Gemini Skills: how they work, how to make one, and what happens to your Gems

What are Gemini skills?

Gemini skills are reusable instructions you save once and use in any Gemini chat: Gemini applies an active skill on its own when your prompt matches it, or you call one by typing /. They replace Gems, which become read-only for personal accounts on 17 November 2026 and disappear on 17 December 2026.

Google added skills to the Gemini app on 30 September 2026. Its release notes describe them as "a reusable set of instructions that tell Gemini how to handle specific tasks" and say "Skills will soon replace Gems" as the way to tailor instructions for specific tasks.

Each skill is built around a SKILL.md file: a name, a short description of when to use it, and the instructions. You can add reference files such as a template, a style guide or a PDF. Gemini reads only the name and description to decide whether a skill fits, then reads the full instructions, then opens extra files only if it needs them, per Google's guide to writing effective skills.

"Gemini skills" can mean three different things, so check which one you need:

This page covers the Gemini app. Skills in Chrome work on your active tab; Google says to use the latest Chrome, and to turn the feature on by hand you need Chrome 147 or higher. For the command line tool, read our Gemini CLI skills guide.

Who can use skills in the Gemini app?

Per Google's create and manage skills page, you need to:

• Be 18 or over.
• Be signed in to the Gemini app.
• Have Keep Activity turned on.

Google's list of requirements doesn't include a Google AI subscription. Its Gems transition page says skills are available to people over 18 signed in to a personal Google Account, with work and school accounts coming later.

You can use skills in the Gemini web app, the Gemini mobile app and the Gemini app on Mac. Uploading a skill from a file works only on the web app and the Mac app for now.

How are skills different from Gems?

A Gem was a separate chatbot you opened by name. A skill is a set of instructions that joins your normal chat when it is needed. In practice that changes three things:

Some things Gems did are not in skills yet. Google lists Create video, Create music, Canvas, Deep research and Guided learning as tools that work with Gems but not yet with skills. It also says sharing, adding files from Google Drive and adding notebooks from Gemini Notebook are coming to skills "in the coming weeks."

When do Gems turn into skills, and what gets lost?

The dates depend on the account you use with Gemini, per Google's transition FAQ:

Google will recreate your Gems as skills for you, with any supported files. Some files will not make it:

• Over 100 MB. A skill holds up to 100 MB of files. If a Gem is bigger, Google removes the largest files first until it fits.
• Unsupported types. GitHub files, audio, video, older Office formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt) and archives (.zip, .tar, .7z, .rar, .gz, .tgz) are dropped.

Opal and Gems by Google Labs also go away in November. If a Gem matters to you, open it before 17 December 2026 and download any knowledge files that won't transfer.

How do you move a Gem to a skill yourself?

You don't have to wait. Google's steps for recreating a Gem early:

1. On gemini.google.com, open Gems, click Edit next to the Gem, and download each file under Knowledge.
2. Put the files in a new folder named like the skill, in lowercase with hyphens, such as weekly-report.
3. In a new tab, go to Customize > Skills, click Create > Create manually, and paste the Gem's name, description and instructions. Click Create.
4. If the Gem had files: open the skill's More options menu, choose Download, and move the SKILL.md from the .zip into your folder.
5. Back on the Skills page, choose More options > Replace skill, pick the folder and upload. The folder name must match the skill name.

How do you create or upload a skill in Gemini?

Open gemini.google.com (or the Mac app), click Customize in the sidebar, then Skills. From there you have five ways in:

1. Create with Gemini: click Create > Create with Gemini and answer its questions.
2. Start from a template: pick one under Recommended, edit the name, description and instructions, then click Create.
3. Start blank: click Create > Create manually and fill in the three fields.
4. Upload: click Create > Upload and choose a SKILL.md file, or a folder or .zip with SKILL.md in its main folder. Review it and click Create.
5. Ask in chat: type something like "Create a skill based on these instructions" and Gemini saves it to your Skills page.

To use a skill, type / in a chat (or @ if you have the updated shortcut) and pick it. Gemini can also use any active skill on its own, and you can combine several skills in one task.

A minimal skill that uploads cleanly:

---
name: summarize-meeting-notes
description: Turns raw meeting notes into a summary with decisions, owners and
  due dates. Use when the user pastes meeting notes, a transcript or asks for
  action items from a meeting.
---

1. List decisions first, one line each.
2. List action items as: owner, task, due date. Ask for any missing date.
3. End with open questions. Keep the whole summary under 200 words.

How do you write a skill Gemini will actually use?

Gemini decides whether to load a skill from its name and description alone, so those two lines matter most. Google's writing guide recommends:

• Name: start with a verb, avoid vague words like "helper", "tools" or "data", and use lowercase with hyphens. Google's example is plan-meal-from-recipe instead of recipe-data.
• Description: one or two sentences, within 1,024 characters, written in the third person ("Categorizes recipes", not "I can help you"), followed by "Use when" and the real situations.
• Instructions: short and focused, like a cheat sheet. Add output templates, a "common mistakes" section, and what to do when information is missing.
• When to skip a skill: one-off jobs, tasks Gemini already does well, and steps that change too often to keep up to date.

These are the same habits that make a skill work in Claude and Codex. Our guide on how to write a SKILL.md goes deeper, and the free SKILL.md generator turns a prompt you already use into a valid file in your browser.

What are the limits on files, size and scripts?

From Google's create and manage skills, transition and writing pages:

Two practical tips: remove hidden files like .DS_Store or .pyc before you upload, since they can make the upload fail. And to change a skill's files, you upload the whole skill again with Replace skill; you can edit the description and instructions in place.

Can you use the same skill in Gemini, Claude and ChatGPT?

Mostly, yes. Gemini's help center says you can import skills made on other platforms by uploading their SKILL.md files, and Claude, ChatGPT and Codex all read the same open Agent Skills format. What usually breaks when a skill moves:

• Scripts that call the internet. Gemini blocks them.
• Office files as references. Gemini rejects .docx and .xlsx, so convert them to Markdown, CSV or PDF.
• Tool names. A skill that tells Claude Code to run a terminal command has nothing to run in the Gemini app.
• Names. Use lowercase letters, digits and hyphens, keep it under 64 characters, and match the folder name. That fits the naming rules in the Agent Skills format.

For a side by side view of the four apps that now read SKILL.md, see ChatGPT skills vs Claude skills, and for OpenAI's version, the ChatGPT skills guide.

Keep a copy of your skills outside Gemini

The Gems switch is a good reminder that skills stored inside one app move on that app's schedule. Gemini's More > Download gives you each skill as a .zip. Kipt can import a .zip, a folder or a GitHub link into a private GitHub repo you own, so your skills stay as plain Markdown you control, and every skill in that repo installs into Claude Code or Codex with npx skills add https://github.com/<you>/<repo>.git --all -g.