# What are the differences between the Message Notification Service and the query Method? (/en/api-reference/faq/integration/ncs_vs_query)

> For AI agents: see the complete documentation index at [llms.txt](/llms.txt).

You can monitor the status of the cloud recording service either through the `query` method or by the Message Notification Service, to take action when required. Both options have pros and cons.

## The query method [#the-query-method]

You can periodically call the `query` method to monitor the status of a cloud recording. See [Query the recording status](/en/cloud-recording/reference/restful-api/#query).

* Pros: Reliable, as the status is queried proactively.
* Cons:
  * Provides limited status information.
  * Requires an active query. You cannot query too often because of the Queries Per Second (QPS) limit, and thus it is not as real-time as the Message Notification Service.

If the reliability of the status of a cloud recording is a high priority, Agora strongly recommends using the `query` method.

## Message Notification Service [#message-notification-service]

You can use the Message Notification Service as a complementary option to monitor the recording service status. You need to configure an HTTP/HTTPS server to receive event notifications. For details, see [Agora Cloud Recording RESTful API Callback Service](/en/cloud-recording/reference/rest-api-overview).

* Pros: Real-time
* Cons:
  * The server passively receives messages, and the messages may get lost.
  * The confirmation message of the message delivery may get lost, causing the message to be resent. In such a case, you need to deduplicate the notifications.
  * The messages may not arrive in the correct order.

<CalloutContainer type="warning">
  <CalloutDescription>
    Agora recommends that core apps should not rely on the Message Notification Service. If your apps
    already rely heavily on the Message Notification Service, Agora recommends that you contact 
    [support@agora.io](mailto\:support@agora.io) to enable the redundant message notification
    function, which doubles the received notifications and reduces the probability of message loss. Redundant message notification still cannot guarantee a 100% arrival rate.
  </CalloutDescription>
</CalloutContainer>