Install and register
Install the agent, set the Nightingale write URL, and confirm the host shows up under Targets.
Input plugins
Categraf ships over ninety input plugins; a config file in conf/input.<name> enables one, and a single plugin can run alone in the foreground for testing.
Remote write
Categraf batches metrics and ships them over Prometheus Remote Write; several writers can feed Nightingale and a second backend at once; failed writes are not retried.
Targets and heartbeat
Categraf sends a heartbeat with host metadata every ten seconds; the target list shows status and tags from it, and hosts are assigned to business groups by hand.
Troubleshooting
Categraf problems come in three symptoms — host missing, host present but no metrics, one plugin silent — and the log has the answer, even for errors not marked E!.