When MATLAB starts, it will look for a pathdef.m file in its startup directory.

Start up folder (in the MATLAB icon | Properties | Start in ) (e.g. D:\Sources\MATLAB) allows controlling different paths and other settings via startup.m file placed in the folder, e.g.:

disp('Welcome to physiology analysis...');
set_sources_path; % set additional paths dynamically, e.g. 
% addpath(genpath('D:\Sources\MATLAB'));
 
cd('F:\Data');
edit;
EditorMacro('Alt-Control-h', @createHeaderComment_dag);
 
dbstop if error

See https://github.com/igorkagan/matlab_config for example startup.m that allows excluding .git folders from the path.