---
title: 'Lighthouse AI Architecture'
---

This document describes the internal architecture of Prowler Lighthouse AI, enabling developers to understand how components interact and where to add new functionality.

<Info>
**Looking for user documentation?** See:
- [Lighthouse AI Overview](/getting-started/products/prowler-lighthouse-ai) - Capabilities and FAQs
- [How Lighthouse AI Works](/user-guide/tutorials/prowler-app-lighthouse) - Configuration and usage
- [Multi-LLM Provider Setup](/user-guide/tutorials/prowler-app-lighthouse-multi-llm) - Provider configuration
</Info>

## Architecture Overview

Lighthouse AI operates as a Langchain-based agent that connects Large Language Models (LLMs) with Prowler security data through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

![Prowler Lighthouse Architecture](/images/lighthouse-architecture.png)

### Three-Tier Architecture

The system follows a three-tier architecture:

1. **Frontend (Next.js)**: Chat interface, message rendering, model selection
2. **API Route**: Request handling, authentication, stream transformation
3. **Langchain Agent**: LLM orchestration, tool calling through MCP

### Request Flow

When a user sends a message through the Lighthouse chat interface, the system processes it through several stages:

1. **User Submits a Message**.
   The chat component (`ui/components/lighthouse/chat.tsx`) captures the user's question (e.g., "What are my critical findings in AWS?") and sends it as an HTTP POST request to the backend API route.

2. **Authentication and Context Assembly**.
   The API route (`ui/app/api/lighthouse/analyst/route.ts`) validates the user's session, extracts the JWT token (stored via `auth-context.ts`), and gathers context including the tenant's business context and current security posture data (assembled in `data.ts`).

3. **Agent Initialization**.
   The workflow orchestrator (`ui/lib/lighthouse/workflow.ts`) creates a Langchain agent configured with:
   - The selected LLM, instantiated through the factory (`llm-factory.ts`)
   - A system prompt containing available tools and instructions (`system-prompt.ts`)
   - Two meta-tools (`describe_tool` and `execute_tool`) for accessing Prowler data

4. **LLM Reasoning and Tool Calling**.
   The agent sends the conversation to the LLM, which decides whether to respond directly or call tools to fetch data. When tools are needed, the meta-tools in `ui/lib/lighthouse/tools/meta-tool.ts` interact with the MCP client (`mcp-client.ts`) to:
   - First call `describe_tool` to understand the tool's parameters
   - Then call `execute_tool` to retrieve data from the MCP Server
   - Continue reasoning with the returned data

5. **Streaming Response**.
   As the LLM generates its response, the stream handler (`ui/lib/lighthouse/analyst-stream.ts`) transforms Langchain events into UI-compatible messages and streams tokens back to the browser in real-time using Server-Sent Events. The stream includes both text tokens and tool execution events (displayed as "chain of thought").

6. **Message Rendering**.
   The frontend receives the stream and renders it through `message-item.tsx` with markdown formatting. Any tool calls that occurred during reasoning are displayed via `chain-of-thought-display.tsx`.

## Frontend Components

Frontend components reside in `ui/components/lighthouse/` and handle the chat interface and configuration workflows.

### Core Components

| Component | Location | Purpose |
|-----------|----------|---------|
| `chat.tsx` | `ui/components/lighthouse/` | Main chat interface managing message history and input handling |
| `message-item.tsx` | `ui/components/lighthouse/` | Individual message rendering with markdown support |
| `select-model.tsx` | `ui/components/lighthouse/` | Model and provider selection dropdown |
| `chain-of-thought-display.tsx` | `ui/components/lighthouse/` | Displays tool calls and reasoning steps during execution |

### Configuration Components

| Component | Location | Purpose |
|-----------|----------|---------|
| `lighthouse-settings.tsx` | `ui/components/lighthouse/` | Settings panel for business context and preferences |
| `connect-llm-provider.tsx` | `ui/components/lighthouse/` | Provider connection workflow |
| `llm-providers-table.tsx` | `ui/components/lighthouse/` | Provider management table |
| `forms/delete-llm-provider-form.tsx` | `ui/components/lighthouse/forms/` | Provider deletion confirmation dialog |

