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name: matlab-read-documentation keywords: docs documentation mathworks webread fetch lookup api reference function description: "Guides the agent to reference official MathWorks Documentation and Help. Determine correct function syntax and workflows from user guides when deeper context is needed. Minimize iterations and repetitive trial and error. Use this skill to: Identify correct syntax and configuration details. Retrieve relevant, version-specific (or release-specific) information from official documentation. Consult user guides when conceptual or workflow context is needed. Apply best practices." license: https://www.mathworks.com/content/dam/mathworks/license/pmrl/license.md metadata: author: MathWorks version: "2.0"

Use MathWorks Documentation

Systematic methodology for reading live MathWorks documentation. Provides a repeatable four-pass strategy (local catalog → help → user guide pages → reference pages) that turns documentation lookup into a predictable, efficient operation. Uses MATLAB's webread via MCP to fetch pages, with helper scripts that handle URL discovery, HTML parsing, and content extraction.

When to Use

• You are answering a "How do I..." question related to MathWorks products and workflows
• You guessed a URL and got 404 — use this skill to discover the correct URL from the index
• You need to find which functions exist for a product or workflow — start with the local function catalog
• You need to verify a function's syntax, arguments, or deprecation status from the authoritative source
• You want to check MathWorks best practices for a specific workflow
• Training-data knowledge is uncertain or potentially out of date for a release-specific API
• The user asks what MathWorks recommends for a specific topic
• You want a systematic approach that finds the RIGHT page (not just A page) in minimal tool calls

When NOT to Use

• The local help command is sufficient — prefer help function_name for API syntax; it's faster and always correct for the installed version
• The question is about general MATLAB programming patterns, not product-specific workflows
• You already have the authoritative answer from local help or a successfully fetched page

Fast Paths

Not every task needs the full four-pass strategy. Match the task to the shortest path:

| Task | Fast Path | Skip | | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------- | | Release notes / what's new | Fetch https://www.mathworks.com/help/{product}/release-notes.md directly via webread, then extract the ## R20XXx section | Steps 0-2 — no script needed | | Known standalone function, need ref page | Use a URL from a prior extract_page_slugs call, or construct baseUrl + "ref/{name}.html" for simple standalone functions | Steps 0-2 — but URL must come from a verified source, not guessed | | Know the product, need function list | get_local_function_list(product) | Steps 1-4 — no web needed | | Unfamiliar API, no idea what exists | Full four-pass strategy | Nothing — use all steps |

Release notes

Release notes are available as clean markdown at https://www.mathworks.com/help/{product}/release-notes.md. Fetch this URL with webread, then extract the section between ## R20XXx and the next ## R header. No HTML parsing needed. Common product slugs: matlab, simulink, ecoder, rtw, stateflow, fixedpoint, hdlcoder.

Help Center Page Hierarchy

• Product landing page — Lists top-level categories with short descriptions. Use to discover section slugs.
• Intermediate category page — Links to subcategories with one-line descriptions. No leaf content. Drill deeper.
• Lowest-level category page — Contains reference groups (functions, blocks, apps) then links to related topics and examples.
• Topic pages (ug/ or product-specific path) — Conceptual or task-based content explaining how to use a feature.
• Example pages — Standalone worked examples with supporting files. May include live scripts, data files, or models.
• Reference pages (ref/ or slref/) — Function, block, object, or property reference. Multiple subtypes: function ref, object ref, property list, block ref, app ref.
• Getting started pages (gs/) — Introductory tutorials for new users of a product.
• Sequential topics (STEP 1, 2, 3) indicate a workflow with an intended order.

Choosing What to Fetch

MathWorks doc has two content layers that serve different purposes:

• Guide pages (user guide topics, typically under ug/) — Show which functions to call and in what order. Workflow-oriented. Best for learning a new API or deciding an approach. Note: not all products use ug/ — some (Simulink, Statistics and Machine Learning) use different subdirectory structures. Always discover via the section index.
• ref/ pages (function/object reference) — Show exactly how to call each function: full syntax, argument types, name-value pairs, valid enum values, return types, per-argument examples. Best when you know the function but need its exact signature. Some products use product-specific variants (e.g., Simulink uses slref/).

