diff --git a/src/core/AList.ml b/src/core/AList.ml
deleted file mode 100644
index 356f2630..00000000
--- a/src/core/AList.ml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-module Atomic = Opentelemetry_atomic.Atomic
-
-type 'a t = 'a list Atomic.t
-
-let make () = Atomic.make []
-
-let[@inline] is_empty self : bool =
-  match Atomic.get self with
-  | [] -> true
-  | _ :: _ -> false
-
-let get = Atomic.get
-
-let add self x =
-  while
-    let old = Atomic.get self in
-    let l' = x :: old in
-    not (Atomic.compare_and_set self old l')
-  do
-    ()
-  done
-
-let rec pop_all self =
-  let l = Atomic.get self in
-  if Atomic.compare_and_set self l [] then
-    l
-  else
-    pop_all self
diff --git a/src/core/AList.mli b/src/core/AList.mli
deleted file mode 100644
index 832e3c2e..00000000
--- a/src/core/AList.mli
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-(** Atomic list *)
-
-type 'a t
-
-val get : 'a t -> 'a list
-(** Snapshot *)
-
-val is_empty : _ t -> bool
-
-val make : unit -> 'a t
-
-val add : 'a t -> 'a -> unit
-
-val pop_all : 'a t -> 'a list
diff --git a/src/core/dune b/src/core/dune
index 248e3aff..debbd5c0 100644
--- a/src/core/dune
+++ b/src/core/dune
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 (library
  (name opentelemetry)
  (synopsis "API for opentelemetry instrumentation")
- (flags :standard -warn-error -a+8)
+ (flags :standard -warn-error -a+8 -open Opentelemetry_util)
  (libraries
   opentelemetry.proto
+  opentelemetry.util
   opentelemetry.ambient-context
   ptime
   ptime.clock.os
diff --git a/src/core/exporter.ml b/src/core/exporter.ml
index 7ccdc823..7c08f588 100644
--- a/src/core/exporter.ml
+++ b/src/core/exporter.ml
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ end
 
 (** Dummy exporter, does nothing *)
 let dummy : t =
-  let ticker = Tick_callbacks.create () in
+  let tick_cbs = Cb_set.create () in
   object
     method send_trace = ignore
 
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ let dummy : t =
 
     method send_logs = ignore
 
-    method tick () = Tick_callbacks.tick ticker
+    method tick () = Cb_set.trigger tick_cbs
 
-    method add_on_tick_callback cb = Tick_callbacks.on_tick ticker cb
+    method add_on_tick_callback cb = Cb_set.register tick_cbs cb
 
     method cleanup ~on_done () = on_done ()
   end
@@ -78,14 +78,15 @@ module Main_exporter = struct
   (* hidden *)
   open struct
     (* a list of callbacks automatically added to the main exporter *)
-    let on_tick_cbs_ = AList.make ()
+    let on_tick_cbs_ = Alist.make ()
 
     let exporter : t option Atomic.t = Atomic.make None
   end
 
   (** Set the global exporter *)
-  let set (exp : t) : unit =
-    List.iter exp#add_on_tick_callback (AList.get on_tick_cbs_);
+  let set (exp : #t) : unit =
+    let exp = (exp :> t) in
+    List.iter exp#add_on_tick_callback (Alist.get on_tick_cbs_);
     Atomic.set exporter (Some exp)
 
   (** Remove current exporter, if any.
@@ -104,25 +105,25 @@ module Main_exporter = struct
   let[@inline] get () : t option = Atomic.get exporter
 
   let add_on_tick_callback f =
-    AList.add on_tick_cbs_ f;
+    Alist.add on_tick_cbs_ f;
     Option.iter (fun exp -> exp#add_on_tick_callback f) (get ())
 end
 
-let set_backend = Main_exporter.set [@@deprecated "use `Main_exporter.set`"]
+let (set_backend [@deprecated "use `Main_exporter.set`"]) = Main_exporter.set
 
-let remove_backend = Main_exporter.remove
-[@@deprecated "use `Main_exporter.remove`"]
+let (remove_backend [@deprecated "use `Main_exporter.remove`"]) =
+  Main_exporter.remove
 
-let has_backend = Main_exporter.present
-[@@deprecated "use `Main_exporter.present`"]
+let (has_backend [@deprecated "use `Main_exporter.present`"]) =
+  Main_exporter.present
 
