Field note
Gemini Skills Is Replacing Gems: What Changes, and When
Google is retiring Gems in favor of a new feature called Skills. Existing Gems are not deleted, but the creation window is closing fast.
Google is replacing Gemini Gems with a new feature called Skills: reusable custom instructions you trigger with a slash command, stack together, and attach reference files to. Skills roll out October 5 in Workspace and October 13 in the Gemini app. Your existing Gems are not deleted. They convert automatically to Skills on November 17, 2026.
Skills go live
Oct 5 in Workspace, Oct 13 in the Gemini app
Gems freeze
From Oct 13: no new Gems, no edits
Gems convert
Nov 17: existing Gems auto-become Skills
What are Gemini Skills?
A Skill is a saved, reusable instruction you set up once and run again by typing a slash and the Skill's name in the prompt bar. Gemini can also recognize when a Skill fits the current prompt and apply it on its own. Unlike a Gem, more than one Skill can combine in the same chat, so a drafting Skill and a tone-of-voice Skill can run together on one request instead of forcing you to pick one. Skills can also carry reference files: plain text, PDFs, and images, with sharing and Drive files due in the coming weeks.
What happens to the Gems I already built?
Nothing happens to them today. From October 13, 2026, you can no longer create a new Gem or edit an existing one, but the Gems you already have keep working as they are. On November 17, 2026, Google automatically converts every remaining Gem into a Skill. Nothing is deleted and there is no export or rebuild step on your side. The only real constraint in between is that frozen window: if a Gem has a mistake you want fixed before then, you cannot touch it until the migration runs.
Should you build anything new as a Skill instead of a Gem?
Yes, starting now. Gem creation closes on October 13, so any new custom assistant you were planning, a first-draft-reply helper, a report formatter, a standard research brief, should be built as a Skill instead. It is not a downgrade: Skills can be combined and can carry reference files, which Gems never supported, so a Skill you build today will do more than the Gem it is replacing.
Which Workspace plans get Skills?
Skills are reaching Workspace Business, Enterprise, Education, and Nonprofit accounts over the coming weeks, the same editions that already had access to Gems. There is no separate charge mentioned for the feature itself: it replaces Gems inside the plan you are already paying for, rather than sitting behind a new tier.
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The takeaway
If a Gem your team relies on is working fine, do nothing: it becomes a Skill automatically on November 17. If you were about to build a new custom assistant, build it as a Skill now, since Gem creation closes October 13.