# Standards Engine Architecture

The Standards Engine is the core component of the MCP Standards Server that manages the selection, validation, and application of development standards.

## Overview

The Standards Engine provides intelligent standard selection based on project context, enabling automated compliance checking and improvement suggestions.

## Key Components

### 1. Rule Engine
- Pattern-based rule matching
- Priority resolution for conflicting standards
- Context-aware selection algorithms

### 2. Standards Storage
- Hierarchical organization of standards
- Metadata-driven categorization
- Version management support

### 3. Validation Framework
- Multi-language code analysis
- Real-time compliance checking
- Detailed violation reporting

## Architecture Diagram

```
┌─────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐
│   MCP Client    │────▶│  Standards API   │
└─────────────────┘     └──────────────────┘
                                │
                                ▼
                        ┌──────────────────┐
                        │ Standards Engine │
                        └──────────────────┘
                                │
                ┌───────────────┴───────────────┐
                ▼                               ▼
        ┌──────────────┐               ┌──────────────┐
        │ Rule Engine  │               │  Validators  │
        └──────────────┘               └──────────────┘
```

## Implementation Details

See [src/core/standards/engine.py](../../../src/core/standards/engine.py) for the implementation.

## Related Documentation

- [Token Optimization](./token-optimization.md)
- [MCP Integration](./mcp-integration.md)
- [API Reference](../api/mcp-tools.md)