diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
index 84c3518..578901f 100644
--- a/start.sh
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -9,9 +9,17 @@ FRONTEND_DIR="${FRONTEND_DIR:-$ROOT_DIR/frontend}"
 RUN_DIR="${RUN_DIR:-$BACKEND_DIR/.run}"
 
 START_REDIS="${START_REDIS:-1}"
+START_RABBITMQ="${START_RABBITMQ:-1}"
 START_BACKEND="${START_BACKEND:-1}"
 START_FRONTEND="${START_FRONTEND:-1}"
 
+# docker compose (for dependencies like RabbitMQ):
+# - START_RABBITMQ=1|0 (default 1)
+# - COMPOSE_FILE=path (default ./docker-compose.yml)
+# - STOP_DOCKER=1|0 (default 0; when 1, stop started compose services on exit)
+COMPOSE_FILE="${COMPOSE_FILE:-$ROOT_DIR/docker-compose.yml}"
+STOP_DOCKER="${STOP_DOCKER:-0}"
+
 # frontend:
 # - FRONTEND_INSTALL=auto|1|0 (default auto, only when node_modules missing)
 # - FRONTEND_SCRIPT=dev|preview|build (default dev)
@@ -60,6 +68,11 @@ cleanup() {
       taskkill //PID "$BACKEND_PID" //T //F >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
     fi
   fi
+
+  if [ "$STOP_DOCKER" = "1" ] && [ -n "${COMPOSE_CMD:-}" ] && [ -f "$COMPOSE_FILE" ]; then
+    echo "[start.sh] Stopping docker compose services"
+    $COMPOSE_CMD -f "$COMPOSE_FILE" stop >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+  fi
 }
 trap cleanup INT TERM EXIT
 
@@ -75,6 +88,54 @@ if [ "$START_FRONTEND" = "1" ]; then
   require_cmd npm
 fi
 
+detect_compose() {
+  if command -v docker >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    if docker compose version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      COMPOSE_CMD="docker compose"
+      return 0
+    fi
+  fi
+  if command -v docker-compose >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    COMPOSE_CMD="docker-compose"
+    return 0
+  fi
+  return 1
+}
+
+start_rabbitmq_compose() {
+  if [ ! -f "$COMPOSE_FILE" ]; then
+    echo "[start.sh] $COMPOSE_FILE not found; skip starting RabbitMQ via docker compose"
+    return 0
+  fi
+  if ! detect_compose; then
+    echo "[start.sh] docker compose not found; skip starting RabbitMQ via docker compose"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  echo "[start.sh] Starting RabbitMQ via docker compose ($COMPOSE_FILE)"
+  $COMPOSE_CMD -f "$COMPOSE_FILE" up -d rabbitmq
+
+  # Best-effort readiness check.
+  if command -v docker >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    local rabbit_cid=""
+    rabbit_cid="$($COMPOSE_CMD -f "$COMPOSE_FILE" ps -q rabbitmq 2>/dev/null || true)"
+    if [ -z "$rabbit_cid" ]; then
+      rabbit_cid="my-rabbitmq"
+    fi
+
+    local i=0
+    while [ "$i" -lt 30 ]; do
+      if docker exec "$rabbit_cid" rabbitmq-diagnostics -q ping >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "[start.sh] RabbitMQ ready"
+        return 0
+      fi
+      sleep 1
+      i=$((i + 1))
+    done
+    echo "[start.sh] RabbitMQ may not be ready yet; continuing anyway"
+  fi
+}
+
 start_redis() {
   if ! command -v redis-server >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     echo "[start.sh] redis-server not found; skip starting Redis"
@@ -118,6 +179,10 @@ start_frontend_bg() {
   echo "[start.sh] Frontend PID: $FRONTEND_PID"
 }
 
+if [ "$START_RABBITMQ" = "1" ] && [ "$START_BACKEND" = "1" ]; then
+  start_rabbitmq_compose
+fi
+
 if [ "$START_REDIS" = "1" ] && [ "$START_BACKEND" = "1" ]; then
   start_redis
 fi