diff --git a/cli/module_registry.go b/cli/module_registry.go
index c31b85d1332..dd766899f09 100644
--- a/cli/module_registry.go
+++ b/cli/module_registry.go
@@ -31,11 +31,15 @@ import (
 	"go.viam.com/rdk/module"
 	"go.viam.com/rdk/module/modmanager"
 	modmanageroptions "go.viam.com/rdk/module/modmanager/options"
+	"go.viam.com/rdk/resource"
 	"go.viam.com/rdk/utils"
 )
 
 // moduleUploadChunkSize sets the number of bytes included in each chunk of the upload stream.
-var moduleUploadChunkSize = 32 * 1024
+var (
+	moduleUploadChunkSize = 32 * 1024
+	rdkAPITypes           = []string{resource.APITypeServiceName, resource.APITypeComponentName}
+)
 
 // moduleVisibility determines whether modules are public or private.
 type moduleVisibility string
@@ -46,6 +50,14 @@ const (
 	moduleVisibilityPublic  moduleVisibility = "public"
 )
 
+type unknownRdkAPITypeError struct {
+	APIType string
+}
+
+func (err unknownRdkAPITypeError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("API with unknown type '%s', expected one of %s", err.APIType, strings.Join(rdkAPITypes, ", "))
+}
+
 // ModuleComponent represents an api - model pair.
 type ModuleComponent struct {
 	API   string `json:"api"`
@@ -199,6 +211,8 @@ func UpdateModuleAction(c *cli.Context) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	validateModels(c.App.ErrWriter, &manifest)
+
 	response, err := client.updateModule(moduleID, manifest)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -283,6 +297,8 @@ func UploadModuleAction(c *cli.Context) error {
 			return err
 		}
 
+		validateModels(c.App.ErrWriter, &manifest)
+
 		_, err = client.updateModule(moduleID, manifest)
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Wrap(err, "Module update failed. Please correct the following issues in your meta.json")
@@ -316,6 +332,30 @@ func UploadModuleAction(c *cli.Context) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// call validateModelAPI on all models in manifest and warn if violations.
+func validateModels(errWriter io.Writer, manifest *moduleManifest) {
+	for _, model := range manifest.Models {
+		if err := validateModelAPI(model.API); err != nil {
+			warningf(errWriter, "error validating API string %s: %s", model.API, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// return a useful error if the model string looks wrong.
+func validateModelAPI(modelAPI string) error {
+	api, err := resource.ParseAPIString(modelAPI)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "unparseable model string")
+	}
+	if err := api.Validate(); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to validate API")
+	}
+	if !slices.Contains(rdkAPITypes, api.Type.Name) {
+		return unknownRdkAPITypeError{APIType: api.Type.Name}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // UpdateModelsAction figures out the models that a module supports and updates it's metadata file.
 func UpdateModelsAction(c *cli.Context) error {
 	logger := logging.NewLogger("x")
diff --git a/cli/module_registry_test.go b/cli/module_registry_test.go
index 8716281d9e8..f839a3b263d 100644
--- a/cli/module_registry_test.go
+++ b/cli/module_registry_test.go
@@ -47,3 +47,20 @@ func TestUpdateModelsAction(t *testing.T) {
 
 	test.That(t, sameModels(metaModels.Models, expectedMetaModels.Models), test.ShouldBeTrue)
 }
+
+func TestValidateModelAPI(t *testing.T) {
+	err := validateModelAPI("rdk:component:x")
+	test.That(t, err, test.ShouldBeNil)
+	err = validateModelAPI("rdk:service:x")
+	test.That(t, err, test.ShouldBeNil)
+	err = validateModelAPI("rdk:unknown:x")
+	test.That(t, err, test.ShouldHaveSameTypeAs, unknownRdkAPITypeError{})
+	err = validateModelAPI("other:unknown:x")
+	test.That(t, err, test.ShouldHaveSameTypeAs, unknownRdkAPITypeError{})
+	err = validateModelAPI("rdk:component")
+	test.That(t, err, test.ShouldNotBeNil)
+	err = validateModelAPI("other:component:$x")
+	test.That(t, err, test.ShouldNotBeNil)
+	err = validateModelAPI("other:component:x_")
+	test.That(t, err, test.ShouldBeNil)
+}
diff --git a/resource/api.go b/resource/api.go
index a6a17a7e61a..7a4110f2132 100644
--- a/resource/api.go
+++ b/resource/api.go
@@ -125,18 +125,27 @@ func (a API) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	return json.Marshal(a.String())
 }
 
+// ParseAPIString builds an API{} struct from a colon-delimited triple.
+func ParseAPIString(apiStr string) (API, error) {
+	ret := API{}
+	matches := apiRegexValidator.FindStringSubmatch(apiStr)
+	if matches == nil {
+		return ret, fmt.Errorf("not a valid API config string. Input: `%v`", apiStr)
+	}
+	return APINamespace(matches[1]).WithType(matches[2]).WithSubtype(matches[3]), nil
+}
+
 // UnmarshalJSON parses either a string of the form namespace:type:subtype or a json object into an
 // API object.
 func (a *API) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 	var apiStr string
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &apiStr); err == nil {
-		// If the value is a string, regex match for a colon partitioned triplet.
-		if !apiRegexValidator.MatchString(apiStr) {
-			return fmt.Errorf("not a valid API config string. Input: `%v`", string(data))
+		// If the value is a string, parse it.
+		parsed, err := ParseAPIString(apiStr)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
-
-		matches := apiRegexValidator.FindStringSubmatch(apiStr)
-		*a = APINamespace(matches[1]).WithType(matches[2]).WithSubtype(matches[3])
+		*a = parsed
 		return nil
 	}