vigil

Vigil SOC

Vigil is an open source, agentic AI SOC released under Apache 2.0. Your playbooks are plain-text Markdown files, your agent logic is readable code, and your integrations use an open standard (MCP). It is a capability you own, not a black box you rent.

Vigil runs on its own: a local clone, Docker, and any supported LLM provider (a local Ollama model works). LogLM, DeepTempo’s cybersecurity foundation model for behavioral anomaly detection, is an optional MCP integration you enable in Settings, not a prerequisite. Docs and community: vigilsoc.org.

Vigil 1.0 is coming. We believe it will be the first AI SOC built for a human on the loop rather than in it. Join the upcoming office hours for a preview.

The project draws on the founders’ experience building StackStorm and supporting teams, including Netflix, that used it to reach high levels of automation carefully. One lesson carries through: the system can only demote its own autonomy, and only humans can promote it. Vigil checks projected cost and confidence before acting, and asks a human when either looks off.

Vigil rests on three parts — agents you can read, fork, and rewire; workflows defined as Markdown files you edit directly; and integrations connected over MCP — plus the most important one: you. Contribute feedback, code, a star, or memes on Discord.

Agents

Vigil ships a set of built-in specialist agents covering the core SOC roles — triage, investigation, threat hunting, correlation, response, reporting, ATT&CK mapping, forensics, threat intel, compliance, malware and network analysis — and you can add your own from the console. The set grows and changes with the project; the built-ins are manifests in core/agents/manifests/ and are described at vigilsoc.org/docs/agents.

Every agent can call Vigil’s backend tools (findings, cases, approvals, detections, ATT&CK, threat intel, memory, skills) and the tools of whichever MCP integrations you have connected. Each agent’s needs and prompt are visible in its manifest; every agent runs on the investigation model assignment.

Response actions are proposed as approval requests. A request from the Response agent always waits for an analyst. The daemon’s executor carries out an approved action within about 30 seconds unless Stop holds it, and an AutoOps investigation that proposes containment pages PagerDuty when it is enabled. The approval pipeline records isolate_host actions but does not execute them; host isolation or quarantine happens only when an agent calls an EDR integration’s tool directly.

Workflows

A workflow is a WORKFLOW.md file: YAML frontmatter that says what runs, and a Markdown body that explains it. Built-in workflows live under core/workflows/definitions/; edit them there, build your own from the Workflows screen, or disable the ones you don’t use.

A workflow’s run_kind decides how it executes:

Start one from chat, for example "Run incident response on finding f-20260215-abc123", or from the Workflows screen.

Create your own workflow

---
name: phishing-triage
description: "Triage and investigate phishing reports from user submissions."
use_case: "A user reports a suspicious email and the SOC needs to assess, investigate, and contain."
trigger_examples:
  - "Run phishing triage on finding f-20260401-abc123"
objectives:
  - "Decide whether the reported mail is malicious"
  - "Contain it without waiting on a second report"
phases:
  - id: assess
    agent: triage
    name: "Assess the Report"
    tools: [get_finding, list_findings]
    instructions: |
      Fetch the finding, extract sender/domain/URLs, score severity, check for
      known-bad indicators. Hand on the verdict and the indicators you found.

  - id: investigate
    agent: investigator
    name: "Investigate"
    tools: [get_finding, search_detections]
    instructions: |
      Correlate with detection rules. Build an evidence timeline. Hand on the
      timeline and related findings.