-let get_backend = Main_exporter.get [@@deprecated "use `Main_exporter.ge"]
+let (get_backend [@deprecated "use `Main_exporter.ge"]) = Main_exporter.get
 
 let with_setup_debug_backend ?(on_done = ignore) (exp : #t) ?(enable = true) ()
     f =
   let exp = (exp :> t) in
   if enable then (
-    set_backend exp;
+    Main_exporter.set exp;
     Fun.protect ~finally:(fun () -> cleanup exp ~on_done) f
   ) else
     f ()
diff --git a/src/core/gc_metrics.ml b/src/core/gc_metrics.ml
index c48b6734..e565eb86 100644
--- a/src/core/gc_metrics.ml
+++ b/src/core/gc_metrics.ml
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ open struct
   let[@inline] word_to_bytes n = n * bytes_per_word
 
   let[@inline] word_to_bytes_f n = n *. float bytes_per_word
+
+  let default_interval_s = 20
 end
 
 let get_metrics () : Metrics.t list =
@@ -34,16 +36,23 @@ let get_metrics () : Metrics.t list =
       [ int ~now gc.Gc.compactions ];
   ]
 
-let setup (exp : #Exporter.t) =
+let setup ?(min_interval_s = default_interval_s) (exp : #Exporter.t) =
+  (* limit rate *)
+  let min_interval_s = max 5 min_interval_s in
+  let min_interval = Mtime.Span.(min_interval_s * s) in
+  let limiter = Interval_limiter.create ~min_interval () in
+
   let on_tick () =
-    let m = get_metrics () in
-    exp#send_metrics m
+    if Interval_limiter.make_attempt limiter then (
+      let m = get_metrics () in
+      exp#send_metrics m
+    )
   in
   Exporter.on_tick exp on_tick
 
-let setup_on_main_exporter () =
+let setup_on_main_exporter ?min_interval_s () =
   match Exporter.Main_exporter.get () with
   | None -> ()
-  | Some exp -> setup exp
+  | Some exp -> setup ?min_interval_s exp
 
-let basic_setup = setup_on_main_exporter
+let basic_setup () = setup_on_main_exporter ()
diff --git a/src/core/gc_metrics.mli b/src/core/gc_metrics.mli
index 817967d2..e0c01883 100644
--- a/src/core/gc_metrics.mli
+++ b/src/core/gc_metrics.mli
@@ -5,13 +5,17 @@
 val get_metrics : unit -> Metrics.t list
 (** Get a few metrics from the current state of the GC. *)
 
-val setup : #Exporter.t -> unit
+val setup : ?min_interval_s:int -> #Exporter.t -> unit
 (** Setup a hook that will emit GC statistics on every tick. It does assume that
     [tick] is called regularly on the exporter. For example, if we ensure the
     exporter's [tick] function is called every 5s, we'll get GC metrics every
-    5s. *)
+    5s.
 
-val setup_on_main_exporter : unit -> unit
+    @param min_interval_s
+      if provided, GC metrics will be emitted at most every [min_interval_s]
+      seconds. This prevents flooding. Default value is 20s. *)
+
+val setup_on_main_exporter : ?min_interval_s:int -> unit -> unit
 (** Setup the hook on the main exporter. *)
 
 val basic_setup : unit -> unit [@@deprecated "use setup_on_main_exporter"]
diff --git a/src/core/metrics_callbacks.ml b/src/core/metrics_callbacks.ml
index c404c0bc..4fd78c4a 100644
--- a/src/core/metrics_callbacks.ml
+++ b/src/core/metrics_callbacks.ml
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 open Common_
 
-type t = { cbs: (unit -> Metrics.t list) AList.t } [@@unboxed]
+type t = { cbs: (unit -> Metrics.t list) Alist.t } [@@unboxed]
 
-let create () : t = { cbs = AList.make () }
+let create () : t = { cbs = Alist.make () }
 
-let[@inline] add_metrics_cb (self : t) f = AList.add self.cbs f
+let[@inline] add_metrics_cb (self : t) f = Alist.add self.cbs f
 
 let add_to_exporter (exp : #Exporter.t) (self : t) =
   let on_tick () =
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ let add_to_exporter (exp : #Exporter.t) (self : t) =
       (fun f ->
         let f_metrics = f () in
         res := List.rev_append f_metrics !res)
-      (AList.get self.cbs);
+      (Alist.get self.cbs);
     let metrics = !res in
 
