diff --git a/nav2_mppi_controller/CMakeLists.txt b/nav2_mppi_controller/CMakeLists.txt
index 3ca6735e40b..dac13f6edef 100644
--- a/nav2_mppi_controller/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/nav2_mppi_controller/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ set(XTENSOR_USE_XSIMD 1)
 find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
 find_package(xtensor REQUIRED)
 find_package(xsimd REQUIRED)
+find_package(rosidl_default_generators REQUIRED)
 
 include_directories(
   include
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ set(dependencies_pkgs
   tf2_geometry_msgs
   tf2_eigen
   tf2_ros
+  std_msgs
 )
 
 foreach(pkg IN LISTS dependencies_pkgs)
@@ -41,6 +43,12 @@ endforeach()
 
 nav2_package()
 
+rosidl_generate_interfaces(${PROJECT_NAME}
+  "msg/CriticScore.msg"
+  "msg/CriticScores.msg"
+  DEPENDENCIES std_msgs
+)
+
 include(CheckCXXCompilerFlag)
 
 check_cxx_compiler_flag("-mno-avx512f" COMPILER_SUPPORTS_AVX512)
@@ -120,8 +128,14 @@ if(BUILD_TESTING)
   # add_subdirectory(benchmark)
 endif()
 
+rosidl_get_typesupport_target(cpp_typesupport_target
+  ${PROJECT_NAME} rosidl_typesupport_cpp)
+
+target_link_libraries(mppi_controller "${cpp_typesupport_target}")
+
 ament_export_libraries(${libraries})
 ament_export_dependencies(${dependencies_pkgs})
+ament_export_dependencies(rosidl_default_runtime)
 ament_export_include_directories(include)
 pluginlib_export_plugin_description_file(nav2_core mppic.xml)
 pluginlib_export_plugin_description_file(nav2_mppi_controller critics.xml)
diff --git a/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/controller.hpp b/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/controller.hpp
index 2d7f2aa8ca4..11b5a3875da 100644
--- a/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/controller.hpp
+++ b/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/controller.hpp
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 #include "nav2_mppi_controller/tools/trajectory_visualizer.hpp"
 #include "nav2_mppi_controller/models/constraints.hpp"
 #include "nav2_mppi_controller/tools/utils.hpp"
+#include "nav2_mppi_controller/msg/critic_score.hpp"
+#include "nav2_mppi_controller/msg/critic_scores.hpp"
 
 #include "nav2_core/controller.hpp"
 #include "nav2_core/goal_checker.hpp"
@@ -121,10 +123,14 @@ class MPPIController : public nav2_core::Controller
   TrajectoryVisualizer trajectory_visualizer_;
 
   bool visualize_;
+  bool publish_critics_;
 
   double reset_period_;
   // Last time computeVelocityCommands was called
   rclcpp::Time last_time_called_;
+
+  std::shared_ptr<rclcpp_lifecycle::LifecyclePublisher<nav2_mppi_controller::msg::CriticScores>>
+  critics_publisher_;
 };
 
 }  // namespace nav2_mppi_controller
diff --git a/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/critic_manager.hpp b/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/critic_manager.hpp
index b2e2c178d96..be294b11701 100644
--- a/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/critic_manager.hpp
+++ b/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/critic_manager.hpp
@@ -46,12 +46,12 @@ class CriticManager
     * @brief Constructor for mppi::CriticManager
     */
   CriticManager() = default;
-  
+
   /**
     * @brief Virtual Destructor for mppi::CriticManager
     */
   virtual ~CriticManager() = default;
-  
+
   /**
     * @brief Configure critic manager on bringup and load plugins
     * @param parent WeakPtr to node
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ class CriticManager
     */
   void evalTrajectoriesScores(CriticData & data) const;
 
+  std::vector<std::string> getCriticNames() const;
+
 protected:
   /**
     * @brief Get parameters (critics to load)
diff --git a/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/optimizer.hpp b/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/optimizer.hpp
index b7200575f70..d2cb56903ef 100644
--- a/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/optimizer.hpp
+++ b/nav2_mppi_controller/include/nav2_mppi_controller/optimizer.hpp
@@ -104,6 +104,15 @@ class Optimizer
    */
   xt::xtensor<float, 2> getOptimizedTrajectory();
 
