Google Opal stops running workflows on 17 November, so your AI mini-apps need a new home
By Brett Gavaghan, Founder of Adaptd ·
Google's Opal, the Labs tool for building AI mini-apps in plain English, will stop running active workflows on 17 November 2026. Files stay in Drive, and Google points people to skills in Gemini instead.
The short version
- Google Opal, the Labs tool for building AI mini-apps in plain English, will stop running active workflows on 17 November 2026.
- Workflow files stay in Google Drive under My Drive > Opal, and Google says custom workflows are moving to skills in Gemini.
- If anyone in your team built an Opal workflow, list it now and plan its replacement before mid-November.
Google calls it "graduating out of Labs". For anyone who built a workflow in Opal, it's closer to the school shutting its gates. The date is 17 November.
What is happening to Google Opal?
Google Opal is a Google Labs experiment for building and sharing AI mini-apps by describing them in plain language, and its active workflows will stop running on 17 November 2026. Google says custom workflows are moving to skills in Gemini.
The notice sits at the top of the Opal site. Your workflow files aren't deleted: they stay in Google Drive under My Drive > Opal. The workflows just won't run any more, which is a bit like keeping the recipe after someone has taken the oven.
What replaces it, and when?
Skills in Gemini are Google's suggested replacement for Opal workflows: reusable instructions you can call on whenever you prompt Gemini. Skills start rolling out in Workspace on 5 October and in the Gemini app on 13 October, finishing by mid-November.
In Workspace, skills are on the Business Starter, Standard and Plus plans and the Enterprise plans, for users over 18. Google's notice doesn't explain how closely a skill will match an Opal mini-app, so rebuild one and compare the two while both still work.
What should your business do about it?
Your business should check whether anyone has built an Opal workflow the team relies on, because the people using it won't get a warning on 18 November. Experiments have a habit of becoming the thing the whole office uses on a Monday.
My take: this is what the word Labs was telling us all along. Free experiments are great for testing an idea and risky for running one. If an Opal workflow has become part of your week, rebuild it as a Gemini skill or in a tool with a support contract, and write down who owns it. Best to move house before the landlord changes the locks.
Wondering what this means for your business?
That's exactly what the discovery call is for.