Google is shutting down Gems, the custom Gemini assistants it introduced in 2024, and replacing them with a feature called skills starting Nov. 17, according to 9to5Google, which first reported the change, and TechCrunch.
Existing Gems will migrate to skills automatically, and users do not need to take action, according to a notice Google posted inside the Gems manager that both outlets reviewed. The notice reads: "Gems will become skills starting Nov. 17, 2026," and users can "use your Gems until they migrate."
Skills work like Gems in that they run on custom instructions a user sets up, but they can be invoked directly by typing a forward slash in a prompt, and more than one skill can be used in the same conversation, according to 9to5Google. Gems required navigating a side panel and could only be used one at a time.
Google has a pattern of retiring a named feature and relaunching a similar one under new branding. For anyone who built workflows around Gems, the practical task is confirming the migrated skill still does what the Gem did, not assuming a rename changed nothing.