+
+  /**
+   * @brief Get the critic costs for given trajectory
+   * @return Names and costs of the critics
+   */
+  xt::xtensor<float, 1> getOptimizationResults();
+
+  std::vector<std::string> getCriticNames() const;
+
   /**
    * @brief Set the maximum speed based on the speed limits callback
    * @param speed_limit Limit of the speed for use
diff --git a/nav2_mppi_controller/msg/CriticScore.msg b/nav2_mppi_controller/msg/CriticScore.msg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fdc2901a901
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nav2_mppi_controller/msg/CriticScore.msg
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+std_msgs/String name
+std_msgs/Float32 score
diff --git a/nav2_mppi_controller/msg/CriticScores.msg b/nav2_mppi_controller/msg/CriticScores.msg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4da10efe3db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nav2_mppi_controller/msg/CriticScores.msg
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+std_msgs/Header header    # when msg was sent
+CriticScore[] critic_scores
diff --git a/nav2_mppi_controller/package.xml b/nav2_mppi_controller/package.xml
index da7fbf07cb3..f56e1f95fb2 100644
--- a/nav2_mppi_controller/package.xml
+++ b/nav2_mppi_controller/package.xml
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@
 
   <buildtool_depend>ament_cmake</buildtool_depend>
   <buildtool_depend>ament_cmake_ros</buildtool_depend>
+  <buildtool_depend>rosidl_default_generators</buildtool_depend>
+
+  <exec_depend>rosidl_default_runtime</exec_depend>
 
   <depend>rclcpp</depend>
   <depend>nav2_common</depend>
@@ -33,6 +36,8 @@
   <test_depend>ament_lint_auto</test_depend>
   <test_depend>ament_lint_common</test_depend>
   <test_depend>ament_cmake_gtest</test_depend>
+
+  <member_of_group>rosidl_interface_packages</member_of_group>
   <export>
     <build_type>ament_cmake</build_type>
     <nav2_core plugin="${prefix}/mppic.xml" />
diff --git a/nav2_mppi_controller/src/controller.cpp b/nav2_mppi_controller/src/controller.cpp
index 8a631f97526..dd005a29f42 100644
--- a/nav2_mppi_controller/src/controller.cpp
+++ b/nav2_mppi_controller/src/controller.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ void MPPIController::configure(
   // Get high-level controller parameters
   auto getParam = parameters_handler_->getParamGetter(name_);
   getParam(visualize_, "visualize", false);
+  getParam(publish_critics_, "publish_critics", false);
   getParam(reset_period_, "reset_period", 1.0);
 
   // Configure composed objects
@@ -48,6 +49,11 @@ void MPPIController::configure(
     parent_, name_,
     costmap_ros_->getGlobalFrameID(), parameters_handler_.get());
 
+  if (publish_critics_) {
+    critics_publisher_ = node->create_publisher<nav2_mppi_controller::msg::CriticScores>(
+      "/mppi_critic_scores", 1);
+  }
+
   RCLCPP_INFO(logger_, "Configured MPPI Controller: %s", name_.c_str());
 }
 
@@ -61,6 +67,7 @@ void MPPIController::cleanup()
 
 void MPPIController::activate()
 {
+  if (publish_critics_) critics_publisher_->on_activate();
   trajectory_visualizer_.on_activate();
   parameters_handler_->start();
   RCLCPP_INFO(logger_, "Activated MPPI Controller: %s", name_.c_str());
@@ -68,6 +75,7 @@ void MPPIController::activate()
 
 void MPPIController::deactivate()
 {
+  if (publish_critics_) critics_publisher_->on_deactivate();
   trajectory_visualizer_.on_deactivate();
   RCLCPP_INFO(logger_, "Deactivated MPPI Controller: %s", name_.c_str());
 }
@@ -110,6 +118,36 @@ geometry_msgs::msg::TwistStamped MPPIController::computeVelocityCommands(
     visualize(std::move(transformed_plan));
   }
 
