diff --git a/pkg/analysis_server/doc/api.html b/pkg/analysis_server/doc/api.html
index e3b0bf3..82af650 100644
--- a/pkg/analysis_server/doc/api.html
+++ b/pkg/analysis_server/doc/api.html
@@ -597,8 +597,11 @@
         <p>
           Sets the root paths used to determine which files to analyze. The set
           of files to be analyzed are all of the files in one of the root paths
-          that are not also in one of the excluded paths and do not start with
-          a dot ('.').
+          that are not either explicitly or implicitly excluded. A file is
+          explicitly excluded if it is in one of the excluded paths. A file is
+          implicitly excluded if it is in a subdirectory of one of the root
+          paths where the name of the subdirectory starts with a period (that
+          is, a hidden directory).
         </p>
         <p>
           Note that this request determines the set of requested
diff --git a/pkg/analysis_server/test/integration/integration_test_methods.dart b/pkg/analysis_server/test/integration/integration_test_methods.dart
index 425f2d9..4850c83 100644
--- a/pkg/analysis_server/test/integration/integration_test_methods.dart
+++ b/pkg/analysis_server/test/integration/integration_test_methods.dart
@@ -330,8 +330,11 @@
   /**
    * Sets the root paths used to determine which files to analyze. The set of
    * files to be analyzed are all of the files in one of the root paths that
-   * are not also in one of the excluded paths and do not start with a dot
-   * ('.').
+   * are not either explicitly or implicitly excluded. A file is explicitly
+   * excluded if it is in one of the excluded paths. A file is implicitly
+   * excluded if it is in a subdirectory of one of the root paths where the
+   * name of the subdirectory starts with a period (that is, a hidden
+   * directory).
    *
    * Note that this request determines the set of requested analysis roots. The
    * actual set of analysis roots at any given time is the intersection of this
diff --git a/pkg/analysis_server/tool/spec/spec_input.html b/pkg/analysis_server/tool/spec/spec_input.html
index 9d9ab2d..37c4ea7 100644
--- a/pkg/analysis_server/tool/spec/spec_input.html
+++ b/pkg/analysis_server/tool/spec/spec_input.html
@@ -478,8 +478,11 @@
         <p>
           Sets the root paths used to determine which files to analyze. The set
           of files to be analyzed are all of the files in one of the root paths
-          that are not also in one of the excluded paths and do not start with
-          a dot ('.').
+          that are not either explicitly or implicitly excluded. A file is
+          explicitly excluded if it is in one of the excluded paths. A file is
+          implicitly excluded if it is in a subdirectory of one of the root
+          paths where the name of the subdirectory starts with a period (that
+          is, a hidden directory).
         </p>
         <p>
           Note that this request determines the set of requested