How to Embed AI Roleplay in Articulate Storyline 360

If you’ve ever tried to add AI to an Articulate Storyline course, you know the pain. You search the community forums, find a few brave souls who’ve attempted it, and quickly discover a minefield of problems: exposed API keys, broken microphone permissions, SCORM packages that work in preview but fail on your LMS.

It doesn’t have to be this hard.

This post is for instructional designers who want to embed AI roleplay in Articulate Storyline 360 without becoming a JavaScript developer in the process. I’ll explain why the DIY approach is risky, what a proper integration looks like, and how to get interactive AI roleplay scenarios running in your Storyline courses in under an hour.

The Problem Every Instructional Designer Hits

You’ve seen the potential. AI chatbots are everywhere. Your learners could practise difficult conversations, rehearse sales pitches, or explain compliance policies to a realistic AI character — all inside the eLearning course you’re already building in Storyline.

So you start Googling. “Add AI to eLearning course.” “Articulate Storyline AI integration.” “Interactive roleplay eLearning scenarios.”

And you find… not much. A few forum threads where someone tried connecting the OpenAI API directly from Storyline’s Execute JavaScript action. Maybe a workaround involving a separate web page loaded in an iFrame. Lots of “I got it half-working” posts followed by silence.

Here’s what the forum threads don’t always make clear: the fundamental approach is flawed.

Why DIY AI in Storyline Is a Bad Idea

The most common approach people try is calling an AI API (usually OpenAI) directly from JavaScript inside Storyline. This means embedding an API key in your course’s code.

Here’s the problem: SCORM packages are just zip files. Anyone can unzip them, open the JavaScript files, and find your API key sitting there in plain text. That key gives them access to your account, your billing, and your usage limits. It’s like publishing your credit card number inside your training module.

Even if you’re hosting internally and trust your learners, a single leaked SCORM package means your API key is compromised. And if you’re distributing courses to clients or uploading to a third-party LMS? Forget it.

Beyond security, there are practical headaches:

Microphone access: Storyline’s Web Object doesn’t grant microphone permissions by default. Voice-based AI interactions simply won’t work without additional JavaScript to modify the iFrame’s permission attributes.
SCORM compatibility: Not all LMS platforms handle embedded iFrames or external API calls the same way. What works on SCORM Cloud might break on your corporate LMS.
No conversation memory: Stitching together raw API calls doesn’t give you a proper conversation. You’d need to manage conversation history, handle errors gracefully, and build your own UI — all within Storyline’s limited JavaScript environment.
No feedback or scoring: Even if you get a basic chatbot working, how do you pass results back to Storyline? How does the LMS know whether the learner passed?

This is why most people give up after the “I got it half-working” stage.

What a Proper Integration Looks Like

The right approach separates the AI logic from the Storyline course. Instead of calling APIs directly from your course, you embed a purpose-built application that handles everything server-side — and only sends the results back to Storyline when the learner finishes.

This means:

No API keys in your SCORM package. The AI processing happens on a secure server. Your Storyline course just loads a URL.
Microphone permissions handled. A small JavaScript snippet (5 lines) modifies the iFrame to enable voice interactions.
Structured feedback returned. When the learner finishes, the embedded app sends back a score, pass/fail status, and detailed feedback — which Storyline captures in variables and displays however you want.
Works on any LMS. Because it’s just a Web Object loading a URL, it works anywhere Storyline courses work.

This is exactly how Zenobits works with Storyline. You create your AI roleplay scenario in Zenobits, get an embed URL, drop it into a Storyline Web Object, and add a short JavaScript trigger. That’s it.

The Integration in 4 Steps

Here’s the high-level process. (For the full step-by-step walkthrough with code snippets, screenshots, and troubleshooting tips, see our complete Storyline integration guide.)

Step 1: Create Your Scenario

In Zenobits, you design the roleplay. Tell the AI who to play, what to test for, and how to evaluate. This takes 5-10 minutes. For example:

“You are a newly hired employee. The learner must explain our data protection policy to you. Ask naive but probing questions. Evaluate whether they cover the three key principles accurately.”

