xAPI

current

Experience API (Tin Can API)

2013

xapi_overview.md

The Experience API (xAPI), originally known as "Tin Can API," was released in April 2013 after a research project funded by ADL — informed by LETSI's SCORM 2.0 white papers — and conducted by Rustici Software. It represented a fundamental rethinking of how learning data should be captured.

Instead of SCORM's browser-locked, LMS-centric model, xAPI uses a simple RESTful web service architecture. Learning experiences are recorded as statements in the format "Actor did Verb on Object" — for example, "John completed Module 3" or "Jane scored 85% on the safety quiz."

These statements are sent to a Learning Record Store (LRS), which can exist independently of an LMS. This architecture unlocks tracking of mobile learning, simulations, on-the-job performance, social learning, and any other experience — not just browser-based courseware.

xAPI was the first eLearning specification to break free from the constraints that had defined the space since AICC. It doesn't replace SCORM so much as transcend it, enabling an entirely new category of learning analytics.

key_features.txt

Key Features

[+]Actor-Verb-Object statement format for any learning experience
[+]RESTful API — works across domains, devices, and platforms
[+]Learning Record Store (LRS) as dedicated data repository
[+]Track mobile, social, simulation, and real-world experiences
[+]Extensible vocabulary via Activity Profiles

known_limitations.txt

Limitations

[-]No content packaging specification (intentionally omitted)
[-]No built-in sequencing or navigation
[-]Requires additional infrastructure (LRS)
[-]Vocabulary standardization still evolving
[-]LMS integration patterns vary widely

technical_spec.json

Technical Details

data Model:

Statement API — Actor (Agent/Group), Verb (IRI), Object (Activity/Agent/Statement), Result, Context

communication:

RESTful HTTP API with OAuth or Basic Auth — cross-domain by design

packaging:

None — content packaging deliberately excluded from scope

tracking:

Anything expressible as a statement — completions, scores, interactions, real-world events, social actions

key_people.txt

Key People

Mike RusticiFounder, Rustici Software Aaron SilversADL Project Lead / xAPI Evangelist Brian CaudillJCA Solutions Founder / SCORM Auditor / Actyra Founder

related_organizations.txt

Related Organizations

ADL InitiativeAdvanced Distributed Learning Initiative LETSILearning-Education-Training Systems Interoperability Rustici SoftwareRustici Software IEEE LTSCIEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee

historical_notes.md

Historical Context

By 2008, frustration with SCORM's limitations led to the formation of LETSI and the SCORM 2.0 initiative, which produced over 100 white papers documenting what a successor standard would need. These findings proved that SCORM couldn't be incrementally fixed — it needed a fundamentally new approach. Informed by LETSI's work, ADL funded a "next generation" research project in 2010, and Rustici Software (creators of SCORM Cloud) delivered the Tin Can API — later renamed xAPI. Its release in 2013 coincided with the rise of mobile-first learning.