Title: Discussion 2 — When Is the Full ReAct Loop Worth It?
Course: AIINFRA 300: Agentic AI & the Model Context Protocol (MCP) > Section: Week 02 — Tool Calling, ReAct, and Agent Planning Patterns

💬 Discussion 2 — When Is the Full ReAct Loop Worth It? (20 pts)

Every extra Thought → Action → Observation cycle costs latency and tokens. A single structured function call is almost always cheaper and faster than a full ReAct loop. Prompt: When does the extra latency and token cost of a full ReAct loop actually justify itself over a single structured function call? Describe a specific task (from this course, your work, or a hypothetical project) where you'd choose ReAct anyway, and explain what property of that task — multi-step dependency, need for self-correction, need for a traceable reasoning log, or something else — tips the balance. Then describe a task where you'd deliberately avoid ReAct even though it's tempting to use it everywhere. Post your initial response (150+ words), then respond to at least two classmates — push back if you think their task doesn't actually need ReAct, or add a scenario they didn't consider.