpHome, 'workspace')
     const nestedRoot = path.join(projectRoot, 'packages', 'app')
diff --git a/src/server/api/skills.ts b/src/server/api/skills.ts
index e76c2dc2c..f9fafcb29 100644
--- a/src/server/api/skills.ts
+++ b/src/server/api/skills.ts
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ async function collectSkillsFromRoots(
     }
 
     for (const entry of entries) {
-      if (!entry.isDirectory() || entry.name.startsWith('.') || seenNames.has(entry.name)) {
+      if ((!entry.isDirectory() && !entry.isSymbolicLink()) || entry.name.startsWith('.') || seenNames.has(entry.name)) {
         continue
       }