MFO Providers vs MCP Servers
MCP Server vs. MFO Provider – Executive view¶
| Axis | MCP Server | MFO Provider |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Exposes a catalogue of tools (AI functions, data, business services) via the Model Context Protocol. | Adapts an internal source or engine (database, API, LLM, etc.) so that it becomes a tool that can be used directly by the MindFlight orchestrator. |
| Organisational boundary | Generally external: third party, independent BU or product team that chooses its stack and release cycle. | Internal: developed and maintained by our platform team according to our standards. |
| Language/stack | Agnostic; implementation can be Node, Python, Rust, etc., as long as it speaks MCP (JSON-RPC). | 100% Go, aligned with the rest of MFO → same runtime, same observability library, same performance patterns. |
| Governance & Security | We negotiate an interface contract: MCP version, auth (token), quotas. Audits and patches depend on the provider. | Total control: internal code review, CI/CD-integrated SAST/DAST scans, secrets managed by our vault, container hardening. |
| Scalability & SLA | Scalability managed by the MCP server host; we are subject to their SLO. | Sizing controlled by our team: Kubernetes autoscaling, memory/CPU budgets, Prometheus instrumentation. |
| Tool lifecycle | Publish a new tool = deployment on the MCP server, then rescan by MFO. | Add a tool = merge a Go provider + build pipeline → unified deployment with MFO. |
| Coupling with MFO | Low: standard network communication. Replaceable or multipliable without redeploying MFO. | Tight: compile-time, package sharing, maximum benefit in terms of performance/latency. |
| When to choose? | - Function already available from a partner - Need to isolate a regulated domain - Fast time-to-market without touching our code - Quick Prototyping in dev to validate scopes | - Critical or sensitive data - Very low latency requirement - Need to trace all code in our value chain |
In summary:
- MCP Server = standardised external black box, ideal for quickly connecting third-party or experimental capabilities.
- MFO Provider = native Go extension, fully integrated and governed; the preferred choice when you want performance, security and scalability under your control.