Purpose – XML Schema is used to define schema of XML documents that have become standards for data exchange in various Web-based information applications. The main problem of XML Schema is that it emphasizes syntax and format rather than semantics and knowledge representation. Hence, even though having the advantage of describing the structure and constraining the contents of XML documents, XML Schema lacks the computer-interpretability to support knowledge representation for existing information systems. The purpose of this study is to propose role-mapping annotations for XML Schema (RMAXS) to integrate Semantic Web with XML Schema, which allows the facilitation interoperability between adjoining layers of the Semantic Web stack. Design/methodology/approach – The XML, XML Schema, ontology, and rule can be completely integrated into a multi-layered intelligent framework (MIF) for XML-based applications in the current web environment. This work presents a semantic-role-mapping intelligent system, called SRMIS, based on the MIF. SRMIS consists of XML-based document repository, search engine, inference engine and transformation engine, which provides different approaches to present the various metadata and knowledge representations. Findings – The traditional Semantic Web stack has three gaps between adjoining layers. The first gap, between the XML and XML Schema layers can be bridged with an XMLSchema-instance mechanism. The third gap, between the ontology and rule layers can be connected by building rules on top of ontologies. This study proposes RMAXS to couple the second gap, between the XML schema and ontology layers. The proposed multi-layered intelligent framework (MIF) adopts these coupling technologies to facilitate interoperability between adjoining layers. Therefore, the XML, XML Schema, ontology, and rule can be completely integrated into the MIF for intelligent applications in the web environment. Practical implications – To demonstrate the SRMIS applications, this work implements a prototype that helps researchers to find interested papers. Originality/value – This work presents a semantic-role-mapping intelligent system, called SRMIS, based on the MIF. SRMIS consists of XML-based document repository, search engine, inference engine and transformation engine, which provides different approaches to present the various metadata and knowledge representations. The proposed SRMIS can be applied in various application domains.