diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fa67e34..c81fddb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -12,6 +12,15 @@ source .venv/bin/activate
 pip install -e .
 ```
 
+Or use the helper script, which creates/uses `.venv` automatically and runs `pip install -e .`:
+
+```bash
+./start.sh
+./start.sh status
+./start.sh analyze
+./start.sh stop
+```
+
 Analyze local logs:
 
 ```bash
@@ -24,6 +33,18 @@ Listen for FortiGate syslog locally:
 fgai listen-syslog --port 5514 --output logs/fg_syslog.jsonl
 ```
 
+Run the listener quietly in the background:
+
+```bash
+./start.sh
+```
+
+Stop the background listener:
+
+```bash
+./start.sh stop
+```
+
 UDP port `514` normally needs root privileges on Linux:
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/scripts/fgai-listener.sh b/scripts/fgai-listener.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5a1c4a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/fgai-listener.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+exec "$ROOT_DIR/start.sh" "$@"
diff --git a/src/fgai/cli.py b/src/fgai/cli.py
index 9d9a99e..b5eb700 100644
--- a/src/fgai/cli.py
+++ b/src/fgai/cli.py
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ def fetch_policies(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
 
 
 def listen_syslog(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
-    listen_udp_syslog(args.host, args.port, args.output)
+    listen_udp_syslog(args.host, args.port, args.output, quiet=args.quiet)
     return 0
 
 
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ def build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
     listener.add_argument("--host", default="0.0.0.0", help="Bind address")
     listener.add_argument("--port", type=int, default=5514, help="UDP port. Use 514 only with sudo/capability.")
     listener.add_argument("--output", default="logs/fg_syslog.jsonl", help="File to append received logs to")
+    listener.add_argument("--quiet", action="store_true", help="Do not print each received syslog message")
     listener.set_defaults(func=listen_syslog)
 
     return parser
diff --git a/src/fgai/syslog_server.py b/src/fgai/syslog_server.py
index fe407cf..1847038 100644
--- a/src/fgai/syslog_server.py
+++ b/src/fgai/syslog_server.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import socket
 from pathlib import Path
 
 
-def listen_udp_syslog(host: str, port: int, output: str, *, max_bytes: int = 65535) -> None:
+def listen_udp_syslog(host: str, port: int, output: str, *, max_bytes: int = 65535, quiet: bool = False) -> None:
     output_path = Path(output)
     output_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
@@ -20,4 +20,5 @@ def listen_udp_syslog(host: str, port: int, output: str, *, max_bytes: int = 655
             if not message:
                 continue
             handle.write(f"{message}\n")
-            print(f"{address[0]}:{address[1]} {message}")
+            if not quiet:
+                print(f"{address[0]}:{address[1]} {message}")
diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..8150d80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+VENV_DIR="${FGAI_VENV_DIR:-$ROOT_DIR/.venv}"
+PORT="${FGAI_SYSLOG_PORT:-5514}"
+HOST="${FGAI_SYSLOG_HOST:-0.0.0.0}"
+LOG_FILE="${FGAI_SYSLOG_FILE:-$ROOT_DIR/logs/fg_syslog.jsonl}"
+LISTENER_LOG="${FGAI_LISTENER_LOG:-$ROOT_DIR/logs/fgai-listener.log}"
+PID_FILE="${FGAI_PID_FILE:-$ROOT_DIR/run/fgai-listener.pid}"
+
+usage() {
+    printf 'Usage: %s [start|stop|restart|status|tail|analyze|install]\n' "$0"
+    printf '\nDefault action: start\n'
+    printf '\nEnvironment overrides:\n'
+    printf '  FGAI_SYSLOG_PORT=%s\n' "$PORT"
+    printf '  FGAI_SYSLOG_HOST=%s\n' "$HOST"
+    printf '  FGAI_SYSLOG_FILE=%s\n' "$LOG_FILE"
+    printf '  FGAI_LISTENER_LOG=%s\n' "$LISTENER_LOG"
+}
+
+install_deps() {
+    if [ ! -x "$VENV_DIR/bin/python" ]; then
+        printf 'Creating venv: %s\n' "$VENV_DIR"
+        python3 -m venv "$VENV_DIR"
+    fi
+
+    printf 'Installing/updating fgAI dependencies...\n'
+    "$VENV_DIR/bin/python" -m pip install --upgrade pip
+    "$VENV_DIR/bin/python" -m pip install -e "$ROOT_DIR"
+}
+
+is_running() {
+    [ -f "$PID_FILE" ] && kill -0 "$(cat "$PID_FILE")" 2>/dev/null
+}
+
+start_listener() {
+    install_deps
+    mkdir -p "$(dirname "$LOG_FILE")" "$(dirname "$LISTENER_LOG")" "$(dirname "$PID_FILE")"
+    touch "$LOG_FILE"
+
+    if is_running; then
+        printf 'fgAI syslog listener already running, pid %s\n' "$(cat "$PID_FILE")"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    nohup "$VENV_DIR/bin/fgai" listen-syslog \
+        --host "$HOST" \
+        --port "$PORT" \
+        --output "$LOG_FILE" \
+        --quiet > "$LISTENER_LOG" 2>&1 &
+    printf '%s\n' "$!" > "$PID_FILE"
+
+    printf 'Started fgAI syslog listener, pid %s\n' "$(cat "$PID_FILE")"
+    printf 'Input: udp://%s:%s\n' "$HOST" "$PORT"
+    printf 'Syslog file: %s\n' "$LOG_FILE"
+    printf 'Process log: %s\n' "$LISTENER_LOG"
+}
+
+stop_listener() {
+    if ! is_running; then
+        printf 'fgAI syslog listener is not running\n'
+        rm -f "$PID_FILE"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    kill "$(cat "$PID_FILE")"
+    rm -f "$PID_FILE"
+    printf 'Stopped fgAI syslog listener\n'
+}
+
+status_listener() {
+    if is_running; then
+        printf 'fgAI syslog listener running, pid %s\n' "$(cat "$PID_FILE")"
+        printf 'Input: udp://%s:%s\n' "$HOST" "$PORT"
+        printf 'Syslog file: %s\n' "$LOG_FILE"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    printf 'fgAI syslog listener is not running\n'
+    return 1
+}
+
+command="${1:-start}"
+case "$command" in
+    start)
+        start_listener
+        ;;
+    stop)
+        stop_listener
+        ;;
+    restart)
+        stop_listener
+        start_listener
+        ;;
+    status)
+        status_listener
+        ;;
+    tail)
+        mkdir -p "$(dirname "$LOG_FILE")"
+        touch "$LOG_FILE"
+        tail -f "$LOG_FILE"
+        ;;
+    analyze)
+        install_deps
+        "$VENV_DIR/bin/fgai" analyze-logs --logs "$LOG_FILE"
+        ;;
+    install)
+        install_deps
+        ;;
+    -h|--help|help)
+        usage
+        ;;
+    *)
+        usage
+        exit 2
+        ;;
+esac