### Supporting Components

| Component | Location | Purpose |
|-----------|----------|---------|
| `banner.tsx` / `banner-client.tsx` | `ui/components/lighthouse/` | Status banners and notifications |
| `workflow/` | `ui/components/lighthouse/workflow/` | Multi-step configuration workflows |
| `ai-elements/` | `ui/components/lighthouse/ai-elements/` | Custom UI primitives for chat interface (input, select, dropdown, tooltip) |

## Library Code

Core library code resides in `ui/lib/lighthouse/` and handles agent orchestration, MCP communication, and stream processing.

### Workflow Orchestrator

**Location:** `ui/lib/lighthouse/workflow.ts`

The workflow module serves as the core orchestrator, responsible for:

- Initializing the Langchain agent with system prompt and tools
- Loading tenant configuration (default provider, model, business context)
- Creating the LLM instance through the factory
- Generating dynamic tool listings from available MCP tools

```typescript
// Simplified workflow initialization
export async function initLighthouseWorkflow(runtimeConfig?: RuntimeConfig) {
  await initializeMCPClient();

  const toolListing = generateToolListing();
  const systemPrompt = LIGHTHOUSE_SYSTEM_PROMPT_TEMPLATE.replace(
    "{{TOOL_LISTING}}",
    toolListing,
  );

  const llm = createLLM({
    provider: providerType,
    model: modelId,
    credentials,
    // ...
  });

  return createAgent({
    model: llm,
    tools: [describeTool, executeTool],
    systemPrompt,
  });
}
```

### MCP Client Manager

**Location:** `ui/lib/lighthouse/mcp-client.ts`

The MCP client manages connections to the Prowler MCP Server using a singleton pattern:

- **Connection Management**: Retry logic with configurable attempts and delays
- **Tool Discovery**: Fetches available tools from MCP server on initialization
- **Authentication Injection**: Automatically adds JWT tokens to `prowler_*` tool calls
- **Reconnection**: Supports forced reconnection after server restarts

Key constants:
- `MAX_RETRY_ATTEMPTS`: 3 connection attempts
- `RETRY_DELAY_MS`: 2000ms between retries
- `RECONNECT_INTERVAL_MS`: 5 minutes before retry after failure

```typescript
// Authentication injection for core prowler_ tools (Hub/Docs excluded)
private handleBeforeToolCall = ({ name, args }) => {
  // Only inject auth for prowler_* tools (user-specific data).
  // The legacy prowler_app_ prefix is also accepted for a resilient rollout.
  if (
    !name.startsWith("prowler_") &&
    !name.startsWith("prowler_app_")
  ) {
    return { args };
  }

  const accessToken = getAuthContext();
  return {
    args,
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}` },
  };
};
```

### Meta-Tools

**Location:** `ui/lib/lighthouse/tools/meta-tool.ts`

Instead of registering all MCP tools directly with the agent, Lighthouse uses two meta-tools for dynamic tool discovery and execution:

| Tool | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `describe_tool` | Retrieves full schema and parameter details for a specific tool |
| `execute_tool` | Executes a tool with provided parameters |

This pattern reduces the number of tools the LLM must track while maintaining access to all MCP capabilities.

### Additional Library Modules

| Module | Location | Purpose |
|--------|----------|---------|
| `analyst-stream.ts` | `ui/lib/lighthouse/` | Transforms Langchain stream events to UI message format |
| `llm-factory.ts` | `ui/lib/lighthouse/` | Creates LLM instances for OpenAI, Bedrock, and OpenAI-compatible providers |
| `system-prompt.ts` | `ui/lib/lighthouse/` | System prompt template with dynamic tool listing injection |
| `auth-context.ts` | `ui/lib/lighthouse/` | AsyncLocalStorage for JWT token propagation across async boundaries |
| `types.ts` | `ui/lib/lighthouse/` | TypeScript type definitions |
| `constants.ts` | `ui/lib/lighthouse/` | Configuration constants and error messages |
| `utils.ts` | `ui/lib/lighthouse/` | Message conversion and model parameter extraction |
| `validation.ts` | `ui/lib/lighthouse/` | Input validation utilities |
| `data.ts` | `ui/lib/lighthouse/` | Current data section generation for context enrichment |

