Skills Replace Gems: A Migration Guide for the Gemini App and Workspace
Skills are replacing Gems in the Gemini app and Workspace. Timeline, the Oct 13 delay, who has access, and a practical migration checklist.
Google is replacing Gems with skills: reusable custom instructions you can attach when you prompt Gemini in the Gemini app and, once that half ships, in most Workspace apps. The September 30, 2026 announcement set one calendar, and the October 13 update delayed the Workspace half. This guide is that calendar and a migration sequence.
This is an independent site, not an official Google page. The checklist below is our advice.
What a skill is
Sources: skills in the Gemini app and Workspace (September 30, updated October 13) and the follow-up “An update on the launch of skills in the Gemini app and Workspace” on the October 2026 feed.
A skill is a reusable custom instruction, such as a brand voice skill or a lesson planning skill. It is an open, Markdown-native SKILL.md file, so a skill from another platform can be copied in. You write and share one with the skill builder in Google Docs. Skills do not sync between the Gemini app and Workspace, and the Workspace half is delayed, so a Gemini app skill does not appear in Docs, Gmail, or Drive.
The October 8 Cloud agent has its own registry (global library, company registry, personal skills), covered in Gemini at Work 2026. These posts do not say that registry is the Gemini app catalog.
Skills and Gems, side by side
| Skills | Gems, in this update | |
|---|---|---|
| How you use them | Inline in a unified chat thread | You can still create and use Gems in the Gemini app |
| Combining | Stack several skills in one prompt, or at different points in one conversation | The update does not describe stacking Gems the same way |
| Examples Google gives | ”Weekly newsletter” plus “institutional brand guidelines.” “Vendor evaluator” plus “executive email drafter.” | — |
| File format | Open SKILL.md (Markdown). Skills from other platforms can be copied in. | Not described as SKILL.md |
| Sync | No sync between the Gemini app and Workspace. Create each skill in each place. | — |
| Sharing | Skill builder in Google Docs | — |
| Workspace Studio | The replacement path is skills, after Workspace skills ship | You can no longer create a flow with an Ask a Gem step. Existing flows keep working until the cutoff. |
Timeline, including the October 13 delay
The October 13 row overrides the original Workspace plan: the Workspace rollout dates below it are on hold.
| Date | Status |
|---|---|
| September 30, 2026 | Skills announced for the Gemini app and Workspace. |
| October 5, 2026 | Original plan: Workspace skills begin rolling out, expected done mid-November. |
| Rapid Release by October 12; Scheduled Release from October 19 | Original Workspace tracks. These no longer hold. |
| October 13, 2026 | Gemini app skills start rolling out, expected done mid-November. Workspace skills (Studio and Workspace apps) are delayed until further notice. |
| Coming weeks after October 13 | Sharing for Gemini app skills, and Google Drive integration. |
| November 17, 2026 | Gems move to the Settings panel in the Gemini app. You can still create, edit, and use them. |
| No sooner than March 1, 2027 (business and enterprise) | Gems cannot be created, edited, or used. Removed from Settings. Ask a Gem flows stop. Remaining Gems are auto-migrated to draft skills in the Gemini app. |
| No sooner than June 1, 2027 (education) | The same cutoff, plus Gems removed from Google Classroom and from third-party LMS tools via Gemini LTI. |
| At least 30 days before auto-migration | Admins receive the auto-migration details. |
“No sooner than” is Google’s phrase. March 1 and June 1, 2027 are earliest dates, not a promise the switch happens that morning. Workspace skills have no new date after October 13.
Who can use skills
| Surface | Who Google lists | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini app skills | All Workspace customers and personal Google accounts, all ages | Rolling out from October 13, 2026, expected done mid-November |
| Workspace skills | Business Starter, Standard, and Plus; Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus; Google AI Pro for Education add-on; AI Expanded Access add-on. 18+ only. | Delayed until further notice. |
Workspace skills are 18+ only and still delayed. Under-18 Education users stay on Gemini app skills, which are listed for all ages.
