diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 589d137..c0c1ed9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -113,8 +113,9 @@ If authentication is enabled (see below), send the taskowl API key as
 | **Tasks** | `list_tasks`, `get_task`, `get_task_timeline`, `get_task_chain`, `get_task_summary`, `list_task_types`, `list_orphaned_tasks` |
 | **Task actions** | `revoke_task`, `retry_task` |
 | **Workers** | `get_worker_status`, `list_workers`, `get_worker_stats`, `shutdown_worker`, `scale_worker_pool`, `get_active_tasks` |
+| **Queues** | `list_queues` |
 
-**Total: 15 tools**
+**Total: 16 tools**
 
 `list_tasks` supports exact filters (`state`, `name`, `worker`, `since`), a partial
 case-insensitive `search` on the task name, `offset` for pagination, and `sort_by`
@@ -133,6 +134,7 @@ Questions you can ask your AI assistant when the MCP server is connected:
 | "What's the retry chain for task abc?" | `get_task_chain` |
 | "What's the task success rate in the last 30 minutes?" | `get_task_summary` |
 | "Which workers are online?" | `get_worker_status`, `list_workers` |
+| "How many messages are in each queue?" | `list_queues` |
 | "Shutdown worker celery@worker1" | `shutdown_worker` |
 | "Retry task abc" | `retry_task` |
 
@@ -261,6 +263,7 @@ retries, and metrics. Interactive docs are available at:
 | **Task actions** | `POST /api/tasks/{id}/revoke`, `POST /api/tasks/{id}/retry` |
 | **Workers** | `GET /api/workers`, `GET /api/workers/list`, `GET /api/workers/{name}/stats`, `GET /api/workers/active-tasks` |
 | **Worker actions** | `POST /api/workers/{name}/shutdown`, `POST /api/workers/{name}/scale` |
+| **Queues** | `GET /api/queues` |
 | **Ops** | `GET /health`, `GET /metrics` |
 
 The `/openapi.json` schema is the authoritative reference — this README lists
diff --git a/src/taskowl/main.py b/src/taskowl/main.py
index 11fee93..7e15298 100644
--- a/src/taskowl/main.py
+++ b/src/taskowl/main.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
     list_task_types_query,
     list_tasks_query,
 )
+from taskowl.queues import list_queues
 from taskowl.workers import (
     get_active_tasks,
     get_worker_stats,
@@ -314,6 +315,17 @@ async def api_get_active_tasks(
     return await get_active_tasks(worker_name)
 
 
+@app.get("/api/queues")
+async def api_list_queues(
+    _: None = Depends(verify_api_key),
+) -> dict:
+    """List Celery broker queues with message and consumer counts."""
+    result = await list_queues()
+    if "error" in result:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=502, detail=result["error"])
+    return result
+
+
 # MCP server is now run separately via taskowl-mcp command
 # See taskowl.mcp.server:run_mcp_server()
 
