Create and manage skills

Skills are reusable custom instructions that help the Gemini Enterprise assistant perform specific tasks, such as reviewing legal contracts or writing in your brand voice.

Note: To create skills, your administrator must turn on the skills feature. Similarly, to share skills, your administrator must also enable skill sharing, which they can configure to require administrator review or allow immediate sharing. For more information, see Manage skills.

Each skill is a package containing a SKILL.md prompt file. A skill package can also include scripts, files, or background context that the assistant uses to complete a task. By default, Gemini Enterprise turns on skills that you create.

Supported editions

The ability to create, upload, or use skills depends on the Gemini Enterprise edition that you subscribe to:

• Standard, Plus, and Pay-as-you-go: You can create and upload custom skills, and use Google-managed skills and user-created skills shared with you.
• Frontline: You can browse, install, and use Google-managed skills and user-created skills shared with you. You can't create or upload custom skills.

Overview

Key aspects of skills include:

• Open Standard: Built on the open skills standard, each skill is defined by a core SKILL.md file and can be extended with additional files or scripts.
• Modular extension: Skills let you teach an agent domain-specific tasks using custom instructions and context.
• Dynamic access: Gemini Enterprise accesses these specialized instructions automatically when they are relevant to your question or task.

Create a skill

Note: You can't create skills with the Gemini Enterprise Frontline edition. For more information, see Supported editions.

To create a new skill in the Gemini Enterprise web app, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Gemini Enterprise web app.
2. In the navigation menu, click Skills.
3. Click the add icon and click Create skill with Gemini.
4. Enter a name for your skill.
5. Enter a description. Gemini Enterprise uses the description to determine whether the skill can help with a prompt or task. You can also add trigger instructions to the description to help guide Gemini Enterprise.
6. Provide the skill instructions using natural language in the chat box or the Instructions field. To create a skill using an existing SKILL.md file with custom Markdown or YAML front matter, see Upload a skill.
7. Click Save. Gemini Enterprise turns on the new skill by default.

Upload a skill

Note: You can't upload skills with the Gemini Enterprise Frontline edition. For more information, see Supported editions.

To add existing skills, upload them as Markdown or ZIP files. Gemini Enterprise automatically extracts the skill name and description from the SKILL.md file.

Skill file format and directory structure

A skill package consists of a required SKILL.md prompt file and optional subdirectories for scripts, reference documentation, and assets. You can upload either a standalone SKILL.md file or a ZIP archive with the following directory structure:

my-skill/
├── SKILL.md              # Required: YAML frontmatter + Markdown instructions
├── scripts/              # Optional: executable helper scripts (Python, Bash)
├── references/           # Optional: supplementary context loaded as needed
└── assets/               # Optional: templates or images used in output

File or directory	Required	Description
SKILL.md	Yes	Contains the skill's YAML frontmatter metadata (such as name and description) followed by Markdown instructions that guide the Gemini Enterprise assistant.
scripts/	No	Executable Python or Bash helper scripts for deterministic or repeated operations.
references/	No	Supplementary context loaded on demand, such as schemas, cheat sheets, or API reference documentation.
assets/	No	Files used in output (such as templates or images) that are not loaded directly into Gemini Enterprise's prompt context.

YAML frontmatter requirements

The SKILL.md file must begin with a valid YAML frontmatter block enclosed between --- delimiters at the very start of the file, followed by the Markdown instructions body (hard limit of 500,000 characters; uploads exceeding this limit fail).

The YAML frontmatter supports the following fields:

Field	Required	Format and constraints
name	Yes	A unique identifier for the skill (1 to 64 characters). Must contain only lowercase letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), and hyphens (-). Must not start or end with a hyphen (-) or contain consecutive hyphens (--). If uploaded inside a folder, the name value must match the parent folder name.
description	Yes	A functional description (1 to 1,024 characters) explaining what the skill does and when Gemini Enterprise should invoke it. Include trigger keywords to help Gemini Enterprise identify when the skill is relevant. This is a hard limit; if the description exceeds 1,024 characters, the skill upload fails with the error: A field in your SKILL.md is too long. Shorten the name, description or the instructions.
license	No	The software or content distribution license that applies to the skill package (up to 1,024 characters), such as an open-source SPDX license identifier (for example, Apache-2.0 or MIT) or Proprietary. This field specifies the usage terms of the skill file itself, not a Gemini Enterprise user or app subscription license. If specified, the value must not be empty.
metadata	No	An optional key-value map of custom tags, authors, or version parameters. Keys must be scalar strings, and values must be scalar strings or lists of scalar strings.

Example SKILL.md file

The following example shows a valid SKILL.md file:

---
name: brand-voice-reviewer
description: Reviews marketing copy and legal contracts to ensure compliance with brand voice guidelines. Use when asked to review, edit, or draft customer-facing text.
---

# Brand Voice Reviewer

Follow these guidelines when reviewing or drafting customer-facing text:

1. Use clear, concise, and active language.
2. Avoid jargon and unverified claims.
3. Verify that terminology aligns with the company style guide.

ZIP archive constraints

When uploading a skill as a ZIP archive, ensure that the archive meets the following validation requirements:

• Single SKILL.md file: Each ZIP archive must contain exactly one SKILL.md file located either at the archive root (SKILL.md) or within a single top-level wrapper folder (up to 3 levels deep, such as my-skill/SKILL.md).
• Archive size: Maximum compressed ZIP archive size of 100 MB and maximum total uncompressed size of 100 MB.
• File count: Maximum of 100 files per ZIP archive.
• Directory nesting depth: Maximum directory nesting depth of 10 levels relative to the skill root.
• Path integrity: Duplicate file paths and parent directory references (..) are not allowed.

