diff --git a/nix/dev-shell.nix b/nix/dev-shell.nix
--- a/nix/dev-shell.nix
+++ b/nix/dev-shell.nix
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 , pkg-config
 , protobuf_3_15_cmake
 , python3
+, rabbitmq-server
 , redis
 , redis-up
 , rustc
@@ -78,6 +79,7 @@
     pkg-config
     protobuf_3_15_cmake
     grpc
+    rabbitmq-server # runtime service
   ] ++ lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin [
     cocoapods # needed for ios
   ];
diff --git a/nix/overlay.nix b/nix/overlay.nix
--- a/nix/overlay.nix
+++ b/nix/overlay.nix
@@ -118,6 +118,8 @@
     ];
   });
 
+  rabbitmq-up = prev.callPackage ./rabbitmq-up-mac.nix { };
+
   # Ensure that yarn is using the pinned version
   yarn = prev.yarn.override (_: {
     nodejs = final.nodejs-16_x;
diff --git a/nix/rabbitmq-up-mac.nix b/nix/rabbitmq-up-mac.nix
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/rabbitmq-up-mac.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+{ lib
+, rabbitmq-server
+, writeShellApplication
+}:
+
+let
+  # Use small script executed by bash to have a normal shell environment.
+  rabbitmq-entrypoint = writeShellApplication {
+    name = "rabbitmq-init";
+    text = ''
+      # RabbitMQ is mostly configured through environment variables
+      # located in scripts/source_development_defaults.sh
+      mkdir -p "$RABBITMQ_LOGS_BASE"
+
+      echo "View RabbitMQ logs: tail -f $RABBITMQ_LOGS" >&2
+      echo "Kill RabbitMQ server: pkill rabbitmq-server beam.smp" >&2
+
+      # 'exec' allows for us to replace bash process with RabbitMQ
+      exec "${rabbitmq-server}/bin/rabbitmq-server" \
+        > "$RABBITMQ_LOG_BASE/startup.log"
+    '';
+  };
+
+# writeShellApplication is a "writer helper" which
+# will create a shellchecked executable shell script located in $out/bin/<name>
+# This shell script will be used to allow for impure+stateful actions
+in writeShellApplication {
+  name = "rabbitmq-up";
+  text = ''
+    RABBITMQ_HOME=''${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/RabbitMQ
+    RABBITMQ_PIDFILE=''${RABBITMQ_HOME}/rabbitmq.pid
+
+    "${../scripts/start_comm_daemon.sh}" \
+      rabbitmq-server \
+      RabbitMQ \
+      "${rabbitmq-entrypoint}/bin/rabbitmq-init" \
+      "$RABBITMQ_PIDFILE"
+
+    # Explicitly exit this script so the parent shell can determine
+    # when it's safe to return control of terminal to user
+    exit 0
+  '';
+}
diff --git a/scripts/source_development_defaults.sh b/scripts/source_development_defaults.sh
--- a/scripts/source_development_defaults.sh
+++ b/scripts/source_development_defaults.sh
@@ -13,3 +13,13 @@
 
 export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/emulator:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/tools
 export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/tools/bin:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/platform-tools
+
+# User defaults of
+# https://www.rabbitmq.com/configure.html#supported-environment-variables
+export RABBITMQ_NODENAME=comm
+export RABBITMQ_HOME=${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/RabbitMQ
+export RABBITMQ_MNESIA_BASE=${RABBITMQ_HOME}/mnesia
+export RABBITMQ_LOG_BASE=${RABBITMQ_HOME}/logs
+export RABBITMQ_LOGS=${RABBITMQ_LOG_BASE}/comm.log
+export RABBITMQ_PLUGINS_EXPAND_DIR=${RABBITMQ_HOME}/plugins_expand
+export RABBITMQ_PID_FILE=${RABBITMQ_HOME}/rabbitmq.pid