diff --git a/src/taskowl/mcp/tools.py b/src/taskowl/mcp/tools.py
index e62625b..d9b86df 100644
--- a/src/taskowl/mcp/tools.py
+++ b/src/taskowl/mcp/tools.py
@@ -327,3 +327,17 @@ async def get_active_tasks(worker_name: str | None = None) -> dict:
             )
             response.raise_for_status()
             return response.json()
+
+    @server.tool(
+        name="list_queues",
+        description="List Celery broker queues with message and consumer counts",
+    )
+    async def list_queues() -> dict:
+        """List Celery broker queues with message and consumer counts."""
+        async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
+            response = await client.get(
+                f"http://{settings.taskowl_host}:{settings.taskowl_port}/api/queues",
+                headers=_get_headers(),
+            )
+            response.raise_for_status()
+            return response.json()
diff --git a/src/taskowl/queues.py b/src/taskowl/queues.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86f9df5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/taskowl/queues.py
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+"""Broker queue monitoring functions for taskowl.
+
+This module provides functions to inspect Celery broker queues,
+including message counts and consumer counts. It works with any
+kombu-supported broker (RabbitMQ, Redis, ...).
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import logging
+
+from celery import Celery
+from kombu import Connection, Queue
+
+from taskowl.config import settings
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def _get_celery_app() -> Celery:
+    """Get Celery app instance configured with broker URL."""
+    return Celery(broker=settings.celery_broker_url)
+
+
+def _declared_queues(app: Celery) -> list[str]:
+    """Return the queue names declared by the Celery app.
+
+    Falls back to the app's default queue name if the app exposes no
+    explicit queue configuration.
+    """
+    queues = getattr(app.amqp, "queues", None)
+    if queues:
+        return list(queues.keys())
+    return [app.conf.task_default_queue or "celery"]
+
+
+def _list_queues_sync() -> dict:
+    """Synchronously inspect broker queues and return queue statistics."""
+    app = _get_celery_app()
+    queue_names = _declared_queues(app)
+
+    with Connection(settings.celery_broker_url) as conn:
+        channel = conn.channel()
+        queue_stats: list[dict] = []
+        for name in queue_names:
+            declared = Queue(name).queue_declare(channel=channel, passive=True)
+            messages: int = int(getattr(declared, "message_count", 0))
+            consumers: int = int(getattr(declared, "consumer_count", 0))
+            queue_stats.append(
+                {
+                    "name": name,
+                    "messages": messages,
+                    "consumers": consumers,
+                }
+            )
+
+    queue_stats.sort(key=lambda q: q["messages"], reverse=True)
+    total_messages: int = sum(int(q["messages"]) for q in queue_stats)
+    return {
+        "queues": queue_stats,
+        "total_messages": total_messages,
+    }
+
+
+async def list_queues() -> dict:
+    """List Celery broker queues with message and consumer counts.
+
+    Returns:
+        Dict with a queue list and a total message count. On broker
+        failure, returns an error dict.
+    """
+    try:
+        # Broker I/O is synchronous; offload to a thread to keep the
+        # event loop responsive.
+        return await asyncio.to_thread(_list_queues_sync)
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.exception("Failed to list broker queues")
+        return {"error": f"Failed to list queues: {str(e)}"}
diff --git a/tests/test_api.py b/tests/test_api.py
index c7b6c4c..bea2a46 100644
--- a/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_api.py
@@ -848,6 +848,31 @@ async def test_api_get_active_tasks_with_worker_filter(client: AsyncClient):
         assert "active_tasks" in data
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_api_list_queues(client: AsyncClient):
+    """Test GET /api/queues."""
+    with patch("taskowl.queues._list_queues_sync") as mock_list_queues:
+        mock_list_queues.return_value = {
+            "queues": [{"name": "celery", "messages": 3, "consumers": 1}],
+            "total_messages": 3,
+        }
+
+        response = await client.get("/api/queues")
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        data = response.json()
+        assert data["total_messages"] == 3
+        assert data["queues"][0]["name"] == "celery"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_api_list_queues_error(client: AsyncClient):
+    """Test GET /api/queues when the broker fails."""
+    with patch("taskowl.queues._list_queues_sync", side_effect=Exception("Broker down")):
+        response = await client.get("/api/queues")
