xAPI (Experience API)
xAPI — also known as Tin Can, standardized as IEEE 9274.1.1 — is the learning-record standard that tracks experiences as actor-verb-object statements (Alice completed Module 3) sent to a Learning Record Store, covering learning that happens outside an LMS.
Statements and the LRS
Every tracked moment becomes a JSON statement: actor (who), verb (what they did — answered, completed, watched), object (the activity), plus optional context and results. Statements stream to an LRS — a store that other systems query for analytics, compliance reporting, or adaptive learning. Unlike SCORM, tracking does not depend on the content being launched from an LMS session.
That decoupling is the point: mobile apps, simulators, offline field training, and real-world performance can all emit statements into the same record store — something SCORM’s browser-session model never handled.
xAPI and cmi5
cmi5 is the bridge: it keeps the LMS launch/package mechanics of SCORM but replaces the data model and tracking with xAPI statements — the modern answer when you need both LMS administration and rich tracking. Our validator detects SCORM, xAPI, and cmi5 packages and checks each accordingly.
Related Standards
- •xAPI — IEEE 9274.1.1
- •cmi5 — xAPI LMS-launch profile
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