Migration checklist
These steps are our advice, not a Google runbook. Auto-migration is no sooner than March 2027 (business and enterprise) or June 2027 (education).
- Inventory Gems still in use, and every Workspace Studio flow with an Ask a Gem step.
- Copy the instructions while create and edit still work. On November 17, 2026 they move to Settings. You can still create, edit, and use them until your cutoff.
- Split a mixed Gem into stackable skills: the job (newsletter, vendor evaluation, lesson plan) and the constraint (brand guidelines, executive email tone).
- Recreate them in the Gemini app on the rollout that started October 13, expected done mid-November. Test one skill, then two stacked in one prompt.
- Create them again for Workspace after that launch is dated. Nothing syncs.
- Share with the Docs skill builder. Drive integration is a “coming weeks” item from October 13.
- Copy in
SKILL.mdfiles from other platforms. Google says that works. Use the Help Center for the steps. - List each Ask a Gem flow, its cutoff, and the replacement skill. Google does not say Studio rewrites the flow.
- Read the drafts after auto-migration. Remaining Gems become draft skills in the Gemini app. Admins get the mechanics at least 30 days ahead.
- Educators: use the June 1, 2027 earliest date below, not the March business date.
Ask a Gem flows
You can no longer create a Workspace Studio flow with an Ask a Gem step. Flows that already have one keep working, then stop no sooner than March 1, 2027 (business and enterprise) or June 1, 2027 (education). Auto-migration turns remaining Gems into draft skills in the Gemini app. It is not described as a rewrite of the Studio flow. Test replacement skills in the Gemini app now. Studio can use Workspace skills only after that delayed launch.
Notes for admins
- Auto-migration details arrive at least 30 days ahead. They are not in the October posts.
- March 1, 2027 is the earliest business and enterprise cutoff. June 1, 2027 is the earliest education cutoff.
- Plan on the audiences in the table above. Sharing Gemini app skills, and Drive integration, are “coming weeks” items from October 13.
Notes for educators
Google recommends Gemini Notebook (available) and Guided Learning (coming soon to Classroom). The hub for study notebooks, flashcards, and practice quizzes is the student hub tutorial.
Resources named in the update: the AI skills 101 handbook, the Gems transition guide for education, and the Help Center Gems migration guide.
No sooner than June 1, 2027, education also loses Gems in Google Classroom and in third-party LMS tools via Gemini LTI. Rebuild a Classroom lesson-planning Gem as a Gemini app skill before that window. Workspace skills for schools still wait on the delay, the add-ons, and the 18+ rule.
Related reading
- Gemini at Work 2026: the Gemini agent — the Cloud skills registry (global, company, personal)
- Gemini student hub tutorial — learning tools, and the education side of this change
- Gemini 4 Argon is now available — a frontier text model, separate from skills
FAQ
Do skills replace Gems today?
Not fully. You can still create and use Gems in the Gemini app. On November 17, 2026 they move to the Settings panel, and you can still create, edit, and use them there. Business and enterprise customers lose create, edit, and use no sooner than March 1, 2027. Education customers hit the same wall no sooner than June 1, 2027. Auto-migration of remaining Gems to draft skills happens at those cutoffs, not now.
Did the Workspace skills launch slip?
Yes. An October 13, 2026 update says Gemini app skills started rolling out that day, with completion expected in mid-November. Workspace skills, in Studio and in Workspace apps, are delayed until further notice. The earlier plan (Rapid Release done by October 12, Scheduled Release from October 19) no longer holds. Google has not given a new Workspace date.
Do skills sync between the Gemini app and Workspace?
No. Google says skills do not sync. You create them separately in the Gemini app and, once Workspace skills are available, again in Workspace apps.
What happens to Ask a Gem flows?
You can no longer create a Workspace Studio flow that uses an Ask a Gem step. Flows that already have that step keep working until the cutoff. They stop no sooner than March 1, 2027 for business and enterprise, and no sooner than June 1, 2027 for education.