Google is retiring Gems, the Gemini feature that let people save custom assistants for repeat tasks. The replacements are called skills, and Google told users the switch takes effect on November 17, 2026.
Built-in Gems covered a learning coach, a brainstorming partner, a career guide, a coding assistant and an editor, and users could write their own for running plans, nutrition or holiday itineraries. The migration is automatic and existing Gems keep working until the cut-off, according to a notice inside the app. 9to5Google reported the wind-down over the weekend.
There is a catch in how skills get invoked. Users must type a forward slash inside a task thread and choose the skill, a pattern familiar to engineers but not to people who would rather describe a job in a sentence.
The change lands as all-in-one assistants take over the market for single-purpose tools. Meta’s Muse and the startup Instinct have pulled users in by handling whatever they are asked, without setup or naming. A saved configuration is a lighter idea by comparison.
It also repeats a habit Google has struggled with: giving a feature its own name, icon and a place in the navigation, then reworking it later. Gems launched in 2024 and is being folded into a different concept two years on.
Google has not said how many users built Gems of their own.
