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Nuclei API: Automated Vulnerability Template Generation & Scanning Platform

Overview

Nuclei API is an advanced, AI-augmented platform for automated vulnerability scanning and template management, built around Nuclei. It provides a REST API for running scans, managing templates, and orchestrating a pipeline that fetches new vulnerabilities, generates detection templates using an LLM, validates them, and refines them as needed. The system leverages FastAPI, Celery, Redis, Docker, and Ollama (LLM) to deliver scalable, intelligent, and automated security scanning.

Key Features

  • Automated CVE Template Generation:
    Fetches recent vulnerabilities (CVEs) from public sources and uses an LLM to generate Nuclei YAML templates for each.
  • Template Validation & Refinement:
    Validates generated templates by running them against known vulnerable hosts. If validation fails, templates are refined using the LLM and retried.
  • Flexible Scanning API:
    Exposes endpoints to run Nuclei scans on targets (IP/domain), with support for custom templates, AI-generated templates, and standard templates.
  • Custom Template Scanning:
    Upload and scan with your own Nuclei YAML templates via base64-encoded content or file uploads.
  • AI-Powered Scanning:
    Generate and run custom templates using natural language prompts describing the vulnerability you want to detect.
  • MCP (Model Context Protocol) Integration:
    Full LLM/agent integration with discoverable tools and standardized tool-calling interface for AI-powered security workflows.
  • Asynchronous Pipeline:
    Uses Celery for distributed, asynchronous task orchestration (fetching, generating, validating, refining).
  • Metrics & Caching:
    Uses Redis for caching vulnerability data and tracking pipeline metrics.
  • Containerized Scanning:
    Runs Nuclei scans in Docker containers for isolation and resource control.
  • Real-Time Log Streaming:
    Stream scan logs directly from running Docker containers.
  • Modern Web UI:
    Next.js frontend with TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and Radix UI components for a professional user experience.
  • Extensible & Modular:
    Modular controllers for Docker, Nuclei, Fingerprinting, and Templates with service-oriented architecture.
  • Production-Ready Docker Setup:
    Multi-stage builds, optimized images, and comprehensive Docker Compose configuration for easy deployment.

Architecture

flowchart TD
    subgraph User
        A1[API Client / UI / LLM Agent]
    end
    subgraph API
        B1[FastAPI App]
        B2[NucleiRoutes]
        B3[PipelineRoutes]
        B4[MCP Routes]
    end
    subgraph ServiceLayer
        S1[ScanService]
        S2[TemplateService]
    end
    subgraph Celery
        C1[fetch_vulnerabilities]
        C2[process_vulnerabilities]
        C3[generate_nuclei_template]
        C4[store_templates]
        C5[validate_template]
        C6[refine_nuclei_template]
        C7[run_scan]
        C8[run_ai_scan]
    end
    subgraph Infra
        D1[Ollama LLM]
        D2[Redis]
        D3[Docker Engine]
        D4[Nuclei Scanner]
        D5[FileSystem]
    end

    A1--REST/MCP-->B1
    B1--routes-->B2
    B1--routes-->B3
    B1--routes-->B4
    B2--calls-->S1
    B2--calls-->S2
    B3--calls-->S1
    B3--calls-->S2
    B4--calls-->S1
    B4--calls-->S2
    S1--orchestrates-->Celery
    S2--orchestrates-->Celery
    C1--uses-->D2
    C2--uses-->D1
    C3--uses-->D1
    C4--stores-->D5
    C5--runs-->D4
    C5--in-->D3
    C5--metrics-->D2
    C6--uses-->D1
    C7--runs-->D4
    C8--runs-->D4
    D4--runs in-->D3
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Description

  • User/Agent: Interacts via REST or MCP endpoints (for LLM/agent integration).
  • API Layer: Modular FastAPI routers:
    • NucleiRoutes (scanning, template management)
    • PipelineRoutes (pipeline/metrics)
    • MCP Routes (LLM/agent tool manifest and tool-calls)
  • Service Layer: ScanService, TemplateService encapsulate business logic, orchestrate Celery pipelines, and interact with controllers.
  • Celery Tasks: Handle async, distributed work (fetch, generate, validate, scan, refine).
  • Controllers: Stateless adapters for Docker, Nuclei, etc. (not shown in diagram for brevity).
  • Models: Pydantic models for all API and internal data.
  • Infrastructure: Redis (cache/metrics), Docker (isolation), Ollama LLM (template generation/refinement), Nuclei (scanning), FileSystem (template storage).

