FACT COPY · EN
Fact copy: Decision matrix: MCP, API or workflow?
A neutral decision aid for MCP, direct API integration and workflow automation.
Canonical source: https://travel-mcp.com/en/knowledge/practical/decision-mcp-or-api/
Factual summary
A neutral decision aid for MCP, direct API integration and workflow automation. The module separates protocol behaviour, travel-domain truth and editorial inference.
Decision question and scope
A neutral decision aid for MCP, direct API integration and workflow automation.
The analysis starts with a bounded user task and compares MCP with a direct API or deterministic workflow. A working demonstration is not evidence of production readiness.
Architecture and responsibilities
The assessment identifies the host, one client relationship per server, MCP servers, authorization boundaries and authoritative travel systems. MCP standardizes capability interaction; it does not supply inventory, pricing, order semantics or business authorization.
Assessment dimensions
Each dimension requires an owner, evidence, test date and explicit boundary.
- dynamische oder feste Verbraucher
- deterministischer oder modellgesteuerter Ablauf
- Discovery-Bedarf
- Latenz und Volumen
- Governance und Wiederverwendung
Travel case
Ein hochfrequenter Preisfeed bleibt eine direkte Datenintegration; eine KI-gestützte Angebotsanalyse über mehrere Systeme kann von kuratierten MCP-Capabilities profitieren.
The case is complete only when source provenance, state transitions, permissions, expiry, partial failure and recovery are documented.
Evidence and failure analysis
Required evidence includes versioned contracts, negative authorization and schema tests, authoritative state reconciliation, measurable service objectives and a controlled shutdown path. Registry or publisher metadata alone is not a security or compatibility finding.
Outcome
Eine begründete Architekturentscheidung ersetzt die pauschale Vorgabe, MCP überall einzusetzen.
The result must state assumptions, unresolved risks and conditions under which MCP is not the appropriate integration choice.