.prax Format

Plain-text eLearning courses: human-readable, LLM-friendly, and version-control compatible.

What is .prax

.prax is Praxity Studio's grammar-based course format. A file contains optional YAML frontmatter plus structured body content that can be exported to SCORM, xAPI, or standalone HTML.

Quick example

---
title: Workspace Safety Starter
lang: en
kicker: Module 1
design:
  palette: standard
  colorMode: light
  accentHue: 220
---

## Welcome

This short course introduces a simple safety routine you can run before starting work.

/assets/safety-checklist.png
alt: Checklist on a clipboard
caption: Daily pre-shift checklist

---

## Before You Begin

Confirm emergency exits are clear and protective gear is available.

Who it's for

• Instructional designers editing course files directly.
• Educational developers building reusable modules.
• LLM users generating draft courses from outlines.
• Tool authors integrating .prax into pipelines.

Key features

• 30+ block types across content, flow, assessment, and interactive categories.
• Grammar-first authoring that stays readable as plain text.
• Accessible output patterns built into block semantics.
• Export targets: SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, xAPI, standalone HTML.
• Git-friendly diffs and collaboration workflows.
• LLM-friendly — paste the skill file as context to generate valid courses with any major model.

Reference

• reference/document-structure.md: Frontmatter, pages, headings, as:, breaks.
• reference/inline-formatting.md: Bold/italic/links/variables/lists/tables.
• reference/blocks.md: Block index with links to each detailed reference section.
• reference/blocks.json: Machine-readable block index.
• reference/blocks-content.md: Content block syntax and options.
• reference/blocks-containers.md: Containers and close rules.
• reference/blocks-assessments.md: Assessment syntax and scoring params.
• reference/blocks-interactive.md: Interactive block patterns.
• reference/frontmatter-design.md: Frontmatter design keys.
• reference/course-manifest.md: Multi-file courses and course.yaml schema.

Examples

• examples/minimal.prax: Minimal two-page starter.
• examples/quiz-course.prax: Assessment-focused module.
• examples/interactive-module.prax: Containers plus interactions.
• examples/full-featured.prax: Broad feature coverage file.

Instructional patterns

Reusable templates for common eLearning designs:

• patterns/faq-accordion.prax: FAQ page with expandable panels.
• patterns/card-gallery.prax: Team or concept cards in a grid.
• patterns/flashcard-drill.prax: Flip-card vocabulary drill.
• patterns/multicol-signature.prax: Completion page with summary and signoff.
• patterns/horizontal-timeline.prax: Process steps on a horizontal timeline.
• patterns/assessment-choice.prax: Learner picks which question to answer.
• patterns/matrix-likert.prax: Likert matrix with scale points and statements.
• patterns/scenario-feedback.prax: Scenario with conditional feedback via variables.
• patterns/guided-reading.prax: Read-then-test across multiple pages.
• patterns/image-comparison.prax: Before/after slider comparison.

Card syntax (v3.1)

Use as: card for both static card grids and flip-card carousels.

## Safety Terms
as: card
layout: single
style: outline
shadow: subtle
advance: 0
transition: fade
showProgress: true
shuffle: false
trackCompletion: true

### PPE
Personal Protective Equipment

card: back
Helmet, eye protection, gloves

close: card

The ## Safety Terms heading is the card group title. Each ### heading starts a card item and becomes that card's label/header; it is not part of the flippable face content.

For non-flip cards, omit card: back and use layout: grid (or masonry) plus columns.

as: flashcard is a deprecated backward-compat alias and should not be used for new content.

Image syntax (v3.1)

Image blocks support width and alignment variants plus standard content params:

• Variants: width: small|medium|large, alignment: left|center|right
• Params: alt, decorative, caption
• treatment is deprecated; use effects instead

For a full-frame image, use the universal layout: full; full is not an image width value.

effects is composable and accepts either none or an effects map. Supported effects:

• grayscale: { intensity }
• colorWash: { intensity, color }
• accentLighting: { intensity }
• progressiveBlur: { intensity }
• accentBlur: { intensity }
• motionBlur: { intensity, direction }
• grain: { intensity }
• halftone: { intensity }
• dithering: { intensity }

Design-level design.imageEffects (frontmatter) applies to all images. Per-image effects: overrides that default.

Not supported image params:

• filter
• opacity
• size (use width)
• x (use alignment)
• order
• standalone motionBlur boolean (use effects.motionBlur)

Using with LLMs

• Claude Code: point the model to skill/ and load skill/SKILL.md first.
• ChatGPT: paste skill/SKILL.md, then add relevant sub-skills.
• Other LLMs: use skill/SKILL.md as base context and load sub-skill docs per task.

Contributing

This specification is maintained by Praxity Studio. We are not accepting pull requests at this time. If you have questions, suggestions, or find an error in the spec, please open an issue or email hello@praxity.io.

License

Specification docs are CC BY 4.0, examples are CC0 1.0, and skill files/code are MIT. See LICENSE.