1. What happened: save common instructions as callable Skills

In its September 30, 2026 announcement, Google introduced Skills in Gemini chat. Users can save recurring instructions, invoke them with a slash and name, and use reference files or combine multiple Skills.

This saves requirements you otherwise repeat, such as a briefing structure, tone and treatment of missing information. The announcement’s footnote specifies users aged 18 or older across all Google AI subscription tiers, with work and school accounts planned for later. Check whether the entry point is present in your account before starting.

2. How it helps: provide new facts without repeating the same format

For a weekly project briefing, you might always tell AI to write for colleagues, divide the update into completed work, work in progress and unresolved items, name an owner and next step for each, and avoid filling in information absent from the source. Those relatively stable requirements belong in a Skill.

What was completed this week and why something was delayed belong in the new material. Separating requirements from facts reduces repeated instructions and makes omissions easier to spot. Avoid saving a predetermined conclusion such as “emphasize growth”: if the figures fall, the briefing should still reflect them.

3. How to use it: create a briefing Skill and call it with new material

The current official help provides manual creation for eligible personal Google accounts held by people aged 18 or older; work and school accounts still need to watch for availability. Start with simple instructions without files, following the labels in your account.

  1. Open the creation page. On a computer, open the Gemini website, go to Settings, then Skills, and choose Create manually.
  2. Enter a name, description and instructions. For example, use “weekly-update” and describe it as “Prepare a team briefing from this week’s material.” Suggested instructions: “Group items into completed, in progress and unresolved. For each, list the item, owner and next step. Write ‘not provided’ for missing details; do not infer progress or dates.” Adapt this example to your work.
  3. Choose Create. Save instructions alone for the first attempt. Confirm that they handle this one task before adding reference files or combining Skills.
  4. Invoke it in chat with current material. Type a slash and the Skill’s name, such as /weekly-update, then supply this week’s actual progress. The current help lists @ invocation as a future option; these steps use the documented slash entry point.
  5. Check format and facts separately. Try one complete record and one missing an owner or date. Check the first for omissions and the second for honest handling of unknowns. If the result is wrong, adjust the instructions and try again.

If you already use Gems or need other features

Google plans to end Gems support for personal accounts in November 2026, Workspace business, enterprise and nonprofit accounts in March 2027, and education accounts in June 2027, automatically transitioning the corresponding Gems to Skills when support ends. Gems by Google Labs will also close in November 2026 but will not migrate automatically; save instructions and material you need in advance. Current help also lists unsupported features such as Canvas and Deep Research. If your workflow depends on them, keep your original instructions and check compatibility before assuming the replacement works the same way.