  - id: contain
    agent: responder
    name: "Contain"
    tools: [get_case, update_case]
    approval_required: true
    instructions: |
      If confirmed malicious: block the sender domain, quarantine matching emails,
      and plan remediation with confidence scores.
---

# Phishing Triage Workflow

An overview for whoever reads this file. The `phases` above are what actually
runs, in the order written.

approval_required: true holds a phase for a human before it acts. Scaffold a new file with:

python scripts/create_workflow.py phishing-triage --agents triage,investigator,responder
# creates core/workflows/definitions/phishing-triage/WORKFLOW.md

Integrations

Vigil connects agents to your existing tools through MCP. Integrations span SIEM and log search, EDR/XDR, cloud security (AWS, Azure, GCP), identity, threat intel, sandboxes, detection engineering, ticketing, chat and paging, network security, and data pipelines. The catalogue changes as vendors ship official MCP servers and contributors add new ones; mcp-config.json is the current list, and vigilsoc.org/docs/integrations describes each one.

An integration is one of two things:

• An upstream MCP server: a vendor’s or community’s own server, pinned to a version in mcp-config.json (npx, uvx, Docker, or a remote endpoint).
• A vendor slice: a server Vigil maintains at core/integrations/<vendor>/tool.py, used where no suitable upstream server exists. See vendor slices.

What an integration can do depends on its server: some are read-only lookups, others can act (for example, Microsoft Defender isolation or Carbon Black quarantine). The integrations docs list each one’s tools.

Some integrations are marked Experimental in Settings. These are CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne, Microsoft Sentinel, the official Splunk MCP server, Google SecOps, Google Threat Intelligence, Joe Sandbox, vStrike, Atomic Red Team and CAPE Sandbox. The project has no free instance of these to test against (Atomic Red Team runs an operator’s own runner; CAPE needs a KVM host), so they have never been run against a live one. They may not work. If you run one, please open an issue saying whether it worked, with your Vigil version.

Enable and configure integrations under Settings → Integrations, or generate one from API docs with the Custom Integration Builder. If you build an integration you find useful, someone else will too. Please contribute it.

Vigil’s own MCP server. Vigil serves its SOC operations (findings, cases, approvals, hunts) at /mcp, the same tools its agents use. The finding, case, and approval tools that mirror frozen /api/v1 operations are frozen: their names and input schemas are pinned in tools/mcp/frozen_tools.snapshot.json. The rest are served under the 0.x terms in SECURITY.md.

Detection rules. The detection-engineering integration (security-detections-mcp) indexes community rule sets (Sigma, Splunk ESCU, Elastic, KQL) for search, coverage analysis, and gap identification. Vigil does not ship the rules; fetch them with ./scripts/setup_detection_repos.sh (or SETUP_DETECTION_REPOS=1 ./setup_dev.sh).

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/Vigil-SOC/vigil.git
cd vigil
./start.sh

Then open http://localhost:6988 and create the admin account on the bootstrap screen. While no account exists, the API prints a setup code in this terminal; enter it there.

Sign-in cookies are Secure by default (VIGIL_COOKIE_SECURE=true), so the console needs HTTPS: Chromium accepts them on http://localhost, but reached by IP or hostname over plain HTTP (or in Safari, even on localhost) sign-in fails. Set VIGIL_COOKIE_SECURE=false only for loopback or SSH-tunnel access (see env.example).

start.sh provisions the pinned Python with uv, installs dependencies, starts PostgreSQL, Redis, and the Bifrost LLM gateway in Docker, starts a host Ollama if one is installed (optional), initializes the schema and reference data, and launches the API, the agent layer, and the frontend. No LogLM or cloud API key is needed to reach a running UI.

• AGENT_INTERNAL_TOKEN lets the agent layer talk to the API. start.sh (and setup_dev.sh) creates .env from env.example and fills an empty token with a random one; a value already set is kept. Without it the agent layer does not start: workflow runs stay queued and chat answers 503.
• The SOC daemon (alert polling, auto-triage) runs only with ./start.sh -d; the foreground start says so. Setup’s system checks show whether the daemon and the agent layer are running.
• Authentication is on by default. No account or default password ships; the first visit creates the admin, using the setup code the API prints at startup while no account exists. start.sh creates the JWT signing secret at ~/.vigil/jwt_secret. For an unauthenticated instance on your own machine, set DEV_MODE=true in .env; the backend announces the bypass on every startup.

