diff --git a/languagetool-core/src/main/java/org/languagetool/rules/Rule.java b/languagetool-core/src/main/java/org/languagetool/rules/Rule.java
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/languagetool-core/src/main/java/org/languagetool/rules/Rule.java
+++ b/languagetool-core/src/main/java/org/languagetool/rules/Rule.java
@@ -192,6 +192,7 @@ public abstract class Rule {
   /**
    * Deletes (or disables) previously matched rule.
    * @param index Index of the rule that should be deleted.
+   * @deprecated will probably be made non-public in future releases (deprecated since 2.6)
    */
   public final void setAsDeleted(final int index) {
     if (removedMatches == null) {
@@ -211,6 +212,9 @@ public abstract class Rule {
     return previousMatches.size() > index && previousMatches.get(index) != null;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @deprecated will probably be made non-public in future releases (deprecated since 2.6)
+   */
   public final void clearMatches() {
     if (previousMatches != null) {
       previousMatches.clear();
@@ -220,6 +224,9 @@ public abstract class Rule {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @deprecated will probably be made non-public in future releases (deprecated since 2.6)
+   */
   public final int getMatchesIndex() {
     if (previousMatches == null) {
       return 0;
deprecate methods that are used only from one rule and thus probably don't need to be public