xAPI (Experience API / Tin Can API)

xAPI (Experience API), originally nicknamed Tin Can API, is an e-learning specification that tracks learning experiences wherever they happen — inside or outside an LMS — and records them as structured statements in a Learning Record Store (LRS). Each xAPI statement follows a simple 'actor – verb – object' format, such as 'Anna completed Safety Module 3' or 'Team B attended workshop X'. This makes xAPI far more flexible than SCORM, which only tracks a limited data set within a browser-based LMS session. With xAPI, organizations can capture mobile learning, simulations, on-the-job activities, video engagement, VR training, or even performance data from other business systems, and combine it all into a complete picture of learning and its impact. xAPI was published by ADL in 2013 as the designated successor to SCORM. Its adoption has grown steadily, though SCORM remains more common for standard course tracking because it is simpler to implement. In practice, xAPI matters most for organizations that want learning analytics beyond course completions — correlating training with performance outcomes — or that deliver learning across many channels. Most modern LMS platforms support both standards.