You typically need both. The ug/ page tells you the recipe; the ref/ page tells you the ingredient specifications. Skipping ref/ means guessing at property names and argument values — which frequently fails because MathWorks APIs use domain-specific names that aren't intuitive (e.g., "ArxmlFilePackaging" not "FilePackaging", "StopTime" not "SimulationDuration").

Page value signals (product-independent)

| Signal | Likely high value | Likely low value | |---|---|---| | Slug contains programmatically, program-, or command-line | Yes — always programmatic | — | | Slug contains property-map-functions | Yes — API workflow | — | | Slug contains explorer, interactively, using-...editor | — | Yes — GUI-only | | Page type is ref/ with object or function name | Yes — exact signatures | — | | Page is very large (>30K) with product that has GUI+programmatic paths | — | Suspect GUI — measure before reading | | Page under ~1500 chars between Main Content and footer | — | Likely a navigation stub or redirect | | Slug starts with example- | Mixed — check if it opens with GUI wizard or live-script code | | ref/ page listing "-properties" in slug | Yes — property name/value lookup table |

Four-pass strategy

Entry rule: If you have a function name from the user's request or from a get_local_function_list call in this session, start at Step 2. Do not skip Step 1 based on training-data knowledge alone — function names change between releases and guessed names waste calls.

1. Discover functions via the local catalog: Run get_local_function_list('product', 'keyword') to find which functions exist. Only use this when you don't have a function name yet.
2. Get signatures with help: Run help functionName or help namespace. If help answers your question, stop here — don't fetch the web page.
3. Third pass (ug/): If you need workflow context — which functions to call before/after, how they compose, or which of several approaches to take — fetch the ug/ page with programmatically in the slug. This gives you the call sequence and overall pattern.
4. Fourth pass (ref/): If help was insufficient for a specific function (truncated output, missing name-value arguments from recent releases, need the full property enumeration, or need valid categories for a find call), fetch its ref/ page.

When help is enough (most of the time)

• Syntax and basic arguments for any function
• Block descriptions (help simulink/Gain)
• Class and object reference (help Simulink.SimulationInput)
• Listing all functions in a namespace (help matlab.io) or methods on an object (methods(obj))
• One-line descriptions of what each function does
• Input/output argument types
• Simple usage examples

When help is NOT enough (fetch the web page)

• Web ref/ page: name-value arguments added in recent releases; the full property name enumeration for a settings/properties object; valid enum values for an argument; which category strings are valid for a find call; help output is truncated or incomplete.
• Web ug/ page: workflow context (what to call before/after); understanding how multiple functions compose together; the task has GUI and programmatic paths and you need to find the programmatic one; decision guides for choosing between approaches.

URL Patterns

MathWorks documentation URLs follow these patterns. Do not guess — use the index to discover slugs.

Building documentation URLs

All documentation URLs are versioned under /help/releases/R20XXx/ and default to the installed MATLAB release. URL construction is handled internally by fetch_product_index — you do not need to build URLs manually. Get page URLs from one of these verified sources:

1. hrefs output of fetch_product_index — full URLs returned directly, ready to use
2. fullUrls output of extract_page_slugs — full URLs from a section index

baseUrl already includes the product path (e.g., https://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2026a/autosar/). Append only the sub-path: baseUrl + "ref/name.html" or baseUrl + "ug/topic.html". Never re-add the product name.

Page type patterns

| Page type | Pattern | Example | | --------------- | ------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Product index | {base}/{product}/index.html | https://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2025b/simulink/index.html | | Section index | {base}/{product}/{section-slug}.html | https://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2025b/simulink/block-libraries.html | | User guide page | {base}/{product}/ug/{page-slug}.html | https://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2025b/simulink/ug/some-topic.html | | Reference page | {base}/{product}/ref/{function-name}.html | https://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2025b/matlab/ref/plot.html |

URL structure varies by product. Always crawl the section index to discover actual slugs — do not guess subdirectory names.

| Product | Guide pages | Reference pages | | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | matlab | matlab_prog/slug.html, matlab_oop/slug.html — multiple subdirs | ref/name.html | | simulink | ug/slug.html | slref/name.html (also gui/ for configuration parameters) | | systemcomposer | ug/slug.html | ref/name.html | | autosar | ug/slug.html | ref/name.html | | stateflow | ug/slug.html | ref/name.html