Step 2: Embed in Storyline

Insert a Web Object on your slide and paste your Zenobits embed URL. Resize it to fit your slide layout. No code needed for this part.

Step 3: Enable Voice

Add a JavaScript trigger (Execute JavaScript, When Timeline Starts) with a short snippet that grants microphone permissions to the embedded iFrame. It’s five lines of code — we provide it ready to copy and paste.

Step 4: Capture Results

Add a feedback listener that watches for the scenario results and stores them in Storyline variables. Once you have the data in variables, you can display it however you like — a results panel, a separate slide, conditional branching based on score. Standard Storyline design, no extra coding needed.

The whole setup takes 30-45 minutes, most of which is designing how you want the feedback to look.

Why This Matters for eLearning

Let’s step back from the technical details. Why bother embedding AI roleplay in Storyline at all?

Because Storyline is where instructional designers build courses. It’s the tool you know, the tool your team uses, the tool your LMS expects SCORM packages from. If AI roleplay only exists as a standalone web app, it doesn’t fit into your existing workflow. Learners have to leave the course, open a separate tool, practise there, then come back. Progress isn’t tracked. Results don’t feed into the LMS.

By embedding AI roleplay directly in Storyline, you get:

One seamless experience. The learner clicks through your Storyline course, does the roleplay, sees their feedback, and continues — all in one flow.
LMS tracking. Scenario scores can feed into Storyline’s built-in result tracking, which feeds into your LMS.
Design control. You control the layout, the branding, the feedback display, the branching logic. It’s your course.
Scalable practice. Every learner gets a unique, dynamic conversation. No two sessions are the same, so learners can’t memorise their way through it.

This turns Storyline from a content delivery tool into a practice environment — which is what effective training actually requires.

What You Can Build

Once AI roleplay is embedded in your Storyline courses, the possibilities open up:

Compliance modules where learners explain policies to an AI “new starter” instead of clicking through slides about them
Sales training where reps pitch to an AI prospect who asks tough questions and pushes back on weak answers
Onboarding courses where new hires demonstrate understanding by teaching concepts back to an AI colleague
Soft skills training where learners practise difficult conversations — giving feedback, handling complaints, navigating conflict — in a safe, private environment
Technical training where engineers explain complex systems to a non-technical AI stakeholder

Each scenario gives the learner AI-generated feedback on what they did well and where they need to improve. No more binary right/wrong quiz questions. Real, nuanced assessment of how someone communicates.

Common Questions from Instructional Designers

“Does it work with SCORM?” Yes. Zenobits embeds as a standard Web Object in Storyline, which packages normally into SCORM 1.2 or SCORM 2004. The scenario results can be captured in Storyline variables and reported to your LMS like any other interaction.

“Do learners need to install anything?” No. It runs in the browser. Learners just need a modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari) and a microphone if you’re using voice interactions. Text-based roleplay works without a microphone.

“What about learners on mobile?” Storyline’s responsive player handles the layout, and Zenobits works on mobile browsers. We recommend testing on your target devices, as microphone behaviour varies across mobile browsers.

“Can I use it without Storyline?” Absolutely. Zenobits scenarios work as standalone links, embedded in any web page, or integrated with other authoring tools. Storyline is just the most common request we get from instructional designers.

Get Started

If you’re an instructional designer who’s been wanting to add AI roleplay to your Storyline courses but didn’t know where to start — or tried and hit the API key / microphone / SCORM wall — this is the solution.

Read the full integration guide — our step-by-step Storyline integration walkthrough covers everything from embedding to troubleshooting, with code snippets ready to copy.
Try it free — create a Zenobits account and get 2,000 credits to build and test your first scenario.
See what’s possible — explore our use cases for scenario ideas across sales, compliance, onboarding, and more.

The hardest part of adding AI to eLearning used to be the technical integration. It isn’t anymore.

Blog How to Embed AI Roleplay in Articulate Storyline 360