Google is now integrating Opal, its vibe-coding tool for building AI mini apps, natively in the Gemini web app. That said, the integration allows users to build custom Gems via a visual editor that transforms plain-language concepts into step-by-step workflows, effectively shortening the loop between prompting, prototyping, and deploying lightweight AI experiences.
What Opal adds to Gemini for building and remixing custom Gems
Gems are specialized implementations of Gemini for specific jobs. Google’s pre-packaged ensemble is composed of a learning coach, brainstorming partner, career guide, a coding assistant, and an editor. And with Opal now available inside the Gems manager on the web, people can spin up their own versions or remix someone else’s without coding.
- What Opal adds to Gemini for building and remixing custom Gems
- How the visual editor in Opal for Gemini works step by step
- Why vibe coding is arriving in force with Gemini and Opal
- Competitive stakes as Google faces OpenAI, Anthropic, and startups
- What to watch for as Opal-powered Gems roll out in Gemini
The big shift is composition. With Opal you can describe an app in natural language, and Opal orchestrates Gemini models into a working layout-view mini app that you can share with others, clone for yourself, or reuse the same as the original. Rather than an ad hoc chat-based script, a Gem is now a full-fledged piece of software with a name, set of steps, and inputs.
How the visual editor in Opal for Gemini works step by step
From the Gemini interface, Opal opens the app, where a visual editor sets out the path an app will take. A new view even turns your written prompt into a neat list of steps, which can be reordered or chained together. The objective is to render a visible and adjustable “thought process” of an app, not obscured by code.
For more granular control, creators can jump over to the Advanced Editor at opal.google.com. That route is for users with high-level computing needs who would like to develop prompts, inputs, and logic beyond the common denominator. Either way, the result is a reusable mini app that acts as a personal, task-specific agent within the Gemini ecosystem.
Why vibe coding is arriving in force with Gemini and Opal
“Vibe coding” is predicated on a straightforward premise: describe what you want and let AI scaffold out the application. We’ve seen it take off with the rise of agentic AI, where your tools plan, call tools, and chain steps for you. Gartner estimates that 70% of enterprise apps created by new technology stacks will use low-code or no-code technologies by 2025, and AI-native builders are helping to advance that trend.
Practical applications are easy to envision: a personal lesson planner that tweaks difficulty based on preliminary quiz results; a recruiting screener that homogenizes candidate recaps; a research assistant that compiles sources into an abstract and highlights citations you need to check. Opal makes these workflows both explicit and tweakable, so teams can test and iterate quickly while reusing what works.
Studies produced by entities such as Stanford HAI’s AI Index have shown quick adoption of AI-assisted coding and workflow tools in software projects. Adding Opal to Gemini is part of that drive, that transition from chat-based answers to replicable, shareable micro-apps.
Competitive stakes as Google faces OpenAI, Anthropic, and startups
Google is entering a crowded field. Custom GPTs, as popularized by OpenAI, are another way of packaging instructions and tools together into bespoke assistants. Anthropic has been touting its configurable workflows for Claude via console and API. Startups like Lovable and Cursor aim to serve developers with AI-first code editing and app creation, while consumer-facing builders such as Wabi are bringing one-click app creation to everyday users.
Opal’s differentiator is its proximity to Gemini and thus the wider Google ecosystem. If creators can go from a single prompt to a reliable Gem in minutes — and do this within the same place where they’re already chatting, writing, and planning — it lowers friction. The true test will be whether these mini apps can be depended on as a regular tool, not just when showing off.
What to watch for as Opal-powered Gems roll out in Gemini
There are two elements that will dictate their impact: strength and governance. You’ll want clean step traces, easily debugged code, and consistent outputs as apps develop. Enterprises will care about sharing controls, auditability, and how Gems fit into existing policies for data access and compliance — points at which enterprise platforms have tended to compete in such analyses by groups like Forrester.
If Opal in Gemini lowers the barrier to entry for routine tasks — even slightly — then more people will create software within companies, not just consume it. The pitch is simple: more time shaping valuable outcomes, less time stitching together tasks, for product teams, analysts, teachers, and lone creators.