## API Route

**Location:** `ui/app/api/lighthouse/analyst/route.ts`

The API route handles chat requests and manages the streaming response pipeline:

1. **Request Parsing**: Extracts messages, model, and provider from request body
2. **Authentication**: Validates session and extracts access token
3. **Context Assembly**: Gathers business context and current data
4. **Agent Initialization**: Creates Langchain agent with runtime configuration
5. **Stream Processing**: Transforms agent events to UI-compatible format
6. **Error Handling**: Captures errors with Sentry integration

```typescript
export async function POST(req: Request) {
  const { messages, model, provider } = await req.json();

  const session = await auth();
  if (!session?.accessToken) {
    return Response.json({ error: "Unauthorized" }, { status: 401 });
  }

  return await authContextStorage.run(accessToken, async () => {
    const app = await initLighthouseWorkflow(runtimeConfig);
    const agentStream = app.streamEvents({ messages }, { version: "v2" });

    // Transform stream events to UI format
    const stream = new ReadableStream({
      async start(controller) {
        for await (const streamEvent of agentStream) {
          // Handle on_chat_model_stream, on_tool_start, on_tool_end, etc.
        }
      },
    });

    return createUIMessageStreamResponse({ stream });
  });
}
```

## Backend Components

Backend components handle LLM provider configuration, model management, and credential storage.

### Database Models

**Location:** `api/src/backend/api/models.py`

| Model | Purpose |
|-------|---------|
| `LighthouseProviderConfiguration` | Per-tenant LLM provider credentials (encrypted with Fernet) |
| `LighthouseTenantConfiguration` | Tenant-level settings including business context and default provider/model |
| `LighthouseProviderModels` | Available models per provider configuration |

All models implement Row-Level Security (RLS) for tenant isolation.

#### LighthouseProviderConfiguration

Stores provider-specific credentials for each tenant:

- **provider_type**: `openai`, `bedrock`, or `openai_compatible`
- **credentials**: Encrypted JSON containing API keys or AWS credentials
- **base_url**: Custom endpoint for OpenAI-compatible providers
- **is_active**: Connection validation status

#### LighthouseTenantConfiguration

Stores tenant-wide Lighthouse settings:

- **business_context**: Optional context for personalized responses
- **default_provider**: Default LLM provider type
- **default_models**: JSON mapping provider types to default model IDs

#### LighthouseProviderModels

Catalogs available models for each provider:

- **model_id**: Provider-specific model identifier
- **model_name**: Human-readable display name
- **default_parameters**: Optional model-specific parameters

### Background Jobs

**Location:** `api/src/backend/tasks/jobs/lighthouse_providers.py`

#### check_lighthouse_provider_connection

Validates provider credentials by making a test API call:

- OpenAI: Lists models via `client.models.list()`
- Bedrock: Lists foundation models via `bedrock_client.list_foundation_models()`
- OpenAI-compatible: Lists models via custom base URL

Updates `is_active` status based on connection result.

#### refresh_lighthouse_provider_models

Synchronizes available models from provider APIs:

- Fetches current model catalog from provider
- Filters out non-chat models (DALL-E, Whisper, TTS, embeddings)
- Upserts model records in `LighthouseProviderModels`
- Removes stale models no longer available

**Excluded OpenAI model prefixes:**
```python
EXCLUDED_OPENAI_MODEL_PREFIXES = (
    "dall-e", "whisper", "tts-", "sora",
    "text-embedding", "text-moderation",
    # Legacy models
    "text-davinci", "davinci", "curie", "babbage", "ada",
)
```

## MCP Server Integration

Lighthouse AI communicates with the Prowler MCP Server to access security data. For detailed MCP Server architecture, see [Extending the MCP Server](/developer-guide/mcp-server).

