AI tooling for higher ed — deployed in an afternoon.
Lantern is an open-source MCP (Model Context Protocol) gateway built for community colleges and universities. It wraps your institution's data sources and tools behind a single, authenticated gateway — with Azure Active Directory SSO baked in from day one.
- Single gateway for all MCP-compatible AI tools
- Azure AD / Entra ID SSO out of the box
- Rate limiting and audit logging per user
- Docker-first deployment — no Kubernetes required
- Apache-2.0 licensed and community-driven
git clone https://github.com/chatt-state/lantern.git
cd lantern
cp .env.example .env # fill in Azure credentials and DB URL
docker compose upLantern listens on port 8080 by default. Visit http://localhost:8080/health to confirm it is
running.
- In the Azure portal, register a new application under your tenant.
- Set the redirect URI to
https://<your-domain>/auth/callback. - Copy the Client ID, Tenant ID, and create a Client Secret.
- Add these values to your
.envfile:
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=...
AZURE_TENANT_ID=...
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=...- Grant the app
User.Readdelegated permission and grant admin consent.
Full configuration reference lives in docs/configuration.md.
Key environment variables:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
DATABASE_URL |
PostgreSQL connection string |
AZURE_CLIENT_ID |
Azure app registration client ID |
AZURE_TENANT_ID |
Azure AD tenant ID |
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET |
Azure app client secret |
PORT |
HTTP port (default: 8080) |
Apache-2.0 — Copyright 2026 Chattanooga State Community College. See LICENSE for full terms.