API Structure

  • app/api/NucleiRoutes.py — main scan/template endpoints
  • app/api/PipelineRoutes.py — pipeline/metrics endpoints
  • app/api/mcp_routes.py — MCP endpoints for LLM/agent integration
  • app/services/ — business logic
  • app/models/ — Pydantic models
  • app/celery_tasks/ — Celery task definitions
  • app/controllers/ — external system adapters

Pipeline Flow

flowchart TD
    A[fetch_vulnerabilities] --> B[process_vulnerabilities]
    B --> C[generate_nuclei_templates_group]
    C --> D[store_templates]
    D --> E[validate_templates_callback_group]
    E --> F[validate_template_per_template]
    F --fail--> G[refine_nuclei_template]
    G --> H[store_refined_template]
    H --> F
    F --success--> I[Done]
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Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.8+
  • Docker & Docker Compose
  • Redis
  • Ollama (or compatible LLM API)
  • Node.js 18+ & pnpm (for frontend development)
  • make

Clone the Repository

git clone <repository-url>
cd nuclei-api

Quick Start With Makefile

# Show all available commands
make help

# Install backend deps
make install

# Start full stack (Docker Compose)
make compose-up

# Tail logs
make compose-logs

# Stop stack
make compose-down

Docker Deployment

Production Deployment

# Build and start all services
make compose-up

# View logs
make compose-logs

# Scale services if needed
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d --scale celery_worker=3

Services Included

The Docker Compose setup includes the following services:

  • nuclei-api (Port 8000): Main FastAPI application
  • redis (Port 6379): Cache and message broker for Celery
  • celery_worker: Background task processing for scans and template generation
  • celery_beat: Task scheduler for automated template generation
  • flower (Port 5555): Celery monitoring and task management UI
  • ollama (Port 11434): LLM service for template generation and refinement
  • open-webui (Port 3331): Web interface for Ollama model management
  • nuclei-fingerprint (Port 3330): OS fingerprinting service
  • loki (Port 3100): Log aggregation and monitoring

Staging Environment

# Use staging configuration
docker compose -f docker-compose.staging.yaml up -d

Service Management

# View service status
make compose-ps

# View logs for specific service
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml logs -f nuclei-api

# Restart a specific service
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml restart celery_worker

# Scale workers for high load
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d --scale celery_worker=5

Option 2: Development Setup

Install Python Dependencies

make install

Clone Nuclei Templates

make templates-clone

Start Redis and Ollama

docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d redis ollama

Run the API

make run-api

Run Celery Worker and Beat

make run-worker
make run-beat

Run the Frontend (Optional)

make install-frontend
pnpm --dir frontend dev

Local API (uvicorn) runs on http://localhost:8080.
Docker Compose exposes API on http://localhost:8000.
Frontend runs on http://localhost:3000.

Usage Examples

1. Trigger the Automated Template Generation Pipeline

curl -X GET http://localhost:8080/nuclei/templates/generate

This will fetch new CVEs, generate templates using the LLM, store, and validate them.

2. Run a Scan (API)

Basic Scan

curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "target": "https://example.com", "scan_type": "standard", "templates": ["cves/"] }' \
  http://localhost:8080/nuclei/scans

AI Scan

curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "target": "https://example.com", "prompt": "Scan for SQLi" }' \
  http://localhost:8080/nuclei/scans/ai

Fetch Scan Logs

curl http://localhost:8080/nuclei/containers/nuclei_scan_123456/logs

API Endpoints

Health Check

  • GET /
    Returns { "ping": "pong!" }

Run a Scan

  • POST /nuclei/scans
    Request: 
    {
  "target": "https://example.com",
  "scan_type": "standard",
  "templates": ["cves/"] // Optional
}
    Response:
    Returns task ID for async scan execution.

Run an AI Scan

  • POST /nuclei/scans/ai
    Request: 
    {
  "target": "https://example.com",
  "prompt": "Generate a template for XSS"
}

Legacy Scan Endpoint (Backward Compatibility)

  • POST /nuclei/scan
    Legacy alias preserved for older clients.

Get Task Status

  • GET /nuclei/tasks/{task_id}
    Fetch status/result for Celery tasks and scan containers.

Get Container Logs

  • GET /nuclei/containers/{container_id}/logs
    Streams logs from the running scan container.

Get Container Status

  • GET /nuclei/containers/{container_name}/status
    Returns running/exited/error status for a container.

Fingerprint Target

  • POST /nuclei/fingerprints
    Queue standalone target fingerprinting.

Upload a Custom Template

  • POST /nuclei/templates/upload
    Upload and validate a custom Nuclei template file.

Validate Template Content

  • POST /nuclei/templates/validate
    Validate template content asynchronously.

Trigger Template Generation Pipeline

  • GET /nuclei/templates/generate
    Starts the full CVE-to-template pipeline.

Prometheus Metrics

  • GET /metrics
    Prometheus-compatible metrics endpoint for monitoring and alerting.

    Returns metrics including:

    • HTTP request counts, durations, and sizes
    • Celery task execution metrics
    • Nuclei scan performance and results
    • Template generation and validation statistics
    • System resource usage (CPU, memory, disk)
    • Redis operations and memory usage
    • Custom business metrics (active scans, templates available)

  • GET /health
    Health check endpoint with basic metrics and service status.

