I have successfully connected the RAK7268 with an external MQTT broker (HiveMq). I see uplink data just fine on this topic: application/{{application_name}}/device/{{device_EUI}}/rx
How do I send AT commands to the RAK3172 via the MQTT broker on the downlink channel?
You cannot send AT commands through downlinks to the RAK3172. The RAK3172 can receive the downlinks, but there is no parser for AT commands from downlinks unless you use a custom application and implement it by yourself.
An example for parsing downlinks is in the RUI3-Downlinks example. But it is not handling AT commands, it is a general example how to parse downlinks.