diff --git a/lib/discourse_dev/record.rb b/lib/discourse_dev/record.rb
index b1b84097df2..d01baa5fa3e 100644
--- a/lib/discourse_dev/record.rb
+++ b/lib/discourse_dev/record.rb
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ module DiscourseDev
         raise 'To run this rake task in a production site, set the value of `ALLOW_DEV_POPULATE` environment variable to "1"'
       end
 
-      unless ignore_current_count
+      unless ignore_current_count || @ignore_current_count
         if current_count >= @count
           puts "Already have #{current_count} #{type} records"
 
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ module DiscourseDev
       model.count
     end
 
-    def self.populate!(*args)
-      self.new(*args).populate!
+    def self.populate!(**args)
+      self.new(**args).populate!
     end
 
     def self.random(model, use_existing_records: true)
diff --git a/plugins/chat/lib/discourse_dev/category_channel.rb b/plugins/chat/lib/discourse_dev/category_channel.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c6ed4d29b24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/chat/lib/discourse_dev/category_channel.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require "discourse_dev/record"
+require "faker"
+
+module DiscourseDev
+  class CategoryChannel < Record
+    def initialize
+      super(::Chat::CategoryChannel, 5)
+    end
+
+    def data
+      chatable = Category.random
+
+      {
+        chatable: chatable,
+        description: Faker::Lorem.paragraph,
+        user_count: 1,
+        name: Faker::Company.name,
+        created_at: Faker::Time.between(from: DiscourseDev.config.start_date, to: DateTime.now),
+      }
+    end
+
+    def create!
+      users = []
+      super do |channel|
+        Faker::Number
+          .between(from: 5, to: 10)
+          .times do
+            if Faker::Boolean.boolean(true_ratio: 0.5)
+              admin_username =
+                begin
+                  DiscourseDev::Config.new.config[:admin][:username]
+                rescue StandardError
+                  nil
+                end
+              admin_user = ::User.find_by(username: admin_username) if admin_username
+            end
+
+            user = admin_user || User.new(username: Faker::Internet.username(specifier: 10)).create!
+            Chat::ChannelMembershipManager.new(channel).follow(user)
+            users << user
+          end
+
+        Faker::Number
+          .between(from: 20, to: 80)
+          .times do
+            Chat::MessageCreator.create(
+              { user: users.sample, chat_channel: channel, content: Faker::Lorem.paragraph },
+            )
+          end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/plugins/chat/lib/discourse_dev/message.rb b/plugins/chat/lib/discourse_dev/message.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bbc38b9ab6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/chat/lib/discourse_dev/message.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require "discourse_dev/record"
+require "faker"
+
+module DiscourseDev
+  class Message < Record
+    def initialize(channel_id: nil, count: nil, ignore_current_count: false)
+      @channel_id = channel_id
+      @ignore_current_count = ignore_current_count
+      super(::Chat::Message, count&.to_i || 200)
+    end
+
+    def data
+      if @channel_id
+        channel = ::Chat::Channel.find(@channel_id)
+      else
+        channel = ::Chat::Channel.where(chatable_type: "Category").order("RANDOM()").first
+      end
+
+      return if !channel
+
+      membership =
+        ::Chat::UserChatChannelMembership.where(chat_channel: channel).order("RANDOM()").first
+      user = membership.user
+
+      { user: user, content: Faker::Lorem.paragraph, chat_channel: channel }
+    end
+
+    def create!
+      Chat::MessageCreator.create(data)
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/plugins/chat/lib/discourse_dev/thread.rb b/plugins/chat/lib/discourse_dev/thread.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..877df561a9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/chat/lib/discourse_dev/thread.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require "discourse_dev/record"
+require "faker"
+
+module DiscourseDev
+  class Thread < Record
+    def initialize(channel_id:, message_count: nil, ignore_current_count: false)
+      @channel_id = channel_id
+      @message_count = message_count&.to_i || 30
+      @ignore_current_count = ignore_current_count
+      super(::Chat::Thread, 1)
+    end
+
+    def data
+      if !SiteSetting.enable_experimental_chat_threaded_discussions
+        raise "You need to enable_experimental_chat_threaded_discussions to run this task"
+      end
+
+      channel = ::Chat::Channel.find(@channel_id)
+      return if !channel
+
+      if !channel.threading_enabled
+        puts "Enabling threads in channel #{channel.id}"
+        channel.update!(threading_enabled: true)
+      end
+
+      membership =
+        ::Chat::UserChatChannelMembership.where(chat_channel: channel).order("RANDOM()").first
+      user = membership.user
+
+      om =
+        Chat::MessageCreator.create(
+          user: user,
+          content: Faker::Lorem.paragraph,
+          chat_channel: channel,
+        ).chat_message
+
+      { original_message_user: user, original_message: om, channel: channel }
+    end
+
+    def create!
+      super do |thread|
+        thread.original_message.update!(thread: thread)
+        user =
+          ::Chat::UserChatChannelMembership
+            .where(chat_channel: thread.channel)
+            .order("RANDOM()")
+            .first
+            .user
+        @message_count.times do
+          Chat::MessageCreator.create(
+            {
+              user: user,
+              chat_channel: thread.channel,
+              content: Faker::Lorem.paragraph,
+              thread_id: thread.id,
+            },
+          )
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/plugins/chat/lib/tasks/chat.rake b/plugins/chat/lib/tasks/chat.rake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2e91673c900
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/chat/lib/tasks/chat.rake
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+if Discourse.allow_dev_populate?
+  desc "Generates sample messages in channels"
+  task "chat:message:populate", %i[channel_id count] => ["db:load_config"] do |_, args|
+    DiscourseDev::Message.populate!(
+      ignore_current_count: true,
+      channel_id: args[:channel_id],
+      count: args[:count],
+    )
+  end
+
+  desc "Generates random channels from categories"
+  task "chat:category_channel:populate" => ["db:load_config"] do |_, args|
+    DiscourseDev::CategoryChannel.populate!(ignore_current_count: true)
+  end
+
+  desc "Creates a thread with sample messages in a channel"
+  task "chat:thread:populate", %i[channel_id message_count] => ["db:load_config"] do |_, args|
+    DiscourseDev::Thread.populate!(
+      ignore_current_count: true,
+      channel_id: args[:channel_id],
+      message_count: args[:message_count],
+    )
+  end
+end