Important:Skills are currently only available in Gemini Spark. Learn more about Gemini Spark .
Best practices & tips
You can use skills to do tasks you do again and again. To help ensure Gemini handles your task the way you want it to, you can write a skill with specific instructions for Gemini to follow. Use the best practices and tips in this article to write clear instructions that help you focus on the work that matters most.
Skills basics
What’s a skill?A skill is a set of instructions and preferences that teaches Gemini how to handle a specific type of task the way you would. Think of it as a cheat sheet that captures your expertise—your process, your preferences, and the details only you would know—so Gemini can do a recurring task correctly every time,without you explaining it again.
Each skill is built for a single job, so you can use it on its own or combine it with other skills for a larger workflow. It includes steps along with other helpful info, like formatting rules, templates, and common problems to avoid.
Think cheat sheets, not manuals
Keep your skills short and focused. Instead of long paragraphs of general explanation, focus on:
- Quick instructionson how to do the task
- Formatting rulesso the output is exactly how you want
- C ommon mistakes for Gemini to avoid
Gemini can already do a lot of things well. Skills let you bring your specific expertise and preferences into the mix so Gemini works the way you do.
To stay fast and efficient, Gemini is smart about when it reads your skills. This means Gemini only loads details from a skill when it needs it for your task. Instead of reading and remembering everything at once, Gemini only reads what it needs for the current step:
- Check if a skill is relevant.Gemini only checks the skill’s name and description to determine if a skill is relevant for your task.
- Read & follow instructions.If a skill is relevant, Gemini reads its full instructions to follow your specific workflow.
- Use other files as needed. Skills can include files like a template, style guide, or spreadsheet. If your skill has files, Gemini only opens them when it needs them.
You should consider writing a skill if you frequently:
- Repeat prompts:You give Gemini the same instructions over and over, especially for complex tasks with long prompts.
- Fix formats:You repeatedly adjust Gemini’s layout or style to match your needs.
- Work across Connected Apps:You manually combine steps across apps like Gmail, Docs, and Calendar.
If you create the same prompt repeatedly, you can create a skill to save time and work more effectively.
Not every task requires a skill. Don’t create a skill if the task is:
- A one-off job:You only need to do it once and won't repeat it.
- Already handled well:Gemini already delivers the results you expect without additional guidance.
- Constantly changing:The steps or requirements change too often to keep a skill up to date.
Here are some examples of where skills can help.
Skill idea
What it does
Tailor your resume & cover letter for a job post
- Compares your resume to a target job post
- Extracts core skills, keywords and required qualifications
- Asks you questions to fill in any experience and requirement gaps
- Drafts a role-focused resume and matching cover letter
Repurpose a blog post for social media
- Reviews the blog draft from Google Drive.
- Extracts the 3 most impactful quotes or takeaways
- Drafts tailored posts for LinkedIn, X, and Instagram matching your brand voice
- Generates a custom infographic with Nano Banana
Write an effective skill
Write a name & description that tells Gemini when to use it
The skill’s name and its 1–2 sentence description are critical. They help Gemini decide whether your skill is relevant to the task. A generic description means Gemini might not use the skill when it’s needed.
Skill nameWhen naming your skill:
- Start with an action statement, or verb. Focus on what the skill does, not what it is.
- Avoid vague and generic words,like helper, tools, data.
- For example, use
plan-meal-from-recipeinstead ofrecipe-data.
- For example, use
- Use the required format. Name your skill in all lower case with hyphens separating words (e.g.,
my-new-skill).
When writing your skill’s description:
- List specific examples when the skill should be used.Give specific situations where a skill is useful. This tells Gemini when to use the skill. Start the statement with
Use when…. - Start with a third-person capability statement. Focus on what the skill does and write in the third person. Don’t write in the first-person ("I can help you") or second-person ("You can use this to").
- Keep the description focused.Make it as clear as possible and within the 1024 character limit.
For example, write:
Categorizes recipes, scales ingredient portions, and generates grocery lists from selected meals. Use when saving a new recipe, adjusting the serving size for a meal, or creating a shopping list from a meal plan.
Optimize your instructions
Focus on the type of task, not a specific oneInstead of giving instructions that only apply to a specific task, give instructions that teach Gemini how to handle a type of task. This makes your skill flexible and useful for a broader range of tasks.
- Don’t:Give instructions that only work for one specific result, like telling Gemini to make a grocery list for "Spaghetti on Tuesday".
- Do:Give instructions for how to build any meal plan based on what you like to eat.
You can adjust your instructions based on how closely you want Gemini to follow your process.
- Give more freedom for creative tasks.You can write more general directions when there’s more than one right way to do a task. This gives Gemini room to be creative and explore different ideas.
- For example,
brainstorm blog post ideas or write social media headlines.
- For example,
- Give less freedom for strict or critical tasks.Give clear, step-by-step instructions when accuracy and format are important. In these tasks, Gemini needs to follow your instructions exactly because even a small change to the data or format is considered a mistake.
- For example,
copy financial data in an exact layout or summarize meeting notes using only bullet points.
- For example,
Include structural templates or clear examples within your skill's instructions. This improves Gemini's accuracy, especially with formatting.
Examples:
-
Always format client reports with the following sections: "Executive Summary," "Key Findings," "Recommendations," "Next Steps". -
When drafting social media posts, use this template:-
Headline: [Headline] -
Body: [Body Text] -
Hashtags: #[Tag1] #[Tag2] #[Tag3]
-
Create a specific section in your instructions to warn Gemini about common mistakes.
Examples:
-
Remove personal info: Make sure the report does not include any personal info (like names, emails, or phone numbers) unless the task specifically asks for it. -
Use standard disclaimers: If you need to add a disclaimer, use the standard disclaimer from the “Company Template” instead of writing your own.
For long or complex tasks, give Gemini a checklist to follow. This helps Gemini keep track of its progress and makes sure it doesn't skip any important steps. For example:
Copy this checklist and track progress:
[ ] Step 1: Analyze uploaded bank statement
[ ] Step 2: Extract the date, description, and amount for each transaction
[ ] Step 3: Categorize each transaction
[ ] Step 4: Format the information into a table
Tell Gemini exactly what to do if a piece of information is missing. This prevents Gemini from making up or skipping important details.
Examples:
-
If an email doesn't have a date for the event, ask me for the date instead of guessing or leaving it out. -
If a field on the form is empty, stop and ask me to fill it in instead of making up an answer.