### Tool Namespacing

MCP tools are organized into three namespaces based on authentication requirements:

| Namespace | Auth Required | Description |
|-----------|---------------|-------------|
| `prowler_*` | Yes (JWT) | Prowler Cloud, Prowler Private Cloud, and Prowler Local Server tools for findings, providers, scans, resources |
| `prowler_hub_*` | No | Security checks catalog, compliance frameworks |
| `prowler_docs_*` | No | Documentation search and retrieval |

### Authentication Flow

1. User authenticates with Prowler Local Server, receiving a JWT token
2. Token is stored in session and propagated via `authContextStorage`
3. MCP client injects `Authorization: Bearer <token>` header for `prowler_*` calls
4. MCP Server validates token and applies RLS filtering

### Tool Execution Pattern

The agent uses meta-tools rather than direct tool registration:

```
Agent needs data → describe_tool("prowler_search_findings")
    → Returns parameter schema → execute_tool with parameters
    → MCP client adds auth header → MCP Server executes
    → Results returned to agent → Agent continues reasoning
```

## Extension Points

### Adding New LLM Providers

To add a new LLM provider:

1. **Frontend**: Update `ui/lib/lighthouse/llm-factory.ts` with provider-specific initialization
2. **Backend**: Add provider type to `LighthouseProviderConfiguration.LLMProviderChoices`
3. **Jobs**: Add credential extraction and model fetching in `lighthouse_providers.py`
4. **UI**: Add connection workflow in `ui/components/lighthouse/workflow/`

### Modifying System Prompt

The system prompt template lives in `ui/lib/lighthouse/system-prompt.ts`. The `{{TOOL_LISTING}}` placeholder is dynamically replaced with available MCP tools during agent initialization.

### Adding Stream Events

To handle new Langchain stream events, modify `ui/lib/lighthouse/analyst-stream.ts`. Current handlers include:

- `on_chat_model_stream`: Token-by-token text streaming
- `on_chat_model_end`: Model completion with tool call detection
- `on_tool_start`: Tool execution started
- `on_tool_end`: Tool execution completed

### Adding MCP Tools

See [Extending the MCP Server](/developer-guide/mcp-server) for detailed instructions on adding new tools to the Prowler MCP Server.

## Configuration

### Environment Variables

| Variable | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| `PROWLER_MCP_SERVER_URL` | MCP server endpoint (e.g., `https://mcp.prowler.com/mcp`) |

### Database Configuration

Provider credentials are stored encrypted in `LighthouseProviderConfiguration`:

- **OpenAI**: `{"api_key": "sk-..."}`
- **Bedrock**: `{"access_key_id": "...", "secret_access_key": "...", "region": "us-east-1"}` or `{"api_key": "...", "region": "us-east-1"}`
- **OpenAI-compatible**: `{"api_key": "..."}` with `base_url` field

### Tenant Configuration

Business context and default settings are stored in `LighthouseTenantConfiguration`:

```python
{
    "business_context": "Optional organization context for personalized responses",
    "default_provider": "openai",
    "default_models": {
        "openai": "gpt-4o",
        "bedrock": "anthropic.claude-3-5-sonnet-20240620-v1:0"
    }
}
```

## Related Documentation

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="MCP Server Extension" icon="wrench" href="/developer-guide/mcp-server">
    Adding new tools to the Prowler MCP Server
  </Card>
  <Card title="Lighthouse AI Overview" icon="robot" href="/getting-started/products/prowler-lighthouse-ai">
    Capabilities, FAQs, and limitations
  </Card>
  <Card title="Multi-LLM Setup" icon="sliders" href="/user-guide/tutorials/prowler-app-lighthouse-multi-llm">
    Configuring multiple LLM providers
  </Card>
  <Card title="How Lighthouse Works" icon="gear" href="/user-guide/tutorials/prowler-app-lighthouse">
    User-facing architecture and setup guide
  </Card>
</CardGroup>
