Google retires Gems in Gemini: new Skills based on SKILL.md will arrive in Workspace on October 5

Coinciding with the launch of Gemini 4 Argon, Google has announced a restructuring of the tools that allow you to customize the assistant. The company will begin replacing its well-known Gems with a new system called Skills starting next October 5 in Google Workspace.

In case you’re not familiar with it, Skills are reusable guidelines designed to guide model behavior in recurring writing, analysis, or programming tasks. In reality, it is a working method that Claude already popularized and that has been spreading among different platforms.

But what exactly to change regarding the Gems? Several things, but there is one that is the most important. And unlike Gems, which required opening an isolated session, the new function operates directly within the usual conversation thread.

That is, users will be able to invoke these guidelines using quick commands or allow the system itself to activate them automatically when it detects a task that requires it. Thus, a chat can use several Skills or abilities, instead of operating with a completely closed and unalterable environment of instructions. Without a doubt, this is a tremendously more flexible approach.

The adoption of the SKILL.md open standard arrives

Another issue is that the company has based the development of these skills on the open SKILL.md format, based on plain text structured using Markdown. As we said before, it is something that Claude and other chatbots have already supported for a long time. Now, it’s Gemini’s turn.

This is a resounding advantage for the user. Having these files allows you to migrate guidelines created in other development environments without having to manually reprogram them. It also allows you to transfer skills from one service to another without any complications.

The definitive disappearance of the Gems arrives in 2027

Google has confirmed that the Skills rollout will begin on October 5 for Workspace rapid release domains and reach the general Gemini app on October 13. During the second half of November, Gems will take a back seat in the settings menu, but will continue to work temporarily.

In fact, the company will maintain this period in which both systems work to make it easier for system administrators to adapt their automations without problems.

The definitive closure of the previous format will run on March 1, 2027 for enterprise customers, at which point Gems-based Workspace Studio workflows will stop working. The remaining bots will automatically be transformed into skill drafts in the user panel, while the education sector will have leeway until June 2027.