Whenever you want to connect external Systems to Connect AI, you have 3 different options.
- MCP action
- API action (soon for Copilot)
- Website search action (soon for AI Agent and Copilot)
We recommend considering the options from top to bottom, meaning that MCP actions should be looked into first, should that not be possible, try API actions, if that also does not work, use Website search.
MCP and API actions require some technical understanding of setting up servers or interfaces, but provide fast and reliable answers. Website search actions on the other hand only need a publicly available website, with the downside of slower response times and risk of breaking due to changes on the website.
You can finde more general information with pros and cons on all 3 options below.
Disclaimer! The quality of your data really matters! If you provide the AI with low-quality information, you'll get low-quality results back (think "garbage in, garbage out")
MCP actions
Pros
- Structured protocol: MCP provides a standardized way to connect tools and data sources with consistent interfaces.
- Rich context: Can access and manipulate structured data, resources, and tools with full context awareness.
- Bidirectional communication: Supports real-time interactions and state management between client and server.
- Type safety: Built-in schema validation and type definitions reduce errors.
- Extensibility: Easy to add new capabilities through prompts, resources, and tools.
Cons
- Setup complexity: Requires implementing or integrating MCP server infrastructure.
- Limited adoption: Still a relatively new protocol with fewer existing integrations.
- Development overhead: Need to build or maintain MCP-compliant servers.
- Learning curve: Teams need to understand MCP concepts and architecture.
Find our MCP tutorial here
API actions
Pros
- Simplicity: Easy to implement with standard HTTP requests and responses.
- Widespread adoption: Almost all services provide REST or similar APIs.
- Flexible: Can be customized to specific use cases and endpoints.
- Well-documented: Extensive resources and libraries available for API integration.
- Direct control: Full control over request parameters and response handling.
Cons
- Limited structure: Requires manual parsing and interpretation of responses.
- Inconsistent formats: Different APIs use different conventions and data structures.
- Authentication complexity: Need to manage API keys, tokens, and authentication flows.
- Rate limiting: Often subject to usage quotas and throttling.
- Maintenance burden: API changes require code updates.
Find our API actions tutorial here
Website search actions
Pros
- Universal access: Can extract data from any publicly accessible website.
- No API needed: Works even when official APIs don't exist or are restricted.
- Free data access: No API subscription costs or usage fees.
- Comprehensive coverage: Access to all visible content on a webpage.
Cons
- Fragility: Breaks easily when website structure changes.
- Legal concerns: May violate terms of service or copyright restrictions.
- Performance issues: Slower than direct API calls, requires full page loading.
- Data quality: Unstructured HTML requires extensive parsing and cleaning.
- Bot detection: Websites may block or limit scraping attempts.
- Maintenance intensive: Selectors and parsing logic need frequent updates.
COMING SOON
Comparison Table
Aspect | MCP Server Connections | Simple API Request | Website Scraping/Search |
Ease of Setup | Complex - requires MCP infrastructure | Simple - standard HTTP requests | Moderate - requires parsing logic |
Data Structure | Highly structured with schema validation | Structured but varies by API | Unstructured - requires extensive parsing |
Adoption | Limited - new protocol | Widespread - industry standard | Universal - works on any website |
Communication | Bidirectional with state management | Request-response model | One-way data extraction |
Maintenance | Moderate - protocol updates needed | High - API changes require updates | Very high - frequent selector updates |
Performance | Fast with real-time capabilities | Fast - direct endpoint access | Slow - full page loading required |
Cost | Development and infrastructure costs | API subscription fees and quotas | Free but resource-intensive |
Reliability | High - structured protocol | High - official API support | Low - breaks with website changes |
Legal Considerations | Clear terms through protocol | Governed by API terms of service | May violate ToS or copyright |
Best Use Case | Complex integrations with multiple tools | Standard data access from services | When no API exists |