     (* emit the metrics *)
diff --git a/src/core/opentelemetry.ml b/src/core/opentelemetry.ml
index b5f518c0..ec84d0e4 100644
--- a/src/core/opentelemetry.ml
+++ b/src/core/opentelemetry.ml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ open Common_
 module Rand_bytes = Rand_bytes
 (** Generation of random identifiers. *)
 
-module AList = AList
+module Alist = Alist
 (** Atomic list, for internal usage
     @since 0.7 *)
 
diff --git a/src/core/tick_callbacks.ml b/src/core/tick_callbacks.ml
deleted file mode 100644
index d81a3a0f..00000000
--- a/src/core/tick_callbacks.ml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-type cb = unit -> unit
-
-type t = { cbs: cb AList.t } [@@unboxed]
-
-let create () : t = { cbs = AList.make () }
-
-let[@inline] on_tick self f = AList.add self.cbs f
-
-let[@inline] tick self = List.iter (fun f -> f ()) (AList.get self.cbs)
diff --git a/src/core/tick_callbacks.mli b/src/core/tick_callbacks.mli
deleted file mode 100644
index ad7ff5bb..00000000
--- a/src/core/tick_callbacks.mli
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-(** A collection of callbacks that are regularly called. *)
-
-type t
-
-val create : unit -> t
-
-val on_tick : t -> (unit -> unit) -> unit
-
-val tick : t -> unit
diff --git a/src/core/util_bytes_.ml b/src/core/util_bytes_.ml
deleted file mode 100644
index 9326991a..00000000
--- a/src/core/util_bytes_.ml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
-open Common_
-
-let int_to_hex (i : int) =
-  if i < 10 then
-    Char.chr (i + Char.code '0')
-  else
-    Char.chr (i - 10 + Char.code 'a')
-
-let bytes_to_hex_into b res off : unit =
-  for i = 0 to Bytes.length b - 1 do
-    let n = Char.code (Bytes.get b i) in
-    Bytes.set res ((2 * i) + off) (int_to_hex ((n land 0xf0) lsr 4));
-    Bytes.set res ((2 * i) + 1 + off) (int_to_hex (n land 0x0f))
-  done
-
-let bytes_to_hex (b : bytes) : string =
-  let res = Bytes.create (2 * Bytes.length b) in
-  bytes_to_hex_into b res 0;
-  Bytes.unsafe_to_string res
-
-let int_of_hex = function
-  | '0' .. '9' as c -> Char.code c - Char.code '0'
-  | 'a' .. 'f' as c -> 10 + Char.code c - Char.code 'a'
-  | c -> raise (Invalid_argument (spf "invalid hex char: %C" c))
-
-let bytes_of_hex_substring (s : string) off len =
-  if len mod 2 <> 0 then
-    raise (Invalid_argument "hex sequence must be of even length");
-  let res = Bytes.make (len / 2) '\x00' in
-  for i = 0 to (len / 2) - 1 do
-    let n1 = int_of_hex (String.get s (off + (2 * i))) in
-    let n2 = int_of_hex (String.get s (off + (2 * i) + 1)) in
-    let n = (n1 lsl 4) lor n2 in
-    Bytes.set res i (Char.chr n)
-  done;
-  res
-
-let bytes_of_hex (s : string) : bytes =
-  bytes_of_hex_substring s 0 (String.length s)
-
-let bytes_non_zero (self : bytes) : bool =
-  try
-    for i = 0 to Bytes.length self - 1 do
-      if Char.code (Bytes.unsafe_get self i) <> 0 then raise_notrace Exit
-    done;
-    false
-  with Exit -> true
diff --git a/src/core/util_mutex.ml b/src/core/util_mutex.ml
deleted file mode 100644
index ab7e48a7..00000000
--- a/src/core/util_mutex.ml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-(* Mutex.protect was added in OCaml 5.1, but we want support back to 4.08 *)
-(* cannot inline, otherwise flambda might move code around. (as per Stdlib) *)
-let[@inline never] protect m f =
-  Mutex.lock m;
-  match f () with
-  | x ->
-    Mutex.unlock m;
-    x
-  | exception e ->
-    (* NOTE: [unlock] does not poll for asynchronous exceptions *)
-    Mutex.unlock m;
-    Printexc.raise_with_backtrace e (Printexc.get_raw_backtrace ())
diff --git a/src/core/util_mutex.mli b/src/core/util_mutex.mli
deleted file mode 100644
index feccf59f..00000000
--- a/src/core/util_mutex.mli
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-val protect : Mutex.t -> (unit -> 'a) -> 'a