What operating systems does Tink support?

Any Linux distribution with systemd. Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, RHEL, Amazon Linux, Fedora, and Alpine are all tested.

Does Tink run commands automatically?

No. Tink suggests fixes and waits for your explicit approval. Nothing runs without you confirming it first.

How much resources does the Tink agent use?

Minimal. The agent idles at under 20MB RAM and near-zero CPU between scans. Scans themselves take a few seconds.

Can I use Tink on containers?

Tink is designed for long-running servers, not ephemeral containers. For Kubernetes, point it at your nodes instead.

What data does Tink collect?

System metrics (CPU, memory, disk, network), running services, and relevant log snippets when diagnosing issues. No application data, credentials, or file contents.

Tink vs MySQL Exporter

mysqld_exporter is Prometheus's official MySQL scrape: a :9104 /metrics endpoint of mysql_up and global-status gauges. That is not a mechanic. Tink installs in one command, watches the Linux server, explains what is wrong, and helps you fix it.

mysqld_exporter exposes mysql_* gauges. Tink answers “why is this VPS sick?”

Accidental sysadmins land on mysqld_exporter because every WordPress + Prometheus diagram adds it after node_exporter. Then the disk fills, nginx dies, and Grafana is quiet — InnoDB was fine, so nothing fired.

Tink is the other job: detect the issue on the machine, say why it happened in plain English, propose the command, and run it only after you approve. Keep mysqld_exporter if you already operate Prometheus and need MySQL gauges. Use Tink if you run Linux servers and want a mechanic.

Feature	Tink	MySQL Exporter
Setup time	30 seconds (one curl \| sh command)	Hours — binary, exporter MySQL user, .my.cnf, :9104, prometheus.yml scrape job, dashboards, and Alertmanager
What you get	Working monitoring, diagnosis, and approved fixes	A MySQL scrape target. Host disk, nginx, and certs stay your problem until PromQL fires and you SSH in
Pricing	Free (Scout) / $9 / $29 per machine per month	Free software (Apache 2.0). You still pay for Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager, and the engineer who writes the rules
Hidden costs	None — fully managed	A GRANT for the exporter user, collector flags, PERFORMANCE_SCHEMA noise, and a second tool to tell you the box is sick
Monitoring approach	Agent on the server — CPU, disk, services, logs, certs, ports	mysql_up and mysql_global_status_* gauges. mysqld_exporter does not watch host disk or a quiet cert unless you added another exporter
Configuration	None after install — heuristics and AI	.my.cnf [client], --collect.* flags, /probe multi-target, scrape intervals, and which PromQL actually pages you
Plain-English diagnosis	Yes — AI explains root cause, impact, and fix	You graph mysql_global_status_threads_running in Grafana, then SSH in to change the box
Fix execution	Proposes and executes approved commands with an audit trail	Export only — mysqld_exporter cannot restart mysqld or free disk
Alerting	Built-in across 8 channels	Not a MySQL Exporter job — Prometheus rules and Alertmanager have to fire
Predictive alerts	Yes — disk fills in ~6 days, memory and CPU trends	Not an exporter job — a SHOW GLOBAL STATUS scrape does not forecast a quiet volume
SSH brute-force detection	Built-in — parses auth.log every scan	Only if you ship auth.log elsewhere, parse it, write a query, and wire an alert downstream
Machine offline detection	Agent presence monitoring with multi-channel alerts	Silence if mysqld_exporter dies — unless you built an up{job="mysqld"} deadman check
Public status page	Shareable URL with 90-day history	None — mysqld_exporter has no customer-facing status page
Weekly fleet digest	Automated Monday digest + daily brief when issues are open	None — a MySQL scrape target is not a plain-English fleet narrative
On-call tracking	Built-in /oncall command + incident acknowledgment	Not included — wire Alertmanager into PagerDuty or another incident tool
Conversation interface	Telegram, WhatsApp, web dashboard, CLI	curl :9104/metrics and Grafana. No mechanic you text when InnoDB filled the disk
Learning curve	None — works after install	Steep — GRANT, collector flags, PromQL, scrape configs, and which rule actually pages
Best for	Freelancers, small teams, accidental sysadmins (1-50 Linux servers)	Teams that already run Prometheus and need MySQL scrapes, not a sick-VPS mechanic

When MySQL Exporter is the right choice

Keep mysqld_exporter when you already want that exact job:

Prometheus MySQL scrapes — you need mysql_global_status_commands_total in PromQL, not a mechanic.
Per-instance InnoDB gauges — buffer pool and thread stats matter more than host nginx, certs, and SSH on a quiet VPS.
An existing Prometheus + Grafana stack — mysqld_exporter already ships, dashboards already graph, and someone owns Alertmanager.
Hosts that only export — you already run mysqld_exporter as a unit, not a sick-box SSH loop.

The real cost of “just run mysqld_exporter”

A MySQL scrape is in every Prometheus diagram after node_exporter. A working ops loop for five Linux boxes is not:

An exported mysql_up still means you SSH in and change the box by hand
Host disk, nginx, certs, and SSH brute-force never appear unless you scraped those signals and Alertmanager paged
.my.cnf grants, collector flags, and PromQL punish the hours you spend debugging targets
A single VPS with a dead mysqld_exporter still needs a mechanic, not another scrape job

For a 5-server team, Tink Mechanic at $45/month is cheaper than mysqld_exporter plus the engineer who keeps Prometheus scrape alive, and every scan includes a diagnosis a quiet /metrics endpoint will not type.

No .my.cnf homework. No silent host. One command install.

Start Mechanic

Also compare: Tink vs Node Exporter · Tink vs cAdvisor · Tink vs Prometheus