MCP vs CLI: The Right Choice Depends on Who Controls the Next Step

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When building tools that perform actions like publishing a website, developers face a choice between a Command Line Interface (CLI) and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. The key deciding factor is not whether the user is human or an AI agent, but rather who determines the next step in the workflow and where the data resides. CLIs are better suited for fixed, repeatable sequences such as automated deployment jobs or local build commands, while MCP tools shine when an AI assistant needs to discover and invoke operations dynamically within a conversation. Transport context also matters: a local MCP server can read a directory path directly, whereas a remote MCP server over HTTP interprets the same path on the server side, not the user's machine. Both interfaces can share a single underlying operation, with the CLI managing flags and exit codes while the MCP adapter handles tool definitions and structured results.

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