diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bd25165..741a1fb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ if (!px4_ros2::messageCompatibilityCheck(node, {{"fmu/in/vehicle_rates_setpoint"
 }
 ```
 
+To manually verify that two local versions of PX4 and px4_msgs have matching message sets, you can use the following script:
+
+```sh
+./scripts/check-message-compatibility.py -v path/to/px4_msgs/ path/to/PX4-Autopilot/
+```
+
 ## Examples
 There are code examples under [examples/cpp/modes](examples/cpp/modes).
 
diff --git a/scripts/check-message-compatibility.py b/scripts/check-message-compatibility.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5af4c6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/check-message-compatibility.py
@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+""" Check message compatibility between two repositories containing a msg/ directory of .msg message definitions """
+
+import os
+import sys
+import difflib
+import re
+import argparse
+
+from typing import Optional
+
+TOPIC_LIST_FILE = 'px4_ros2_cpp/include/px4_ros2/components/message_compatibility_check.hpp'
+MESSAGES_DEFINE = 'ALL_PX4_ROS2_MESSAGES'
+
+
+def message_fields_str_for_message_hash(topic_type: str, msgs_dir: str) -> str:
+    """
+    Reads the .msg file corresponding to the given topic type, extracts field definitions,
+    and recursively processes nested types to generate a string representation of all fields.
+    """
+    filename = f"{msgs_dir}/msg/{topic_type}.msg"
+    try:
+        with open(filename, 'r') as file:
+            text = file.read()
+    except IOError:
+        print(f"Failed to open {filename}")
+        return ""
+
+    fields_str = ""
+
+    # Regular expression to match field types from .msg definitions
+    msg_field_type_regex = re.compile(
+        r"(?:^|\n)\s*([a-zA-Z0-9_/]+)(\[[^\]]*\])?\s+(\w+)[ \t]*(=)?"
+    )
+
+    # Set of basic types
+    basic_types = {
+        "bool", "byte", "char", "float32", "float64",
+        "int8", "uint8", "int16", "uint16", "int32",
+        "uint32", "int64", "uint64", "string", "wstring"
+    }
+
+    # Iterate over all matches in the text
+    for match in msg_field_type_regex.finditer(text):
+        type_, array, field_name, constant = match.groups()
+
+        if constant == "=":
+            continue
+
+        fields_str += f"{type_}{array} {field_name}\n"
+
+        if type_ not in basic_types:
+            if '/' not in type_:
+                # Recursive call to handle nested types
+                fields_str += message_fields_str_for_message_hash(type_, msgs_dir)
+            else:
+                raise ValueError(f"Field {filename} contains namespace {type_}")
+
+    return fields_str
+
+
+def hash32_fnv1a_const(s: str) -> int:
+    """Computes the 32-bit FNV-1a hash of a given string"""
+    kVal32Const = 0x811c9dc5
+    kPrime32Const = 0x1000193
+    hash_value = kVal32Const
+    for c in s:
+        hash_value ^= ord(c)
+        hash_value *= kPrime32Const
+        hash_value &= 0xFFFFFFFF
+    return hash_value
+
+
+def message_hash(topic_type: str, msgs_dir: str) -> int:
+    """Generate a hash from a message definition file"""
+    message_fields_str = message_fields_str_for_message_hash(topic_type, msgs_dir)
+    return hash32_fnv1a_const(message_fields_str)
+
+
+def snake_to_pascal(name: str) -> str:
+    """Convert snake_case to PascalCase"""
+    return f'{name.replace("_", " ").title().replace(" ", "")}'
+
+
+def extract_message_type_from_file(filename: str, extract_start_after: Optional[str] = None,
+                                   extract_end_before: Optional[str] = None) -> list[str]:
+    """Extract message type names from a given file"""
+    with open(filename) as file:
+        if extract_start_after is not None:
+            for line in file:
+                if re.search(extract_start_after, line):
+                    break
+
+        message_types = set()
+        for line in file:
+            m = re.search(r'"fmu/(in|out)/([^"]+)"(?:, "([^"]+)")?', line)
+            if m:
+                if m.group(3):
+                    # Use the second element directly if available
+                    message_types.add(m.group(3))
+                else:
+                    # Convert to PascalCase if no second element is present
+                    message_types.add(snake_to_pascal(m.group(2)))
+
+            if extract_end_before is not None and re.search(extract_end_before, line):
+                break
+
+    return list(message_types)
+
+
+def compare_files(file1: str, file2: str):
+    """Compare two files and print their differences. """
+    with open(file1, 'r') as f1, open(file2, 'r') as f2:
+        diff = list(difflib.unified_diff(f1.readlines(), f2.readlines(), fromfile=file1, tofile=file2))
+        if diff:
+            print(f"Mismatch found between {file1} and {file2}:")
+            print(''.join(diff), end='\n\n')
+            return False
+    return True
+
+
+def main(repo1: str, repo2: str, verbose: bool = False):
+    if not os.path.isdir(repo1) or not os.path.isdir(repo2):
+        print("Both arguments must be directories.")
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    # Retrieve list of message types to check
+    messages_types = sorted(extract_message_type_from_file(
+        os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', TOPIC_LIST_FILE),
+        MESSAGES_DEFINE,
+        r'^\s*$')
+    )
+
+    if verbose:
+        print("Checking the following message files:", end='\n\n')
+        for msg_type in messages_types:
+            print(f"  - {msg_type}.msg")
+        print()
+
+    # Find mismatches
+    incompatible_types = []
+    for msg_type in messages_types:
+        if message_hash(msg_type, repo1) != message_hash(msg_type, repo2):
+            incompatible_types.append(msg_type)
+
+    # Print result
+    if not incompatible_types:
+        print("OK! Messages are compatible.")
+        sys.exit(0)
+    else:
+        if verbose:
+            for msg_type in incompatible_types:
+                file1 = os.path.join(repo1, 'msg', f'{msg_type}.msg')
+                file2 = os.path.join(repo2, 'msg', f'{msg_type}.msg')
+                compare_files(file1, file2)
+            print("Note: The printed diff includes all content differences. "
+                  "The computed check is less sensitive to formatting and comments.", end='\n\n')
+        print("FAILED! Some files differ:")
+        for msg_type in incompatible_types:
+            print(f"  - {msg_type}.msg")
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Check message compatibility between two repositories \
+                                                  using the set of checked messages ALL_PX4_ROS2_MESSAGES.")
+    parser.add_argument('repo1', help="path to the first repo containing a msg/ directory \
+                                       (e.g /path/to/px4_msgs/)")
+    parser.add_argument('repo2', help="path to the second repo containing a msg/ directory \
+                                       (e.g /path/to/PX4-Autopilot/)")
+    parser.add_argument('-v', '--verbose', dest='verbose', action='store_true', help='verbose output')
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    main(args.repo1, args.repo2, args.verbose)
diff --git a/scripts/check-used-topics.py b/scripts/check-used-topics.py
index e3632ae..72f8ad2 100755
--- a/scripts/check-used-topics.py
+++ b/scripts/check-used-topics.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 import os
 import re
 
+from typing import Optional
+
 ignored_topics = ['message_format_request', 'message_format_response']
 
 configs = [
@@ -17,8 +19,8 @@
 project_root_dir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), '..')
 
 
-def extract_topics_from_file(filename: str, extract_start_after: str = None,
-                             extract_end_before: str = None) -> list[str]:
+def extract_topics_from_file(filename: str, extract_start_after: Optional[str] = None,
+                             extract_end_before: Optional[str] = None) -> list[str]:
     with open(filename) as file:
         if extract_start_after is not None:
             for line in file: