diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6ae86265a60c..c783906d0fdc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -70,3 +70,4 @@ mini-swe-agent/
 result
 website/static/api/skills-index.json
 models-dev-upstream/
+.claude/scheduled_tasks.lock
diff --git a/tests/tools/test_skill_manager_tool.py b/tests/tools/test_skill_manager_tool.py
index 96c3a361f0c2..abfa588d9430 100644
--- a/tests/tools/test_skill_manager_tool.py
+++ b/tests/tools/test_skill_manager_tool.py
@@ -943,3 +943,72 @@ def test_broken_sidecar_fails_open(self, tmp_path):
                        side_effect=RuntimeError("sidecar broken")):
                 result = _delete_skill("my-skill")
         assert result["success"] is True
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# external_dirs honored on create — #21810
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestCreateSkillRespectsExternalDirs:
+    """skill_manage(action='create') must drop the new skill into the first
+    configured ``skills.external_dirs`` entry instead of the local
+    ~/.hermes/skills/ when one is set. Closes #21810.
+    """
+
+    def test_no_external_dirs_uses_local_skills_dir(self, tmp_path):
+        """Regression guard: with no external_dirs, behavior is unchanged."""
+        with patch("tools.skill_manager_tool.SKILLS_DIR", tmp_path), \
+             patch("agent.skill_utils.get_all_skills_dirs", return_value=[tmp_path]), \
+             patch("agent.skill_utils.get_external_skills_dirs", return_value=[]):
+            result = _create_skill("local-skill", VALID_SKILL_CONTENT)
+        assert result["success"] is True
+        assert (tmp_path / "local-skill" / "SKILL.md").exists()
+
+    def test_external_dir_used_when_configured(self, tmp_path):
+        """First external_dirs entry wins over SKILLS_DIR."""
+        local = tmp_path / "local"
+        external = tmp_path / "external"
+        local.mkdir()
+        external.mkdir()
+        with patch("tools.skill_manager_tool.SKILLS_DIR", local), \
+             patch("agent.skill_utils.get_all_skills_dirs",
+                   return_value=[local, external]), \
+             patch("agent.skill_utils.get_external_skills_dirs",
+                   return_value=[external]):
+            result = _create_skill("ext-skill", VALID_SKILL_CONTENT)
+        assert result["success"] is True
+        assert (external / "ext-skill" / "SKILL.md").exists()
+        assert not (local / "ext-skill").exists()
+
+    def test_external_dir_used_with_category(self, tmp_path):
+        """Category nesting still applies under the external root."""
+        local = tmp_path / "local"
+        external = tmp_path / "external"
+        local.mkdir()
+        external.mkdir()
+        with patch("tools.skill_manager_tool.SKILLS_DIR", local), \
+             patch("agent.skill_utils.get_all_skills_dirs",
+                   return_value=[local, external]), \
+             patch("agent.skill_utils.get_external_skills_dirs",
+                   return_value=[external]):
+            result = _create_skill("cat-skill", VALID_SKILL_CONTENT, category="ops")
+        assert result["success"] is True
+        assert (external / "ops" / "cat-skill" / "SKILL.md").exists()
+        assert result["path"] == str(Path("ops") / "cat-skill")
+
+    def test_first_external_dir_wins(self, tmp_path):
+        """When multiple external dirs configured, the first is preferred."""
+        first = tmp_path / "first"
+        second = tmp_path / "second"
+        first.mkdir()
+        second.mkdir()
+        with patch("tools.skill_manager_tool.SKILLS_DIR", tmp_path / "local"), \
+             patch("agent.skill_utils.get_all_skills_dirs",
+                   return_value=[first, second]), \
+             patch("agent.skill_utils.get_external_skills_dirs",
+                   return_value=[first, second]):
+            result = _create_skill("multi-skill", VALID_SKILL_CONTENT)
+        assert result["success"] is True
+        assert (first / "multi-skill" / "SKILL.md").exists()
+        assert not (second / "multi-skill").exists()
diff --git a/tools/skill_manager_tool.py b/tools/skill_manager_tool.py
index d253cd2a7cd6..d684e66dd09d 100644
--- a/tools/skill_manager_tool.py
+++ b/tools/skill_manager_tool.py
@@ -268,11 +268,34 @@ def _validate_content_size(content: str, label: str = "SKILL.md") -> Optional[st
     return None
 
 
+def _default_creation_dir() -> Path:
+    """Return the directory new skills should be created in.
+
+    When ``skills.external_dirs`` is configured in ``config.yaml``, prefer the
+    first existing entry so contributors editing an external skills repo can
+    create skills in-place. Falls back to local ``~/.hermes/skills/`` when no
+    external dirs are configured.
+
+    Closes #21810 — ``skill_manage(action='create')`` previously hardcoded
+    ``SKILLS_DIR``, dropping new skills into the user-local store even when an
+    external dir was set as the canonical authoring location.
+    """
+    try:
+        from agent.skill_utils import get_external_skills_dirs
+        external = get_external_skills_dirs()
+    except Exception:
+        external = []
+    if external:
+        return external[0]
+    return SKILLS_DIR
+
+
 def _resolve_skill_dir(name: str, category: str = None) -> Path:
     """Build the directory path for a new skill, optionally under a category."""
+    base = _default_creation_dir()
     if category:
-        return SKILLS_DIR / category / name
-    return SKILLS_DIR / name
+        return base / category / name
+    return base / name
 
 
 def _find_skill(name: str) -> Optional[Dict[str, Any]]:
@@ -412,10 +435,15 @@ def _create_skill(name: str, content: str, category: str = None) -> Dict[str, An
         shutil.rmtree(skill_dir, ignore_errors=True)
         return {"success": False, "error": scan_error}
 
+    creation_root = _containing_skills_root(skill_dir)
+    try:
+        rel_path = skill_dir.relative_to(creation_root)
+    except ValueError:
+        rel_path = skill_dir
     result = {
         "success": True,
         "message": f"Skill '{name}' created.",
-        "path": str(skill_dir.relative_to(SKILLS_DIR)),
+        "path": str(rel_path),
         "skill_md": str(skill_md),
     }
     if category: