diff --git a/packages/server/src/services/openapi-parser.ts b/packages/server/src/services/openapi-parser.ts
index cfdc00e..452b687 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/services/openapi-parser.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/services/openapi-parser.ts
@@ -115,8 +115,19 @@ function parseOpenApi3Endpoints(api: OpenApiDoc): { endpoints: ParsedEndpoint[];
 }
 
 export async function parseOpenApiDocument(input: string | object): Promise<ParseResult> {
-  // Parse and dereference all $refs inline
-  const api = await SwaggerParser.dereference(input as any, {
+  let specInput: string | object = input;
+
+  // If input is a URL, fetch the content first so that swagger-parser
+  // works on a plain object and doesn't need network access for $ref resolution
+  if (typeof input === 'string' && input.startsWith('http')) {
+    const res = await fetch(input);
+    if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Failed to fetch spec from URL: ${res.status} ${res.statusText}`);
+    specInput = await res.json();
+  }
+
+  // Bundle resolves all $refs into a single document, then dereference inlines them
+  const bundled = await SwaggerParser.bundle(specInput as any) as OpenAPI.Document;
+  const api = await SwaggerParser.dereference(bundled, {
     dereference: { circular: 'ignore' },
   }) as OpenAPI.Document;
 
diff --git a/packages/web/src/pages/ImportDialog.tsx b/packages/web/src/pages/ImportDialog.tsx
index 674b909..271a111 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/pages/ImportDialog.tsx
+++ b/packages/web/src/pages/ImportDialog.tsx
@@ -31,20 +31,14 @@ export default function ImportDialog({ onClose }: { onClose: () => void }) {
     setLoading(true);
     setError('');
     try {
-      let spec: unknown;
-
+      let body: Record<string, unknown>;
       if (mode === 'url') {
-        // Fetch from browser (can access local network) instead of letting server fetch
-        const res = await fetch(url);
-        if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Failed to fetch: ${res.status} ${res.statusText}`);
-        const text = await res.text();
-        try { spec = JSON.parse(text); } catch { spec = text; }
+        body = { specUrl: url };
       } else {
-        try { spec = JSON.parse(fileContent); } catch { spec = fileContent; }
+        try { body = { spec: JSON.parse(fileContent) }; } catch { body = { spec: fileContent }; }
       }
-
       const data = await apiFetch<ImportResult>('/projects', {
-        method: 'POST', body: JSON.stringify({ spec }),
+        method: 'POST', body: JSON.stringify(body),
       });
       setResult(data);
       queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ['projects'] });