Local python service MQTT vs REST communication

The OP could use coap instead of mqtt for example, that’s why I like to point out that mqtt is not fast/efficient, in comparison. Rest or mqtt doesn’t really matter, both are equally fast of course. Http is more chatty but the rest API directly talks to the core, while mqtt has slimmer messages but those need to be parsed, channels need to be looked up and the core only gets notified indirectly.