{
  "status": "Illustrative acceptance plan, not an executable test suite or observed production result",
  "topic": "MCP versus REST for SaaS integrations",
  "date": "2026-11-04",
  "sourceArticle": "https://aptixlabs.com/insights/mcp-vs-rest-api",
  "setup": [
    "Use synthetic accounts and records",
    "Record the environment and implementation version",
    "Agree the expected product contract before testing"
  ],
  "reviewSequence": [
    "List which clients need discovery versus a fixed contract",
    "Reuse the existing domain service and permission checks",
    "Test equivalent operations through both interfaces"
  ],
  "cases": [
    {
      "id": "1",
      "condition": "Two clients request the same unauthorized record",
      "expectedBehavior": "Both are denied by the domain boundary",
      "observedBehavior": null,
      "status": "not_run"
    },
    {
      "id": "2",
      "condition": "A tool exposes fewer fields than REST",
      "expectedBehavior": "Document the intentional narrower contract",
      "observedBehavior": null,
      "status": "not_run"
    },
    {
      "id": "3",
      "condition": "One interface changes version",
      "expectedBehavior": "Run compatibility fixtures for the other",
      "observedBehavior": null,
      "status": "not_run"
    }
  ],
  "tradeoff": "Direct REST is often sufficient for a tightly controlled single integration. MCP becomes more useful when supported AI hosts need tool discovery and a consistent invocation surface."
}