Upload a skill to the web app

To upload a skill, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Gemini Enterprise web app.
2. In the navigation menu, click Skills.
3. Click the add icon and click Upload skill.
4. Drag or browse for the Markdown or ZIP file, and click Import. Gemini Enterprise turns on the skill by default.

Note: If your upload fails with an error such as Upload failed. Details: Request contains an invalid argument, verify the following:

• Your SKILL.md file starts with valid YAML frontmatter enclosed in --- delimiters.
• The frontmatter includes the required name and description fields within their character limits.
• The name field uses only lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens (and matches the parent folder name if uploaded in a ZIP archive).
• Your archive complies with the ZIP archive constraints.

Browse skills

You can browse and install skills by using the following sections to filter the list:

Section	Description
All	Both Google-managed skills and user-created skills.
Google	Built-in skills provided by Google.
Shared with me	Read-only, user-created skills that other users have shared with you.

To browse and install a skill, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Gemini Enterprise web app.
2. In the navigation menu, click Skills.
3. Click the add icon and click Browse skills.
4. Find the skill you want to use and click + Install.

Update a skill

To update an existing skill, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Gemini Enterprise web app.
2. In the navigation menu, click Skills.
3. Click the name of the skill that you want to update.
4. Click the icon next to the skill and click Edit.
5. Make the necessary updates to the instructions, name, or description.
6. Click Save.

To return to the Skills page, click Skills.

Share a skill

If your Gemini Enterprise administrator enables skill sharing, you can share skills that you create with other users.

Note: Sharing a skill doesn't send an email notification. To find the skill, recipients must go to the Shared with me section in Browse skills.

To share a skill, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Gemini Enterprise web app.
2. In the navigation menu, click Skills.
3. Find the skill you created and want to share.
4. Click the icon next to the skill and click Share.
5. In the Share skill dialog, enter the comma-separated email addresses of the users you want to share the skill with.
6. Click Done.

Note: If your Gemini Enterprise administrator requires approval for share requests, other users can't access the skill until your administrator approves the request.

Use a skill

You can use skills directly within your chat conversations in the Gemini Enterprise web app.

Test a skill from the Skills page

You can test a skill directly from the Skills page by starting a new chat session with that skill:

1. Sign in to the Gemini Enterprise web app.
2. In the navigation menu, click Skills.
3. Click the icon next to the skill and click New chat. Gemini Enterprise opens a new chat referencing the selected skill.

Invoke a skill in a conversation

You can invoke skills dynamically during a conversation to tailor the assistant's responses.

Note: You can use skills and agents dynamically, but you can't invoke both an agent and a skill in the same prompt.

When chatting with the Gemini Enterprise assistant, you can use skills in the following ways:

• Manual mentions: You can explicitly invoke a skill using the @ or / mention feature in the chat box (for example, @Brand Voice or /Brand Voice). Typing / opens a menu displaying only your available skills, while typing @ opens the general mentions menu.
• Direct requests: If you need Gemini Enterprise to use a specific skill, you can ask for it directly in your prompt. For example, Use the brand voice skill to review this.
• Automatic selection: Gemini Enterprise automatically uses a skill when it is relevant to your task based on the skill's description and trigger instructions.

Turn off a skill

To prevent Gemini Enterprise from using a specific skill, turn it off. When you turn off a skill, Gemini Enterprise doesn't invoke it in conversations.

To turn off a skill, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Gemini Enterprise web app.
2. In the navigation menu, click Skills.
3. On the Skills page, find the skill that you want to turn off.
4. Click the toggle next to the skill to the Off position.

Uninstall a skill

To remove an installed skill from your Skills page, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Gemini Enterprise web app.
2. In the navigation menu, click Skills.
3. Click the icon next to the skill and click Uninstall.

Note: Turning off a skill pauses automatic triggering but keeps it on your Skills page. Uninstalling a skill removes it from your Skills page, but the skill remains available in Browse skills for you to reinstall.

Skill states

In addition to turning skills on or off yourself, your administrator can change the state of a skill, which affects its availability:

• Suspended: Your administrator temporarily deactivates the skill. It remains visible on the Skills page with a suspended status, but other users can't invoke it in conversations until the administrator re-enables it. Skill owners can update and test the skill.
• Disabled: Your administrator temporarily hides the skill from other users, removing it from their Skills page. The skill remains visible to the skill owner, who can update and test it until the administrator re-enables it.
• Deleted: Your administrator permanently removes the skill from the Gemini Enterprise web app, so you can no longer use it.

Limitations

This section lists the limitations for skills in Gemini Enterprise:

• Skills are not available for use with agents.
• Skills support Python and Bash execution only.
• The web app editor lets you create skills by entering instructions in the form fields or by chatting with the assistant, which automatically generates a singleSKILL.md file. You must upload more complex skills that require additional scripts or files as a ZIP file.
• Natural language skill creation does not use your conversation context or connectors as inputs to create a skill.
• Skills work best with Canvas when a skill has only one SKILL.md file.
• A SKILL.md file has hard length limits of 64 characters for name, 1,024 characters for description, and 500,000 characters for the Markdown instructions body. Uploaded ZIP archives can't exceed 100 MB (compressed or uncompressed), 100 files, or 10 levels of directory nesting.

What's next

• Learn how administrators manage skills.