Overview
- Google announced on Sept. 30 that Skills are being rolled into Gemini chat and that the company will automatically convert existing Gems into Skills as Gems are removed.
- Google set a phased sunset schedule with personal accounts losing Gems starting in November 2026, Workspace business/enterprise/nonprofit accounts in March 2027, and Workspace education accounts in June 2027.
- Skills run inline in any Gemini chat via a leading "/" command, let users stack multiple Skills for a single task, and can include reference files such as PDFs and images at launch.
- Skills require different account settings and eligibility than Gems because they need Keep Activity turned on and are limited to users age 18 or older while Workspace access is being offered as an admin-enabled beta.
- Feature parity is still in progress so some Gem tools and file sources—examples reported include GitHub-hosted files, Canvas integrations, Deep Research, Guided Learning, and Create video/music—are not yet supported and sharing links or default triggers may behave differently, so users and administrators should test critical Gem-based workflows before migration.