Checking course completion with the LMS

Hi ChristophSchmol​,

That’s a great question!

A quick note on how this behaves, Storyline can send completion, success, and quiz result data to an LMS through SCORM, xAPI, cmi5, and similar standards. However, there isn’t currently a built-in Storyline trigger or condition that can directly check whether a learner previously passed a quiz in the LMS when the course launches.

In many cases, returning learner behavior depends more on how the LMS handles resume data, completion status, and suspend data for the published course.

If you need to distinguish between new and returning learners based on prior completion status, that may be possible through custom JavaScript interacting with the LMS API, though the exact approach would depend heavily on the LMS and reporting standard being used.

One thing to keep in mind is that updating and republishing an existing course can also affect how some LMSs treat prior completion data, so behavior can vary quite a bit between platforms.

Status or lesson status should work. But Andrew has already given you that. 

Hi Andrew and Phil,

I asked AI how I could implement the LMS query using JavaScript. Attached is the suggested code for SCORM 2004. (The variable named “BB” in line 36, which I use for the true/false query in Storyline, had already been in my project but was unused.)

I tested the script with our training course in Reach 360 and it actually worked. After completing the quiz, "BB" changed from false to true.

What do you think of the code?

(function () {

    // --- SCORM 2004 API discovery ---
    function getAPI(win) {
        var maxTries = 500;
        while (win && maxTries--) {
            if (win.API_1484_11) {
                return win.API_1484_11;
            }
            win = win.parent;
        }
        return null;
    }

    var api = getAPI(window);

    if (!api) {
        console.log("SCORM 2004 API not found");
        return;
    }

    // --- Read SCORM status ---
    var completionStatus = api.GetValue("cmi.completion_status");
    var successStatus    = api.GetValue("cmi.success_status");

    console.log("Completion:", completionStatus);
    console.log("Success:", successStatus);

    // --- Decision logic ---
    if (
        completionStatus === "completed" ||
        successStatus === "passed"
    ) {
        // Storyline bridge
        var player = GetPlayer();
        player.SetVar("BB", true);
    }

})();

A follow-up question on this:

Is there a way to use Storyline's built-in tools or JavaScript to check whether all entries in a restricted TOC have been unlocked? This could serve as an alternative to checking the completion status in the LMS.

Thank you!