    Returns:

    {
  "status": "healthy",
  "timestamp": 1234567890.123,
  "services": {
    "redis": "healthy",
    "system": "healthy", 
    "api": "healthy"
  },
  "metrics": {
    "active_scans": 5,
    "cpu_usage": 45.2,
    "memory_usage": 1073741824,
    "redis_memory": 52428800
  }
}

Prometheus Configuration

Add this to your prometheus.yml:

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'nuclei-api'
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['localhost:8000']
    metrics_path: '/metrics'
    scrape_interval: 15s

MCP (Model Context Protocol) Endpoints

The API exposes endpoints for LLM/agent integration via the Model Context Protocol (MCP):

  • GET /v1/tools
    Returns a manifest of all available tools (API actions) and their argument schemas, for agent/LLM discovery.

  • POST /v1/tool-calls
    Allows an agent or LLM to invoke any supported tool by name, passing arguments as a JSON object. Returns the result or error.

Example:

curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "tool_name": "nuclei_scan", "arguments": { "target": "https://example.com" } }' \
  http://localhost:8080/v1/tool-calls

The MCP endpoints are implemented in app/api/mcp_routes.py and registered in main.py.

Monitoring and Debugging

  • Flower Dashboard: http://localhost:5555 - Monitor Celery tasks and workers
  • Open WebUI: http://localhost:3331 - Manage Ollama models and chat
  • Loki Logs: http://localhost:3100 - Centralized logging
  • API Documentation: http://localhost:8000/docs - Interactive API docs
  • Grafana Dashboard: http://localhost:3000 - Comprehensive monitoring dashboard (admin/admin)
  • Prometheus: http://localhost:9090 - Metrics collection and querying

Grafana Dashboard Features

The Nuclei API dashboard provides comprehensive monitoring with the following panels:

API Performance

  • HTTP request rate and duration
  • Response sizes and error rates
  • API endpoint usage patterns

Celery Task Monitoring

  • Task execution rates and durations
  • Queue sizes and worker status
  • Task success/failure rates

Nuclei Scan Metrics

  • Scan execution rates and durations
  • Vulnerability discovery tracking
  • Template usage statistics

Template Pipeline

  • Template generation and validation rates
  • Pipeline execution statistics
  • Success/failure rates by CVE

System Resources

  • CPU, memory, and disk usage
  • Redis memory and connection metrics
  • Docker container statistics

Business Metrics

  • Active scans count
  • Available templates by type
  • Error rates and system health

Dashboard Setup

  1. Access Grafana: Navigate to http://localhost:3000
  2. Login: Use admin/admin (change in production)
  3. Dashboard: The Nuclei API dashboard loads automatically
  4. Customize: Modify panels, add alerts, or create new dashboards

Alerting Setup

Configure alerts in Grafana for:

  • High error rates (>5% for 5 minutes)
  • Low Celery worker count (<1 for 5 minutes)
  • High system resource usage (>80% CPU/memory)
  • Scan failures (>10% failure rate)

API Structure & Organization

  • app/api/NucleiRoutes.py: Main Nuclei scan/template API endpoints
  • app/api/PipelineRoutes.py: Pipeline and metrics endpoints
  • app/api/mcp_routes.py: MCP endpoints for LLM/agent integration
  • app/services/: Business logic and orchestration
  • app/models/: Pydantic models for request/response validation
  • app/celery_tasks/: Celery task definitions
  • app/controllers/: Stateless controllers for external systems (Docker, Nuclei, etc.)

Routers are imported and registered in main.py using the new import paths (e.g., from app.api.NucleiRoutes import router as nuclei_router).

Metrics & Monitoring

  • Redis is used for caching vulnerability data and tracking pipeline metrics (templates generated, validated, refinements, failures, etc.).
  • Sentry integration is available for error monitoring (configure via environment).
  • Pipeline Metrics: Track template generation success rates, validation attempts, and scan performance.
  • Real-time Dashboard: Monitor system health and performance through the web interface.

Extending & Customizing

  • Add new vulnerability sources by editing the fetch_vulnerabilities task.
  • Change LLM model or endpoint via configuration.
  • Integrate with your own UI or use the provided API directly.
  • Add new MCP tools by extending the tools manifest and handler.
  • Customize scan workflows by modifying the service layer.
  • Extend the frontend with new components and pages.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open issues or pull requests for bug fixes, new features, or improvements.

Development Guidelines

  1. Code Style: Follow PEP 8 for Python, ESLint for TypeScript
  2. Testing: Add tests for new features and API endpoints
  3. Documentation: Update README and add docstrings for new functions
  4. Docker: Ensure changes work with the provided Docker setup

License

MIT or as specified in the repository.

Contact

For more details or support, please contact the development team.

About

Nuclei API is an advanced, AI-augmented platform for automated vulnerability scanning and template management, built around Nuclei.

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python platform automation cybersecurity bugbounty reconnaissance mcp-server

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