+  if (publish_critics_) {
+    std::vector<std::string> critic_names = optimizer_.getCriticNames();
+    xt::xtensor<float, 1> critic_costs = optimizer_.getOptimizationResults();
+
+    // log critic names and costs
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < critic_names.size(); i++) {
+      RCLCPP_DEBUG(logger_, "Critic: %s, Cost: %f", critic_names[i].c_str(), critic_costs[i]);
+    }
+
+    // make msg
+    auto critic_scores_ = std::make_unique<nav2_mppi_controller::msg::CriticScores>();
+    if (critic_names.size() != critic_costs.size()) {
+      RCLCPP_ERROR(
+        logger_,
+        "Critic names %ld and costs %ld size mismatch!",
+        critic_names.size(), critic_costs.size());
+      return cmd;
+    }
+
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < critic_names.size(); i++) {
+      nav2_mppi_controller::msg::CriticScore critic_score;
+      critic_score.name.data = critic_names[i];
+      critic_score.score.data = critic_costs[i];
+      critic_scores_->critic_scores.push_back(critic_score);
+    }
+
+    critic_scores_->header.stamp = clock_->now();
+    critics_publisher_->publish(std::move(critic_scores_));
+  }
+
   return cmd;
 }
 
diff --git a/nav2_mppi_controller/src/critic_manager.cpp b/nav2_mppi_controller/src/critic_manager.cpp
index 2a7a77a2346..0e21a7d8775 100644
--- a/nav2_mppi_controller/src/critic_manager.cpp
+++ b/nav2_mppi_controller/src/critic_manager.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
+#include <xtensor/xtensor.hpp>
+
 #include "nav2_mppi_controller/critic_manager.hpp"
 
 namespace mppi
@@ -64,6 +66,11 @@ std::string CriticManager::getFullName(const std::string & name)
   return "mppi::critics::" + name;
 }
 
+std::vector<std::string> CriticManager::getCriticNames() const
+{
+  return critic_names_;
+}
+
 void CriticManager::evalTrajectoriesScores(
   CriticData & data) const
 {
@@ -74,5 +81,4 @@ void CriticManager::evalTrajectoriesScores(
     critics_[q]->score(data);
   }
 }
-
 }  // namespace mppi
diff --git a/nav2_mppi_controller/src/optimizer.cpp b/nav2_mppi_controller/src/optimizer.cpp
index 3de703bcc44..c0a1f3d41dc 100644
--- a/nav2_mppi_controller/src/optimizer.cpp
+++ b/nav2_mppi_controller/src/optimizer.cpp
@@ -161,6 +161,48 @@ void Optimizer::optimize()
   }
 }
 
+xt::xtensor<float, 1> Optimizer::getOptimizationResults()
+{
+  // get the final optimized trajectory
+  const xt::xtensor<float, 2> optimized_trajectory = getOptimizedTrajectory();
+  xt::xtensor<float, 1> costs = xt::zeros<float>({1});
+
+  // evalTrajectory evals multiple trajectories, but we only have one
+  // create a dummy_trajectories object and put the optimized in it
+  models::Trajectories dummy_trajectories;
+  dummy_trajectories.reset(1, settings_.time_steps);
+  dummy_trajectories.x += xt::view(optimized_trajectory, xt::all(), 0);
+  dummy_trajectories.y += xt::view(optimized_trajectory, xt::all(), 1);
+  dummy_trajectories.yaws += xt::view(optimized_trajectory, xt::all(), 2);
+
+  // create a dummy_data object to pass to evalTrajectory
+  CriticData dummy_data = {
+    state_, dummy_trajectories, path_, costs, settings_.model_dt,
+    false, critics_data_.goal_checker, critics_data_.motion_model, std::nullopt, std::nullopt};
+  dummy_data.furthest_reached_path_point.reset();
+  dummy_data.path_pts_valid.reset();
+
+  // use evalTrajectoriesScores
+  critic_manager_.evalTrajectoriesScores(dummy_data);
+
+  size_t num_critics = critic_manager_.getCriticNames().size();
+
+  xt::xtensor<float, 1> critic_scores = xt::zeros<float>(std::vector<size_t>{num_critics});
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < num_critics; i++) {
+    critic_scores(i) = dummy_data.costs(0);  // Assuming costs are updated for each critic
+  }
+
+  return critic_scores;
+
+  // evaluate the optimized trajectory
+  // return critic_manager_.evalTrajectory(dummy_data);
+}
+
+std::vector<std::string> Optimizer::getCriticNames() const
+{
+  return critic_manager_.getCriticNames();
+}
+
 bool Optimizer::fallback(bool fail)
 {
   static size_t counter = 0;