+        assert response.status_code == 502
+        assert "Broker down" in response.json()["detail"]
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_api_list_orphaned_tasks_empty(client: AsyncClient):
     """Test GET /api/tasks/orphaned with no orphaned tasks."""
diff --git a/tests/test_queues.py b/tests/test_queues.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb43a48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_queues.py
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+"""Tests for broker queue monitoring functions."""
+
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+import pytest
+
+from taskowl.queues import list_queues
+
+
+def _make_declared(message_count=0, consumer_count=0):
+    declared = MagicMock()
+    declared.message_count = message_count
+    declared.consumer_count = consumer_count
+    return declared
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_list_queues_success():
+    """Test listing queues with message and consumer counts."""
+    mock_connection = MagicMock()
+    mock_channel = MagicMock()
+
+    # Two queues: default with messages, secondary empty
+    mock_connection.channel.return_value = mock_channel
+
+    declared_default = _make_declared(message_count=5, consumer_count=1)
+    declared_secondary = _make_declared(message_count=0, consumer_count=0)
+
+    with (
+        patch("taskowl.queues.Connection", return_value=mock_connection),
+        patch("taskowl.queues._get_celery_app") as mock_get_app,
+        patch("taskowl.queues.Queue") as mock_queue_cls,
+    ):
+        mock_app = MagicMock()
+        mock_app.amqp.queues.keys.return_value = ["default", "secondary"]
+        mock_get_app.return_value = mock_app
+
+        def make_queue(name):
+            q = MagicMock()
+            q.queue_declare.return_value = (
+                declared_default if name == "default" else declared_secondary
+            )
+            return q
+
+        mock_queue_cls.side_effect = make_queue
+
+        result = await list_queues()
+
+    assert "queues" in result
+    queues = result["queues"]
+    assert len(queues) == 2
+    assert queues[0]["name"] == "default"
+    assert queues[0]["messages"] == 5
+    assert queues[0]["consumers"] == 1
+    assert queues[1]["name"] == "secondary"
+    assert queues[1]["messages"] == 0
+    assert result["total_messages"] == 5
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_list_queues_ordered_by_messages_desc():
+    """Test queues are ordered by message count descending."""
+    mock_connection = MagicMock()
+    mock_connection.channel.return_value = MagicMock()
+
+    with (
+        patch("taskowl.queues.Connection", return_value=mock_connection),
+        patch("taskowl.queues._get_celery_app") as mock_get_app,
+        patch("taskowl.queues.Queue") as mock_queue_cls,
+    ):
+        mock_app = MagicMock()
+        mock_app.amqp.queues.keys.return_value = ["small", "big", "mid"]
+        mock_get_app.return_value = mock_app
+
+        counts = {"small": 1, "big": 10, "mid": 5}
+
+        def make_queue(name):
+            q = MagicMock()
+            q.queue_declare.return_value = _make_declared(
+                message_count=counts[name], consumer_count=0
+            )
+            return q
+
+        mock_queue_cls.side_effect = make_queue
+
+        result = await list_queues()
+
+    names = [q["name"] for q in result["queues"]]
+    assert names == ["big", "mid", "small"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_list_queues_error():
+    """Test listing queues when the broker fails."""
+    with patch("taskowl.queues.Connection", side_effect=Exception("Broker down")):
+        result = await list_queues()
+
+    assert "error" in result
+    assert "Broker down" in result["error"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_list_queues_no_queues_configured():
+    """Test listing queues when the app exposes no explicit queue config."""
+    mock_connection = MagicMock()
+    mock_connection.channel.return_value = MagicMock()
+
+    with (
+        patch("taskowl.queues.Connection", return_value=mock_connection),
+        patch("taskowl.queues._get_celery_app") as mock_get_app,
+        patch("taskowl.queues.Queue") as mock_queue_cls,
+    ):
+        mock_app = MagicMock()
+        # Simulate an app without explicit queue config -> use default queue
+        mock_app.amqp.queues = None
+        mock_app.conf.task_default_queue = "celery"
+        mock_get_app.return_value = mock_app
+
+        declared = _make_declared(message_count=3, consumer_count=1)
+        mock_queue = MagicMock()
+        mock_queue.queue_declare.return_value = declared
+        mock_queue_cls.return_value = mock_queue
+
+        result = await list_queues()
+
+    assert len(result["queues"]) == 1
+    assert result["queues"][0]["name"] == "celery"
+    assert result["queues"][0]["messages"] == 3
+    assert result["total_messages"] == 3