diff --git a/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/project/resource_dependency_graph.rs b/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/project/resource_dependency_graph.rs
index 82ec4561c..4fbfeecb0 100644
--- a/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/project/resource_dependency_graph.rs
+++ b/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/project/resource_dependency_graph.rs
@@ -400,6 +400,12 @@ pub(crate) fn build_project_resource_graph(
             .push(resource_ids[0].clone());
     }
 
+    let resources_by_manifest_asset_id = resource_ids_by_manifest_asset
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|(_, resource_ids)| resource_ids.len() == 1)
+        .map(|(asset_id, resource_ids)| (asset_id.clone(), resource_ids[0].clone()))
+        .collect::<BTreeMap<_, _>>();
+
     let mut unresolved_reference_resource_ids = BTreeSet::new();
     let mut reference_edge_by_id = BTreeMap::<String, ProjectResourceReferenceEdge>::new();
     for (asset_id, target_resource_ids) in &resource_ids_by_manifest_asset {
@@ -418,16 +424,32 @@ pub(crate) fn build_project_resource_graph(
             .filter(|value| !value.is_empty())
             .collect::<BTreeSet<_>>()
         {
-            let source_candidates = resources_by_external_id
+            let mut source_candidates = resources_by_external_id
                 .get(external_reference_id)
                 .map(Vec::as_slice)
-                .unwrap_or(&[]);
+                .unwrap_or(&[])
+                .iter()
+                .collect::<BTreeSet<_>>();
+            if let Some(referenced_asset_id) = external_reference_id
+                .strip_prefix("local-asset:")
+                .map(str::trim)
+                .filter(|value| !value.is_empty())
+            {
+                if let Some(source_resource_id) =
+                    resources_by_manifest_asset_id.get(referenced_asset_id)
+                {
+                    source_candidates.insert(source_resource_id);
+                }
+            }
             if source_candidates.len() != 1 {
                 unresolved_reference_resource_ids.insert(external_reference_id.to_string());
                 continue;
             }
-            let source_resource_id = &source_candidates[0];
-            if !resource_by_id.contains_key(source_resource_id)
+            let source_resource_id = source_candidates
+                .iter()
+                .next()
+                .expect("a non-empty candidate set must have one resource");
+            if !resource_by_id.contains_key(source_resource_id.as_str())
                 || !resource_by_id.contains_key(target_resource_id)
             {
                 continue;
@@ -438,7 +460,7 @@ pub(crate) fn build_project_resource_graph(
                 ProjectResourceReferenceEdge {
                     id,
                     kind: "asset-reference".to_string(),
-                    source_resource_id: source_resource_id.clone(),
+                    source_resource_id: source_resource_id.to_string(),
                     target_resource_id: target_resource_id.clone(),
                     cyclic: false,
                 },
@@ -835,6 +857,75 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn graph_resolves_local_asset_reference_identities() {
+        let manifest = manifest(
+            Vec::new(),
+            vec![
+                asset("source-1", None, &[], None),
+                asset(
+                    "derivative-1",
+                    Some("local-asset:derivative-1"),
+                    &["local-asset:source-1"],
+                    None,
+                ),
+            ],
+        );
+        let graph = build_project_resource_graph(
+            &manifest,
+            vec![
+                resource("asset:source-1", Some("source-1"), None),
+                resource("asset:derivative-1", Some("derivative-1"), None),
+            ],
+            &[],
+            false,
+        );
+
+        assert_eq!(graph.reference_edges.len(), 1);
+        assert_eq!(
+            graph.reference_edges[0].source_resource_id,
+            "asset:source-1"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            graph.reference_edges[0].target_resource_id,
+            "asset:derivative-1"
+        );
+        assert!(graph.unresolved_reference_resource_ids.is_empty());
+        assert!(graph
+            .connection_index
+            .iter()
+            .any(|index| index.resource_id == "asset:derivative-1"
+                && index.upstream_reference_resource_ids == vec!["asset:source-1"]));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn graph_resolves_local_asset_identity_without_ambiguous_remote_duplicate() {
+        let manifest = manifest(
+            Vec::new(),
+            vec![
+                asset("source-1", Some("external-source"), &[], None),
+                asset(
+                    "derivative-1",
+                    Some("local-asset:derivative-1"),
+                    &["local-asset:source-1"],
+                    None,
+                ),
+            ],
+        );
+        let graph = build_project_resource_graph(
+            &manifest,
+            vec![
+                resource("asset:source-1", Some("source-1"), None),
+                resource("asset:derivative-1", Some("derivative-1"), None),
+            ],
+            &[],
+            false,
+        );
+
+        assert_eq!(graph.reference_edges.len(), 1);
+        assert!(graph.unresolved_reference_resource_ids.is_empty());
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn graph_aggregates_flows_filters_missing_resources_and_detects_cycles_iteratively() {
         let manifest = manifest(