diff --git a/scripts/setup_auto_ingest.sh b/scripts/setup_auto_ingest.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..42701af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/setup_auto_ingest.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Stand up the Cognee/Ladybug ingestion pipeline (MinIO + RabbitMQ + dispatcher)
+# and optionally push a sample file through the MinIO bucket to prove the
+# RabbitMQ → dispatcher → Cognee path is healthy.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+cd "$ROOT_DIR"
+
+PROJECT_ID="${PROJECT_ID:-demo123}"
+VERIFY=0
+
+usage() {
+  cat <<'USAGE'
+Usage: scripts/setup_auto_ingest.sh [--verify] [--project <id>]
+
+  --verify         Upload a sample file into MinIO after services start.
+  --project <id>   Project ID for the verification upload (default: demo123).
+
+Environment overrides:
+  PROJECT_ID       Same as --project.
+  AWS_ENDPOINT     Override the MinIO endpoint (default http://minio:9000 inside Docker network).
+USAGE
+}
+
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+  case "$1" in
+    --verify)
+      VERIFY=1
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --project)
+      PROJECT_ID="$2"
+      shift 2
+      ;;
+    -h|--help)
+      usage
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "Unknown option: $1" >&2
+      usage
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+AWS_ENDPOINT="${AWS_ENDPOINT:-http://minio:9000}"
+
+require_file() {
+  if [[ ! -f "$1" ]]; then
+    echo "Missing $1. Copy volumes/env/.env.template to volumes/env/.env first." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+}
+
+run() {
+  echo "[$(date +%H:%M:%S)] $*"
+  "$@"
+}
+
+require_file "volumes/env/.env"
+
+echo "Bootstrapping auto-ingestion stack from $ROOT_DIR"
+run docker compose up -d
+run docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.cognee.yml up -d
+
+# Ensure MinIO buckets, lifecycle policies, and AMQP events are in place.
+run docker compose up minio-setup
+
+# Make sure the dispatcher is online (restarts to pick up env/file changes).
+run docker compose up -d ingestion-dispatcher
+
+echo "Current ingestion dispatcher status:"
+docker compose ps ingestion-dispatcher
+
+if [[ "$VERIFY" -eq 1 ]]; then
+  TMP_FILE="$(mktemp)"
+  SAMPLE_KEY="files/ingest_smoketest_$(date +%s).txt"
+  cat <<EOF >"$TMP_FILE"
+Automatic ingestion smoke test at $(date)
+Project: $PROJECT_ID
+EOF
+
+  echo "Uploading $SAMPLE_KEY into s3://projects/$PROJECT_ID via aws-cli container..."
+  run docker run --rm --network fuzzforge_temporal_network \
+    -e AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=fuzzforge \
+    -e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=fuzzforge123 \
+    -e AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1 \
+    -v "$TMP_FILE:/tmp/sample.txt:ro" \
+    amazon/aws-cli s3 cp /tmp/sample.txt "s3://projects/${PROJECT_ID}/${SAMPLE_KEY}" \
+    --endpoint-url "$AWS_ENDPOINT"
+
+  rm -f "$TMP_FILE"
+  cat <<EOF
+
+Sample file enqueued. Watch the dispatcher logs with:
+  docker logs -f fuzzforge-ingestion-dispatcher
+
+Datasets will appear via:
+  curl -s -X POST http://localhost:18000/api/v1/auth/login \\
+    -d "username=project_${PROJECT_ID}@fuzzforge.dev&password=\$(python3 - <<'PY'
+from hashlib import sha256
+print(sha256(b"$PROJECT_ID").hexdigest()[:20])
+PY
+)" | python3 -c 'import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)["access_token"])'
+EOF
+fi
+
+echo "Auto-ingestion stack ready."