Gemini is replacing Gems with Skills, so I moved my Claude Code skills over to test them

Custom instructions in AI tools are a double-edged sword. While they help fine-tune models or guide them, switching to a different AI provider or managing multiple tools can be challenging. Google is retiring Gems, Gemini's custom assistants, and replacing them with Skills. This name may be familiar to Claude users, who use small instruction files called "skills" to teach Claude how to handle specific jobs.

The author, who has many skills for studying and research, decided to test how well Gemini's Skills feature could handle those skills. Gems were introduced in August 2024, allowing users to write instructions once, attach necessary files, and open them when needed. However, Gems were separate chat conversations, making them less convenient to use.

Google announced on September 30 that Gems would be replaced by Skills, with existing Gems becoming read-only on November 17 and disappearing on December 17. Skills are already available in Gemini and can be found by going to Customize > Skills. Skills can be added manually by typing in the name, description, and instructions, or by uploading a SKILL.md file, a folder, or a zip containing the SKILL.md.

The skill name must be lowercase with hyphens between words. While Skills may not have all the features of Gems, such as sharing skills and pulling in Google Drive files, they offer a format that is already familiar to the author, and they have many skills that can be easily adapted for use in Gemini.