Gemini Agent is Google's name for Gemini doing multi-step jobs for you, and it now lives inside tasks in Gemini. You describe a goal and when you want it done, and Gemini works through it using your connected apps, websites and a browser. You need Google AI Pro or Ultra, a personal Google Account and to be 18 or over.
If you go looking for Google's Gemini Agent help article, it now opens as Manage your tasks and workflows in Gemini Apps. Google's help page also answers the question of where Spark went: it tested Spark in beta with subscribers from May, people kept calling what they wanted "tasks", so Google renamed it Task. The idea's the same: you hand Gemini a job, not a question. Here's how it works, what it can reach and the rules Google itself gives for using it safely.
What Gemini can do as an agent
Google's examples fall into three groups:
- Saving time: decluttering your inbox by summarising or archiving newsletters, writing an urgent to-do list after a holiday, or unsubscribing from email lists.
- Watching prices: monitoring flights and hotels and alerting you when prices drop within your budget.
- Research and files: pulling research with cited sources and packaging it into downloadable PDFs, documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
To do this, Gemini uses your Connected Apps, skills, past chats, websites you're signed into, Personal Intelligence and location.
Who can use it
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Plan | Google AI Pro or Ultra |
| Age | 18 or over |
| Account | Personal Google Account; not yet available on work or school accounts |
| Where | Gemini mobile app, Gemini app on Mac, and gemini.google.com |
For what each plan includes, see Google AI Pro explained.
How to start a task
- Open Gemini on the web, the Mac app or your phone.
- Below the text box, click Task.
- Describe what you want done and when, such as around a time or after an event.
- Type @ to pick an existing skill if you want Gemini to use one.
- Open the task thread later to check progress, permissions and schedules.
If you're not sure where to begin, Google suggests typing "set up", "get started" or "interview me" in a task, and Gemini helps you build your first skills and tasks conversationally.
How it uses a browser
This is where Gemini Agent differs from a chat. To work on websites, Gemini either connects to the Chrome browser on your desktop or uses a separate remote browser in the cloud.
| Your local Chrome | Remote cloud browser | |
|---|---|---|
| What it can reach | Every site you can, including ones you're signed into | A separate browser Gemini runs for you |
| What you need to do | Keep your device and Chrome awake and running | Nothing; it keeps going if you close your device |
| On mobile | Not used | The only option |
If you close your laptop mid-task, Gemini may switch to the remote browser to finish. For steps like signing in to a website, the task pauses until you take over. With your permission it can also use logins saved in Password Manager. The first time it browses on a device it asks permission, and after that it asks for confirmation on every task that involves browsing.
Google's own safety rules
- Don't type sign-in details, payment details or anything sensitive into the task thread. Take control of the browser and enter them on the webpage instead.
- Avoid scheduling tasks you'd consider sensitive. Google warns that if a schedule runs while you're offline, you may not be able to stop an unintended action.
- Some tasks ask for your confirmation before Gemini completes them.
- To stop browsing, click Stop in the Gemini in Chrome side panel. Gemini may then try another route or abandon the task. To cancel completely, click Stop in the Gemini text box.
Google also says schedules in tasks are different from schedules in chats. If you just want a prompt answered at the same time every day, Gemini scheduled actions are the simpler tool.
The prompt injection warning
Google is unusually direct about the main risk. A website, email, document or file can hide instructions meant to mislead an AI agent. If Gemini reads them mid-task, Google says it could be tricked into posting your private information on a public website, sending your Gmail messages to an outside service or exposing insights from your Connected Apps. Gemini also shares the information a task needs with the websites it uses, which can include your name, contact details and files.
In practice: give agent tasks a narrow job on sites you trust, and check what it did in the task thread afterwards. To undo something Gemini did in a Workspace app, Google says to click the link in Gemini's confirmation and change it in that app.
Using it at work? Read Gemini Enterprise.
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Managing tasks and files
Each task has a thread and a work panel. From the thread's menu you can pause or resume its schedule, and on the web there's also a Scheduled page for this. When Gemini creates Markdown or plain text files, it shows them in Canvas so you can edit them directly; for other files it gives you links you can open and edit conversationally.
A browser version of the idea is explained in Chrome Auto Browse.
My verdict
Gemini Agent is worth trying for the dull, repeatable jobs: newsletter clean-ups, price watching, research you'd otherwise do by hand every week. Keep payments, logins and anything client-sensitive out of it until you've watched a few tasks run. Supervise first, schedule later.
If you'd like help choosing which AI tools your team should use and setting them up around the way you work, here's how we can work together.
Frequently asked questions
What is Gemini Agent?
Gemini Agent is Gemini working through multi-step tasks for you, such as research, inbox clean-ups or price alerts. It now lives in tasks in Gemini, where you describe a goal and a schedule and Gemini completes it.
Who can use Gemini Agent?
You need a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription, a personal Google Account and to be 18 or over. Tasks aren't available on work or school accounts yet.
Does Gemini Agent work on my phone?
Yes. Tasks are available in the Gemini mobile app, the Gemini app on Mac and gemini.google.com. On mobile, Gemini uses a remote browser in the cloud.
Can Gemini Agent use websites I'm signed into?
If it uses your local Chrome browser, yes, it can reach the same sites you can. With your permission it can also use logins saved in Password Manager.
How do I stop a Gemini Agent task?
Click Stop in the Gemini in Chrome side panel to stop browsing, or click Stop in the Gemini text box to cancel the task completely.
