Learn how skills work in Google Workspace & Google Workspace Studio

How to use skills in Google Workspace

Skills are customizable reusable instructions that you give Gemini to accomplish tasks. You can use skills for things like:

• Form filling: You can create a "Fill out this template" skill that can create copies of a product, event, or partnership proposal file, and fills it out on your behalf.
• Brand consistency: You can create a "Brand Guidelines" skill that can create or revise documents, slides, and emails based on your brand voice.
• Cross-app utility: After you create a skill, you can use it across Gemini in Workspace apps like Gmail, Chat, Docs, and Slides for enhanced productivity.

To use your skill after you create it, open it inside Workspace Studio or access it from the Gemini side panel in other apps. You can also find it in the “Ask Gemini” side panel in Workspace Studio.

Quick links

• Create & manage skills in Workspace Studio
• Create & collaborate on a skill inside Google Docs
• Use skills in your flows
• Trigger flows with your skills
• Use custom skills in Workspace apps

Create & manage skills in Workspace Studio

You can create a skill in two ways:

• Create a skill from scratch with custom instructions.
• Use a pre-created template for common tasks.

Create a skill:

• To create a skill from scratch:
  1. Go to Google Workspace Studio.
  2. On the left, click Skills.
  3. Click Create .
  4. In the skill builder chat window, enter a description of what you want the skill to do.
  5. Review the generated skill instructions and make any adjustments needed.
  6. Optional: Select the sources Gemini can use to find information:
     1. At the bottom of the skill builder, click Add .
     2. Click Gemini search settings.
     3. Under "Where Gemini can search," check the sources you want Gemini to access:
        • Drive (checked by default)
        • Gmail
        • Chat
        • Calendar
        • Web (checked by default)
     4. To upload reference files or link specific folders as context, click Add Add from Drive.
  7. Optional: Test your skill before enabling it. In the skill builder chat box, describe a scenario and review how the skill responds.
  8. Click Turn on .

• To create a skill using a template:
  1. Go to Google Workspace Studio.
  2. On the left, click Skills.
  3. Under "Templates," select a skill.
  4. Observe the action button displayed for the template:
     • If the button says "Turn on": This action immediately turns on the skill and directs you to the skill editor where you can test it. You can also make edits and then click Update at the top right.
     • If the button says "Customize": Click it to review the instructions. If the template is suitable, click +Add to my skills. You can then modify the skill within the editor and click Turn on when ready.

Share a skill:

• You can share a link to allow others to make a copy of your skill. A copy includes the latest setup, any reference files, text and email addresses, and copies of referenced flows.
• Anyone with the link can find your email address as the skill creator.
  1. Go to Google Workspace Studio.
  2. On the left, click Skills.
  3. Under "My skills," click the skill you want to share.
  4. At the top left, click Share Private My organization.
  5. Click Copy link .
     • You can only share skills that are turned on.

Update a skill:

1. Go to Google Workspace Studio.
2. On the left, click Skills.
3. Under "My skills," click the skill you want to update.
4. Make the required updates.
5. Click Update.

Turn off or delete your skills:

1. Go to Google Workspace Studio.
2. On the left, click Skills.
3. Under "My skills," click the skill you want to turn off or delete.
4. Click Turn off or Delete .

Create & collaborate on a skill inside Google Docs

If you make updates or enhance your skill instructions in Google Doc, you can sync these instructions inside Workspace Studio. To sync updates from your document, at the top right of your skills page, click More options Sync with Docs .

Tip: If you have your skill open already, the sync option won't show unless you refresh your page.

Use skills in your flows

If you use Workspace Studio flows to automate certain tasks, you can add a skill into the flow. For example, to make sure your automated email responses match your brand's tone and communication guidelines, add a "Client Communication" skill to your Ask Gemini step.

A skill directs how Gemini acts within its current capabilities. It doesn't grant Gemini new powers like to create images if the tool doesn't already support it.

To use one of your skills inside your Workspace Studio flows:

1. Turn on the required skill.
2. When you're inside the flow creation process, click Add .
3. Add Ask Gemini as one of the steps inside your flow.
   • In the "Skills" box, enter your skill's name to select one or more skills to give Gemini customized expertise.
4. Optional: Select the sources you want Gemini to use while it assists with the flow. You can give Gemini access to:
   • Specific sources, for example, specific Google Drive files
   • Entire Workspace content
   • Your Google search
   • All aforementioned sources combined
5. Click Save.

Tip: To learn more about the various starters and steps you can use inside a flow, go to Guide to Starters and Steps in Workspace Studio.

Trigger flows with your skills

If you use flows that start with a "Start manually" starter step, you can add those flows directly into your skill. This allows you to give custom instructions to extract or generate data. Then, it instantly passes that data into a flow to automate actions, like updating a CRM or drafting a document.

To use this flow inside your skill:

1. Create and turn on a flow that uses the Start manually starter. Give your custom input fields a "Data name" but leave the "Default value" empty.
2. Create a skill that can extract the specific details from resources like emails, chat conversations, and documents, to feed into the default value field.

For example, in your skill instructions, you can write "Read the currently open email thread and extract the customer's name. Once you've extracted the name, pass the details onto the flow and run the Sales CRM flow."

When you invoke this skill in your Workspace apps, the user's name is extracted and passed to your flow to execute the downstream steps.

Use custom skills in Workspace apps

To use skills in Workspace apps, you can @mention a specific skill.

1. In Google Docs, Slides, Drive, Gmail, or Chat, click Ask Gemini .
2. In the prompt box, enter: @.
3. Type the skill name.
4. Select the skill from the suggestions.
5. Enter your prompt.

Important: If a prompt requires access to a source you haven't selected, Gemini displays: “To complete this request, Gemini needs access to [service].” To address this:

1. In the Gemini in Workspace side panel, click Add Gemini search settings.
2. Under “Where Gemini can search,” check the box next to the missing source.

Related resources

• Get started with Google Workspace Studio
• Create a flow with Gemini AI
• Manage & share your flows in Google Workspace Studio