Stable vs. development build: main is the active development branch. For a tested build, check out a release tag (git checkout v<version>) or pull a published image (docker pull ghcr.io/vigil-soc/vigil-backend:<version>). Releases are listed on the releases page.

Released images are signed keyless by .github/workflows/release.yml. To verify (the image tag drops the leading v; the certificate identity uses the git tag):

cosign verify \
  --certificate-identity https://github.com/Vigil-SOC/vigil/.github/workflows/release.yml@refs/tags/v<version> \
  --certificate-oidc-issuer https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com \
  ghcr.io/vigil-soc/vigil-backend:<version>

Prerequisites

• Docker (running): PostgreSQL, Redis, and Bifrost run in containers.
• Node.js 20+: runs the agent layer and the frontend. Without Node, neither starts and workflows cannot run.
• Git.
• No system Python needed: start.sh provisions the version pinned in .python-version with uv, independent of any Python you already have.
• An LLM provider (optional to reach the UI): Anthropic (default), OpenAI, Google Vertex, or Ollama (local, no key). Configure it under Settings → AI models → Providers & Keys; see the Bifrost notes. With no provider key, scripts/local_model.sh serves a small local model Bifrost can reach and prints the model id to use.

Windows (WSL2)

Not yet tested inside WSL2 on a Windows machine. start.sh runs end to end on Ubuntu 24.04, the distro wsl --install sets up, with its WSL2 branches switched on; Docker Desktop’s integration and the Windows side are unverified. Please report what breaks.

start.sh is a bash script, so run Vigil inside WSL2, not in PowerShell or Git Bash.

• WSL2 with Ubuntu (wsl --install -d Ubuntu in an administrator PowerShell, then reboot). Inside Ubuntu: sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y git curl.

• Docker Desktop for Windows, running, with Settings → Resources → WSL integration turned on for your Ubuntu distro. docker ps must work inside Ubuntu before you start.

• Node.js 20+ inside Ubuntu, for example with nvm. Ubuntu’s own nodejs package is older than 20, and a Windows Node install is not visible to the scripts. Without it, start.sh still starts the API but not the console or the agent layer, and its ready banner says so.

• Clone into the Linux home (~/vigil), not under /mnt/c. On the Windows drive, auto-reload, file permissions and Docker mounts are slow or unreliable; start.sh warns if it finds itself there. The repo’s .gitattributes keeps shell scripts on LF line endings even if Git for Windows made the checkout. That only applies to files checked out after it: if start.sh fails with $'\r': command not found, the clone predates it. Clone again inside Ubuntu, or run git rm -r --cached -q . && git reset --hard in the checkout (this discards uncommitted changes).

• Memory. WSL2 takes up to half of the machine’s RAM by default, and Docker Desktop runs inside it. On an 8 GB laptop, put this in %UserProfile%\.wslconfig and run wsl --shutdown in PowerShell:

  [wsl2]
  memory=6GB
  

  On 8 GB, keep the local model small (qwen2.5:1.5b, about 1 GB) or use a hosted provider.

• Ollama is optional. Ollama for Windows listens on Windows’ localhost, which WSL2 does not share in its default networking, so start.sh will report it as not found (the containers may still reach it through Docker Desktop; the model list on the host side will not). Either install Ollama inside Ubuntu, or turn on networkingMode=mirrored under [wsl2] (Windows 11 22H2 or later). Neither setup is verified. scripts/local_model.sh stops with an explanation under Docker Desktop.

Open http://localhost:6988 in your Windows browser; start.sh tries wslview, then explorer.exe, and the URL is in the ready banner either way.

On Windows, use start.sh and shutdown_all.sh. The desktop app has no Windows build, and scripts/vigil-upgrade.sh and scripts/vigil-backup.sh are for a Linux server running Vigil under systemd.

