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SCORM suspend_data 4,096 limit: how to check if your Storyline course is over

Updated 24 September 2026

When a learner leaves a Storyline course partway, the course saves their place in one SCORM field called suspend_data. SCORM 1.2 only guarantees 4,096 characters for it. If the course tries to save more, the LMS may refuse the save, and the learner comes back to an older place, or to the start.

The limits

  • SCORM 1.2: 4,096 characters.
  • SCORM 2004 2nd and 3rd edition: 4,000 characters.
  • SCORM 2004 4th edition: 64,000 characters.

These are the sizes the standards promise an LMS will store. Some LMSs store more, but a course that relies on that only works in those LMSs.

What happens when a course goes over

We tested this on SCORM Cloud in September 2026. For SCORM 1.2 it refuses any save longer than 4,096 characters with error 405. It does not cut the data short: it keeps the last save that fit and throws the new one away.

On a real 25-question Storyline 360 quiz course published for SCORM 1.2, the saved progress reached 4,728 characters by the end of the quiz. SCORM Cloud refused every save from 4,167 characters up (six of them) and kept the last one that fit, at 4,026 characters. Everything the learner did after that point was lost. Other LMSs cut the data short instead, which can be worse: the course may not be able to resume at all.

Why Storyline courses grow past it

Storyline packs the learner's state into suspend_data: which slides they have seen, their quiz answers, and what they typed into text fields. It grows as the learner goes further, so a quick click-through can stay well under the limit while a full run through every slide and question goes over. Long courses, big quizzes and free-text questions are the usual cases.

How to check your course with Alder

  1. Open Alder and drop the published zip. It is read in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
  2. Click “Launch in test player”.
  3. Take the longest path a real learner would: every slide, every quiz question, and type into any text fields.
  4. Watch “Saved progress (suspend_data)” beside the call log. It shows, for example, “2,310 / 4,096 characters (56%)” and updates every time the course saves. It turns amber from 80% of the limit and red when the course goes over.
  5. Click “I'm done”. If the largest save came close to the limit or went over it, the findings include RUNTIME-006, and the report says what an LMS would keep.
  6. Click “Relaunch as returning learner” to check that the course picks up where you left off.

How to bring it down

  • Save less. Fewer tracked slides and shorter text entries mean less to save. Splitting a very long course into several packages also keeps each one smaller.
  • Publish for SCORM 2004 4th edition if your LMS supports it. The standard guarantees 64,000 characters there. Check that your LMS really accepts that much: we have not yet confirmed SCORM Cloud's SCORM 2004 limit.
  • Test again after republishing, using the same long path, and watch the meter.