Abstract: After more than a decade of development, intelligence of coal mine has made significant progress in automation, informatization and intelligent mining. However, engineering bottlenecks remain in continuous and stable operation under complex geological conditions, multi-source data integration and cross-system coordination. Starting from the perspective of engineering philosophy, focusing on the tripartite theory, epistemology and methodology, with “how geological information enters decision-making and equipment control” as the core issue, using the 5Why analysis method, technology maturity curve, capability maturity model and innovation diffusion theory, a systematic analysis of the intelligent engineering path of coal mines is conducted. The results show that routine intelligent operation is jointly affected by quantitative geological representation and dynamic updating, equipment reliability, data governance, system coordination, personnel capability and other factors. A closed-loop framework of “perception-modeling-decision-control-feedback” is further proposed with mathematics as the underlying language, and the transparent geological assurance system is used to illustrate the engineering pathway from multi-source sensing, dynamic modeling, risk early warning and field feedback. The proposed framework of “engineering objectives, knowledge system and methodological pathway” provides a theoretical reference for the transition of coal mine intelligence from demonstration applications to stable, verifiable and continuously optimized operation.