Run

./start.sh              # interactive; Ctrl+C to stop
./start.sh -d           # background: logs/ + pidfiles, also starts the SOC daemon
./start.sh --with splunk   # add a profiled service (splunk, kafka, pgadmin, jaeger,
./start.sh --all           #   prometheus, grafana, otel-collector), or all of them

Core services come from .vigil-autostart (or $AUTOSTART_SERVICES), defaulting to postgres redis bifrost ollama.

Shutdown

./shutdown_all.sh            # stop native processes; containers keep running
./shutdown_all.sh -d         # stop everything; data is kept
./shutdown_all.sh -d --full  # stop everything and PERMANENTLY DELETE all data volumes

-d --full runs docker compose down -v, which deletes every named volume in the compose file: postgres_data (database), bifrost_data (Bifrost config and keys), vigil_home (the Compose State Directory, including master.key), vigil_investigations, redis_data, backup_repo (the default on-box backup repository), upgrade_state (pre-upgrade restore points and upgrade history), and any optional-profile volumes. Keep backups outside the compose volumes (VIGIL_BACKUP_REPO) first. See ./shutdown_all.sh --help.

# Python environment (uv fetches the interpreter in .python-version)
uv python install
uv venv --python "$(cat .python-version)" --python-preference only-managed venv
source venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -r requirements.lock
cp env.example .env   # set AGENT_INTERNAL_TOKEN
export PYTHONPATH="${PWD}:${PYTHONPATH}"

# 1. Containers
docker compose -f infra/docker/docker-compose.yml up -d postgres redis bifrost

# 2. Schema. The upgrade one-shot creates it; the API does not.
docker compose -f infra/docker/docker-compose.yml up -d upgrade

# 3. API
uvicorn services.api.main:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 6987 --reload

# 4. Agent layer (drains the queue workflow runs are enqueued to)
scripts/agent_up.sh
# optional: python -m services.worker   (ARQ LLM worker)

# 5. Frontend
cd clients/web && npm install && npm run dev

Run with Docker (full stack)

docker compose --env-file .env -f infra/docker/docker-compose.yml up -d

Pass the repo-root .env explicitly, or AGENT_INTERNAL_TOKEN reaches the containers empty (./setup_dev.sh fills an empty one in .env). The backend container refuses to start without JWT_SECRET_KEY. Set it in .env, for example export JWT_SECRET_KEY="$(cat ~/.vigil/jwt_secret)" if start.sh has run before, or openssl rand -base64 48.

The default set runs the database, cache, gateway, backup, API, and agent layer: everything a chat-driven workflow needs. Opt-in profiles add more: daemon (the SOC daemon plus the ARQ worker, for headless 24/7 monitoring), dev, observability, splunk, kafka, elastic, and misp:

docker compose --env-file .env -f infra/docker/docker-compose.yml --profile daemon up -d

On the host, ./start.sh -d also runs the daemon (services/daemon/main.py), or run it alone against a running stack with python services/daemon/main.py.

Install on Kubernetes

helm install vigil ./infra/helm/vigil \
  --namespace vigil --create-namespace \
  --set secrets.anthropicApiKey="$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  --set secrets.postgresPassword="$(openssl rand -hex 24)" \
  --set secrets.vigilAppPassword="$(openssl rand -hex 24)" \
  --set secrets.jwtSecretKey="$(python -c 'import secrets; print(secrets.token_urlsafe(64))')"

See the Helm guide for values, external Postgres/Redis, ingress, and troubleshooting.

Desktop app

The desktop app packages the stack without a source tree. It runs the backend and agent images from an offline tarball, alongside a bundled Bifrost gateway, so Docker must be installed and running. Bifrost reaches a host Ollama through host.docker.internal.

bash clients/desktop/scripts/bundle-image.sh linux/arm64   # tarball is arch-specific
cd clients/desktop && npm run dist                          # macOS DMG / Linux AppImage

Local builds are ad-hoc signed, not notarized, so macOS may report the app as “damaged”. Clear the quarantine with xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Vigil.app, or use System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.

