--- title: Google to retire Gemini Gems in favor of skills on... description: Google is retiring Gems, the custom AI assistant feature within Gemini, replacing it with a new feature called skills starting November 17, 2026 (delayed from... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/google-to-retire-gemini-gems-in-favor-of-skills-on-november-17-ty9ddwubv twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Google to retire Gemini Gems in favor of skills on November 17 | daily.dev og:description: Google is retiring Gems, the custom AI assistant feature within Gemini, replacing it with a new feature called skills starting November 17, 2026 (delayed from... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/google-to-retire-gemini-gems-in-favor-of-skills-on-november-17-ty9ddwubv og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/ty9DdwUbv.png og:image:alt: Google to retire Gemini Gems in favor of skills on November 17 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Google to retire Gemini Gems in favor of skills on November 17 **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 2 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Google is retiring Gems, the custom AI assistant feature within Gemini, replacing it with a new feature called skills starting November 17, 2026 (delayed from an original October 20 date). Existing Gems will be automatically migrated, requiring no user action. The interaction model changes from simply opening and chatting with a Gem to invoking a skill via a forward-slash command inside a chat thread, a shift seen as more technical and less consumer-friendly than an all-purpose conversational agent like Meta's Muse. The change is framed as part of Google's pattern of renaming and restructuring features rather than keeping product names stable. ## Content Google is shutting down Gems, the custom assistant feature in Gemini, and replacing it with something called skills. The cutover is set for November 17, 2026. @testingcatalog notes it was originally planned for October 20 and got pushed back. You don't have to do anything. Existing Gems will be migrated to skills automatically starting on that date. ## How skills differ from Gems A Gem was a custom assistant you'd open and chat with. Skills work differently: - You invoke one by typing a forward slash in a chat thread and picking it from the list. An @ mention is supposed to follow later. - You can stack several skills in a single conversation. - Gemini can also invoke a skill on its own when it decides one would help. Google's example uses include building presentation outlines, matching your personal writing style, and generating several viewpoints on a topic for brainstorming. The general pitch is that skills should take some of the tedium out of repetitive work. ## My take The slash-command approach is flexible, but it's hard to call it consumer-friendly. Picking a skill from a menu is a bigger ask than talking to one all-in-one agent like Meta's Muse, where you just describe what you want. If Gemini's auto-invoke works well, that gap may shrink, since you'd rarely need to pick anything by hand. It's also one more entry in Google's habit of rebranding and merging features instead of letting a product name settle. Gems barely had time to become familiar before getting replaced. Whether skills stick around longer is something we'll only find out with time. ## Questions this post answers ### When is Google shutting down Gemini Gems and switching to skills? Google will retire Gems and replace them with skills starting November 17, 2026. The change was originally scheduled for October 20 but was delayed. Existing Gems will be migrated automatically on that date, and no action is required from users beforehand. _Track platform changes like this Gemini shift before they affect your AI workflows, on daily.dev._ ### How do skills in Gemini differ from Gems in terms of usage? A Gem was opened and chatted with directly, functioning like a dedicated assistant persona, while a skill is invoked by typing a forward slash inside an existing chat thread and selecting one from a list. This makes the interaction more command-driven and technical compared to the simpler, conversational Gem model. _Developers comparing AI assistant interaction models can follow updates like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Google Assistant is dead, and I won't miss it thanks to my local LLM](https://daily.dev/posts/google-assistant-is-dead-and-i-won-t-miss-it-thanks-to-my-local-llm-rfwme4aph) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Google updates its Gemini app to take on ChatGPT and Claude](https://daily.dev/posts/google-updates-its-gemini-app-to-take-on-chatgpt-and-claude-qkch7bsil) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#google](https://daily.dev/tags/google), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#google-gemini](https://daily.dev/tags/google-gemini) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/google-to-retire-gemini-gems-in-favor-of-skills-on-november-17-ty9ddwubv) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Google to retire Gemini Gems in favor of skills on November 17","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/google-to-retire-gemini-gems-in-favor-of-skills-on-november-17-ty9ddwubv","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/google-to-retire-gemini-gems-in-favor-of-skills-on-november-17-ty9ddwubv"},"datePublished":"2026-09-30T13:09:58.077Z","dateModified":"2026-09-30T17:08:50.540Z","description":"Google is retiring Gems, the custom AI assistant feature within Gemini, replacing it with a new feature called skills starting November 17, 2026 (delayed from...","image":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HTd2WCXWkAAeJ0j.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HTd2WCXWkAAeJ0j.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Collections","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Collections","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--fk_6ycEi--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780996001/logos/collections?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/google-to-retire-gemini-gems-in-favor-of-skills-on-november-17-ty9ddwubv","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"google,ai-agents,google-gemini","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Collections","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Google to retire Gemini Gems in favor of skills on November 17"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/google-to-retire-gemini-gems-in-favor-of-skills-on-november-17-ty9ddwubv#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"When is Google shutting down Gemini Gems and switching to skills?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Google will retire Gems and replace them with skills starting November 17, 2026. The change was originally scheduled for October 20 but was delayed. Existing Gems will be migrated automatically on that date, and no action is required from users beforehand. Track platform changes like this Gemini shift before they affect your AI workflows, on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do skills in Gemini differ from Gems in terms of usage?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A Gem was opened and chatted with directly, functioning like a dedicated assistant persona, while a skill is invoked by typing a forward slash inside an existing chat thread and selecting one from a list. This makes the interaction more command-driven and technical compared to the simpler, conversational Gem model. Developers comparing AI assistant interaction models can follow updates like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```