Private methods defined in separate .m files but listed under methods (Access = private) in the class file are still shown in the generated documentation.

[manuel1801]

When documenting MATLAB classes using sphinxcontrib-matlabdomain, private methods defined in separate .m files (but declared as private inside the class file) are still included in the generated documentation.

According to the documentation’s statement only public members should appear when using :members:.

Example

Folder structure:

  +package1
   └─ +package2
       └─ @MyClass
           ├─ MyClass.m
           └─ helper1.m

In MyClass.m:

  classdef MyClass
      methods
          function obj = MyClass()
          end
      end
      methods (Access = private)
          helper1(obj)
      end
  end

In helper1.m:

    function helper1(obj)
        % Private helper function
        disp("Private method");
    end

In index.rst:

  .. mat:autoclass:: package1.package2.MyClass
     :members:

Expected behavior

Private methods declared with (Access = private) should be excluded from the generated documentation, consistent with MATLAB’s visibility rules and the behavior for inline private methods.

Actual behavior

The private method helper1 is still included in the generated documentation.

Environment

• Sphinx version: 5.0.2

• sphinxcontrib-matlabdomain version: 0.22.1

• MATLAB version: R2025b

• OS: Windows 11