diff --git a/.changeset/fix-external-ref-resolution.md b/.changeset/fix-external-ref-resolution.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9b133445f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fix-external-ref-resolution.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+"@asyncapi/cli": patch
+---
+
+fix: resolve external $ref files relative to spec file location
+
+When the CLI was refactored to use GeneratorService, the `path` option passed to `generator.generateFromString()` was accidentally changed from a string file path to a Specification object. This caused relative `$ref` paths to be resolved against CWD instead of the spec file's directory.
+
+This fix passes `asyncapi.getSource()` (which returns the file path string or URL) instead of the Specification object, restoring the correct behavior for resolving external file references.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/domains/services/generator.service.ts b/src/domains/services/generator.service.ts
index b24cda8d6..272683e64 100644
--- a/src/domains/services/generator.service.ts
+++ b/src/domains/services/generator.service.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import { getErrorMessage } from '@utils/error-handler';
  * Options passed to the generator for code generation.
  */
 interface GeneratorRunOptions {
-  path?: Specification;
+  path?: string;
   [key: string]: unknown;
 }
 
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ export class GeneratorService extends BaseService {
     try {
       await generator.generateFromString(asyncapi.text(), {
         ...genOption,
-        path: asyncapi,
+        path: asyncapi.getSource(),
       });
     } catch (err: unknown) {
       s.stop('Generation failed');