Please add a config option to allow non-player entities to level up the tools while using them.
Other mods -like Minecolonies - have NPCs that work with tinkers tools. Currently they cant level up the tools which is a shame.

I think the default would be to require the 'user' to be a player so mod pack authors would need to enable this feature. This would leave balancing the tools/leveling in mod interactions in the hands of the mod pack authors.

If a tool can be leveled by non-players, that would open up way to many auto tool levelers which by that point is basically creative modifiers. I feel this would break the balance too much

Would you consider a whitelist of allowed entities? this would allow mod pack authors the ability to configure what entities can level tools, such as NPCs, while blocking auto-activators/machines by default?

At the moment it works with FakePlayers, so a lot of automatic levelers probably already work. It would be nice if there would be a configuration which allows to add additional entities which should work.

I'd have to look into it, but the question is, what's the benefit?

We have "colonists" which use tinker tools to mine, fell trees etc, players have been complaining that they don't level the tools.