diff --git a/src/NATS.Server/Subscriptions/SubListResult.cs b/src/NATS.Server/Subscriptions/SubListResult.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6e4b64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/NATS.Server/Subscriptions/SubListResult.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+namespace NATS.Server.Subscriptions;
+
+public sealed class SubListResult
+{
+    public static readonly SubListResult Empty = new([], []);
+
+    public Subscription[] PlainSubs { get; }
+    public Subscription[][] QueueSubs { get; } // outer = groups, inner = members
+
+    public SubListResult(Subscription[] plainSubs, Subscription[][] queueSubs)
+    {
+        PlainSubs = plainSubs;
+        QueueSubs = queueSubs;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/NATS.Server/Subscriptions/SubjectMatch.cs b/src/NATS.Server/Subscriptions/SubjectMatch.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9bb8153
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/NATS.Server/Subscriptions/SubjectMatch.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+namespace NATS.Server.Subscriptions;
+
+public static class SubjectMatch
+{
+    public const char Pwc = '*';   // partial wildcard
+    public const char Fwc = '>';   // full wildcard
+    public const char Sep = '.';   // token separator
+
+    public static bool IsValidSubject(string subject)
+    {
+        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(subject))
+            return false;
+
+        bool sawFwc = false;
+        int start = 0;
+
+        for (int i = 0; i <= subject.Length; i++)
+        {
+            if (i == subject.Length || subject[i] == Sep)
+            {
+                int tokenLen = i - start;
+                if (tokenLen == 0 || sawFwc)
+                    return false;
+
+                if (tokenLen == 1)
+                {
+                    char c = subject[start];
+                    if (c == Fwc)
+                        sawFwc = true;
+                    else if (c is ' ' or '\t' or '\n' or '\r' or '\f')
+                        return false;
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    for (int j = start; j < i; j++)
+                    {
+                        char c = subject[j];
+                        if (c is ' ' or '\t' or '\n' or '\r' or '\f')
+                            return false;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                start = i + 1;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    public static bool IsLiteral(string subject)
+    {
+        for (int i = 0; i < subject.Length; i++)
+        {
+            char c = subject[i];
+            if (c is Pwc or Fwc)
+            {
+                bool atStart = i == 0 || subject[i - 1] == Sep;
+                bool atEnd = i + 1 == subject.Length || subject[i + 1] == Sep;
+                if (atStart && atEnd)
+                    return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    public static bool IsValidPublishSubject(string subject)
+    {
+        return IsValidSubject(subject) && IsLiteral(subject);
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Match a literal subject against a pattern that may contain wildcards.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static bool MatchLiteral(string literal, string pattern)
+    {
+        int li = 0, pi = 0;
+
+        while (pi < pattern.Length)
+        {
+            // Get next pattern token
+            int pTokenStart = pi;
+            while (pi < pattern.Length && pattern[pi] != Sep)
+                pi++;
+            int pTokenLen = pi - pTokenStart;
+            if (pi < pattern.Length)
+                pi++; // skip separator
+
+            // Full wildcard -- matches everything remaining
+            if (pTokenLen == 1 && pattern[pTokenStart] == Fwc)
+                return li < literal.Length; // must have at least one token left
+
+            // Get next literal token
+            if (li >= literal.Length)
+                return false;
+            int lTokenStart = li;
+            while (li < literal.Length && literal[li] != Sep)
+                li++;
+            int lTokenLen = li - lTokenStart;
+            if (li < literal.Length)
+                li++; // skip separator
+
+            // Partial wildcard -- matches any single token
+            if (pTokenLen == 1 && pattern[pTokenStart] == Pwc)
+                continue;
+
+            // Literal comparison
+            if (pTokenLen != lTokenLen)
+                return false;
+            if (string.Compare(literal, lTokenStart, pattern, pTokenStart, pTokenLen, StringComparison.Ordinal) != 0)
+                return false;
+        }
+
+        return li >= literal.Length; // both exhausted
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/NATS.Server/Subscriptions/Subscription.cs b/src/NATS.Server/Subscriptions/Subscription.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b77e0ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/NATS.Server/Subscriptions/Subscription.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+namespace NATS.Server.Subscriptions;
+
+public sealed class Subscription
+{
+    public required string Subject { get; init; }
+    public string? Queue { get; init; }
+    public required string Sid { get; init; }
+    public long MessageCount;  // Interlocked
+    public long MaxMessages;   // 0 = unlimited
+}
diff --git a/tests/NATS.Server.Tests/SubjectMatchTests.cs b/tests/NATS.Server.Tests/SubjectMatchTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8bc10c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/NATS.Server.Tests/SubjectMatchTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+using NATS.Server.Subscriptions;
+
+namespace NATS.Server.Tests;
+
+public class SubjectMatchTests
+{
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData("foo", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.bar", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.bar.baz", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.*", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.>", true)]
+    [InlineData(">", true)]
+    [InlineData("*", true)]
+    [InlineData("*.bar", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.*.baz", true)]
+    [InlineData("", false)]
+    [InlineData("foo.", false)]
+    [InlineData(".foo", false)]
+    [InlineData("foo..bar", false)]
+    [InlineData("foo.>.bar", false)]  // > must be last token
+    [InlineData("foo bar", false)]    // no spaces
+    [InlineData("foo\tbar", false)]   // no tabs
+    public void IsValidSubject(string subject, bool expected)
+    {
+        Assert.Equal(expected, SubjectMatch.IsValidSubject(subject));
+    }
+
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData("foo", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.bar.baz", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.*", false)]
+    [InlineData("foo.>", false)]
+    [InlineData(">", false)]
+    [InlineData("*", false)]
+    public void IsValidPublishSubject(string subject, bool expected)
+    {
+        Assert.Equal(expected, SubjectMatch.IsValidPublishSubject(subject));
+    }
+
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData("foo", "foo", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo", "bar", false)]
+    [InlineData("foo.bar", "foo.*", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.bar", "*.bar", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.bar", "*.*", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.bar.baz", "foo.>", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.bar.baz", ">", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo.bar", "foo.>", true)]
+    [InlineData("foo", "foo.>", false)]
+    [InlineData("foo.bar.baz", "foo.*", false)]
+    [InlineData("foo.bar", "foo.bar.>", false)]
+    public void MatchLiteral(string literal, string pattern, bool expected)
+    {
+        Assert.Equal(expected, SubjectMatch.MatchLiteral(literal, pattern));
+    }
+}