Getting help: the support bundle

vigil-support.sh writes one redacted tar.gz you can attach to a support request. It is POSIX sh, runs on Linux and macOS, and uploads nothing.

sh scripts/vigil-support/vigil-support.sh   # from a checkout

Without a checkout, download vigil-support-<version>.tar.gz and its .sha256 from the release, verify it, extract it, and run sh vigil-support/vigil-support.sh. Vigil Desktop shows the exact command under Support Bundle Command… in the tray menu. For a Helm install, run it from your own machine with your current kubectl context: --mode helm [--release NAME --namespace NS].

Re-run with sudo to include system logs that need elevation; the bundle still examines, and belongs to, the invoking user’s install. sudo resets VIGIL_DIR, so pass --state-dir for a non-default State Directory.

DATA NOTICE: the bundle holds host information: hostname, the full process list with command lines, system logs, and disk usage. Known credential formats are redacted, but secrets in free log text cannot be guaranteed caught. Review it before you share it.

When it finds a Vigil install, the bundle also collects its configuration, health output, container status, and logs. Secrets, keys, and database contents are never included; SUMMARY.txt lists what was left out. See scripts/vigil-support/README.md.

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Web console (React)  ·  Chat  ·  Desktop app  ·  /mcp clients    │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                               │
                               ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  API (Python / FastAPI)                                           │
│  Findings · Cases · Approvals · Detections · ATT&CK · Workflows   │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                │ enqueue runs (BullMQ / Redis)      ▲ backend tools
                ▼                                    │
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Agent layer (TypeScript)                                         │
│  Workflow runtimes: compose · investigate · root cause · hunt     │
│  Agents call backend tools and MCP integration tools              │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
        │ model calls                       │ tool calls
        ▼                                   ▼
┌──────────────────────────┐  ┌────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Bifrost LLM gateway     │  │  MCP integrations                  │
│  Anthropic · OpenAI ·    │  │  SIEM · EDR · cloud · identity ·   │
│  Vertex · Ollama         │  │  intel · sandbox · ticketing · …   │
└──────────────────────────┘  └────────────────────────────────────┘

  PostgreSQL: findings, cases, approvals, runs, settings
  SOC daemon (optional): alert polling and auto-enrichment

Project structure

vigil/
├── core/              # Shared Python library: domains (findings, cases, llm,
│   │                  #   integrations, …) over a storage/platform tier
│   ├── agents/        # Built-in agent definitions
│   ├── integrations/  # Vendor slices and the MCP registry
│   └── workflows/definitions/   # Built-in WORKFLOW.md files
├── services/
│   ├── api/           # FastAPI backend
│   ├── agent/         # TypeScript agent layer (workflow runtimes, worker + serve)
│   ├── daemon/        # Headless autonomous SOC
│   └── worker/        # ARQ LLM worker
├── clients/
│   ├── web/           # React + Tailwind frontend
│   └── desktop/       # Desktop app
├── tools/mcp/         # Vigil's own MCP server and frozen tool snapshot
├── mcp-config.json    # MCP integration catalogue
└── infra/             # Docker Compose, Helm chart, DB init

Documentation

Guides live at vigilsoc.org/docs:

Contributing

Contributions are welcome: bug fixes, integrations, agent prompts, workflows, or new agents. Join the community on Discord.

1. Fork the repo and create a feature branch.
2. Make your changes and test them.
3. Open a pull request with a clear description.

See the contributing guide for the full process.

License

Apache 2.0. See LICENSE.

References

• Vigil: project homepage
• DeepTempo: Vigil sponsor; LogLM connects via MCP as an optional detection layer
• Vigil-SOC/metrics: the project’s adoption figures, published daily so anyone can check them
• Model Context Protocol: MCP specification
• SOCBench: open benchmark for AI in cybersecurity operations