Nova 2 Lite
Nova 2 Lite is a second-generation multimodal reasoning model with a context window of 1M tokens. It supports configurable extended thinking, web grounding, and code execution at a cost tier built for everyday production use.
import { streamText } from 'ai'
const result = streamText({ model: 'amazon/nova-2-lite', prompt: 'Why is the sky blue?'})What To Consider When Choosing a Provider
Zero Data Retention
AI Gateway supports Zero Data Retention for this model via direct gateway requests (BYOK is not included). To configure this, check the documentation.Authentication
AI Gateway authenticates requests using an API key or OIDC token. You do not need to manage provider credentials directly.
When extended thinking is on, reasoning tokens are billed at the output token rate. If you use medium or high thinking budgets often, monitor output token spend in the AI Gateway cost dashboard.
When to Use Nova 2 Lite
Best For
Mixed-format document processing:
Combine PDFs, images, and text in a single long-context request
Current information workflows:
Web grounding provides up-to-date information with citations when the provider returns them
Agentic task orchestration:
The model calls external tools across multiple steps
Selective extended thinking:
Toggle deeper reasoning on analytical tasks and use fast extraction by default
Unified video and document analysis:
Video and image analysis combined with document comprehension in a single context of 1M tokens
Consider Alternatives When
Text-only cost-focused workloads:
Nova Micro remains cheaper and faster for pure text processing
Simple multimodal tasks:
First-generation Nova Lite handles simpler vision tasks at lower cost without reasoning overhead
Highest structured-document accuracy:
Evaluate Nova Pro when second-gen reasoning features aren't required
Conclusion
Nova 2 Lite pairs a large multimodal context with optional extended thinking, web grounding, and code execution. You pay extra reasoning tokens only when you turn thinking on. Teams that hit limits on first-generation Nova Lite often move here before jumping to the highest-cost tiers.
FAQ
Under providerOptions.bedrock.reasoningConfig, set maxReasoningEffort to low, medium, or high. Extended thinking is off by default, so you avoid reasoning-token charges until you enable it.
The model can search the public web during a request and ground answers in what it finds, with citations when the provider returns them. Use it when answers need current facts, not only the training snapshot.
1M tokens. That's more than three times the 300K-token context in Nova Lite and Nova Pro, and nearly eight times Nova Micro's 128K.
Yes. Amazon documents code execution for Nova 2 models so the model can run code as part of the response flow. Use it for calculations, data transforms, and similar tasks the provider supports.
Reasoning tokens are billed at the output token rate. With thinking disabled (the default), you pay only standard input and output costs.
No, it's a successor but not a drop-in replacement. Nova 2 Lite has different pricing and a different capability profile. For simple multimodal tasks where first-gen Nova Lite performs well, upgrading may not cut costs. The value lies in the reasoning, grounding, and code execution features the original lacked.
