Credential Engine CTDL xTRA Tool

View our resources to better help understand our AI -powered tool, CTDL xTRA, for transforming public web page information into CTDL publish-ready format.

Credential and learning information exists in many places on the Web—but to make it re-usable,  comparable, and actionable, it must be structured, linked, and open.  The Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) provides a common language to describe credentials, programs, courses, competencies, occupations, pathways, and more.  The Credential Registry provides the architecture that enables CTDL-structured data to connect, interoperate, and power new solutions.

AI and tools for learners need this structure to scale results that help people understand learning and career pathways and make better-informed decisions.

Publishing as CTDL Structured Data Supports the Entire Learn-and-Work Ecosystem

Publishing credential information as CTDL-linked open data ensures it is transparent, actionable, and interoperable across education and workforce systems. Organizations that use CTDL—and tools like CTDL xTRA to structure and publish their data—help build a more connected and navigable ecosystem where everyone benefits:

• Learners and workers gain access to clearer information about their options
• Systems and tools can more easily find, compare, and connect credentials and competencies
• Institutions reduce publishing burden while improving visibility and value
• Regional, state, and national efforts around transparency and quality are strengthened

Publishing with CTDL is not just a technical action—it’s a strategic investment in greater access, opportunity, and success in learning and career pathways.

Introduction to CTDL xTRA

CTDL xTRA is an open-source, AI-powered web application that extracts and transforms public credential information from public web pages into structured, linked open data using CTDL.  This process turns unstructured website content into Credential Registry bulk upload-ready CSV files, significantly reducing the time and effort needed to publish high-quality credential data.

AI performs the extraction and transformation.  People review and publish — keeping humans in the loop to ensure trust and accuracy.

CTDL xTRA never accesses or processes personal information. It only works with publicly available institutional data. No learner, staff, or user data is ever involved in the extraction or publishing process.

What CTDL xTRA Does:

• Accepts a public URL for courses, programs, or competencies
• Extracts content from the webpage
• Transforms data to match Credential Registry bulk upload templates
• Validates that extracted data matches the original content
• Outputs a CSV file ready for upload and publishing

CTDL xTRA does not replace the recommendation to publish CTDL linked data structure directly via Credential Registry APIs or by generating native CTDL from institutional systems. It offers an alternative method to scale publishing when structured data is not already available.

Invitation to Participate

At this time, only Credential Engine staff have direct access to the CTDL xTRA application. We are currently piloting CTDL xTRA with selected partners to evaluate its effectiveness, refine the tool, and gather feedback.  Partners can engage in piloting or request use through a supported process. Share your interest via the CTDL xTRA Interest Form.

1. Submit public URLs (course catalog, program pages, or competency frameworks) 
2. Credential Engine staff will:
   • Run the extraction using CTDL xTRA
   • Conduct an initial review
   • Return a CSV file ready for bulk upload
     
3. You review and publish the data using the Credential Registry bulk upload tool.  Guidance is available via the Credential Registry Guidance site.

We anticipate that cost recovery fees will be introduced outside piloting to support the ongoing development, hosting, and maintenance of the CTDL xTRA service.

Partner feedback has already confirmed that the time savings and value gained from scalable, structured publishing far outweigh fees for cost recovery—making CTDL xTRA a practical and powerful publishing solution for institutions and agencies.

CTDL xTRA Supported CTDL Classes

The chart below shows the CTDL classes included with CTDL xTRA and their status.  We anticipate the amount of information that can be transformed into CTDL will continue to grow, along with support for additional CTDL classes. Future enhancements are planned to include researching AI capabilities to link data across classes (e.g., linking courses to programs and credentials) and maintaining data currency through automated re-extraction processes.

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