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Integration Patterns Overview

Redpanda Cloud supports multiple integration patterns for agents, pipelines, and external applications. Choose the pattern that matches your integration scenario.

The Agentic Data Plane is supported on BYOC clusters running with AWS and Redpanda version 25.3 and later.

After reading this page, you will be able to:

  • Choose the integration pattern that fits your use case

  • Apply appropriate authentication for internal versus external integration

  • Select the right communication protocol for your integration scenario

Integration scenarios

Redpanda Cloud supports three primary integration scenarios based on who initiates the call and where the caller is located:

Scenario Description When to Use Guide

Agent needs capabilities

Your agent invokes MCP tools to fetch data, call APIs, or access external systems on-demand

Agent-initiated, synchronous, interactive workflows

MCP Tool Patterns

Pipeline processes events

Your Redpanda Connect pipeline invokes agents for each event in a stream using the a2a_message processor

Event-driven, automated, high-volume stream processing

Pipeline Integration Patterns

External system calls agent

Your application or agent (hosted outside Redpanda Cloud) calls Redpanda Cloud agents using the A2A protocol

Backend services, CLI tools, custom UIs, multi-platform agent workflows

A2A Protocol

Common use cases by pattern

Each integration pattern serves different scenarios based on how data flows and who initiates the interaction.

Agent needs capabilities (MCP tools)

Use MCP tools when your agent needs on-demand access to data or capabilities.

The agent decides when to invoke tools as part of its reasoning process. It waits for responses before continuing.

This pattern works well for interactive workflows: customer support lookups, approval flows, or context-aware chatbots.

Avoid MCP tools for high-volume stream processing or automated workflows without user interaction. Use pipeline-initiated integration instead.

For implementation details, see MCP Tool Patterns.

Pipeline processes events (a2a_message)

Use the a2a_message processor when your pipeline needs to invoke agents for every event in a stream.

The pipeline controls when agents execute. This pattern is ideal for automated, high-volume processing where each event requires AI reasoning.

Common scenarios include real-time fraud detection, sentiment scoring for customer reviews, and content moderation that classifies and routes content.

For implementation details, see Pipeline Integration Patterns.

External system calls agent

Use external integration when your applications, services, or agents hosted outside Redpanda Cloud need to call Redpanda Cloud agents.

External systems send requests using the A2A protocol and receive responses synchronously. This works for backend services, CLI tools, custom UIs, and agents hosted on other platforms.

Common scenarios include backend services analyzing data as part of workflows, CLI tools invoking agents for batch tasks, custom UIs displaying agent responses, CRM agents coordinating with Redpanda agents, and multi-platform workflows spanning different infrastructure.

To learn how the A2A protocol enables this integration, see A2A Protocol.

Pattern comparison

The following table compares the two primary internal integration patterns:

Criterion Agents Invoking MCP Tools Pipelines Calling Agents

Trigger

User question or agent decision

Event arrival in topic

Frequency

Ad-hoc, irregular, as needed

Continuous, every event

Latency

Low (agent waits for response)

Higher (async acceptable)

Control Flow

Agent decides when to invoke

Pipeline decides when to invoke

Use Case

"Fetch me data", "Run this query"

"Process this stream", "Enrich all events"

Human in Loop

Often yes (user-driven)

Often no (automated)

Security considerations for external integration

When integrating external applications with Redpanda Cloud agents, protect credentials and tokens.

Protect service account credentials

Store the client ID and secret in secure credential stores, not in code. Use environment variables or secrets management. Rotate credentials if compromised and restrict access based on the principle of least privilege.

Protect access tokens

Access tokens grant full access to the agent. Anyone with a valid token can send requests, receive responses, and consume agent resources (subject to rate limits). Treat access tokens like passwords and never log them or include them in error messages.

Next steps