diff --git a/IPython/nbformat/current.py b/IPython/nbformat/current.py
index b2ad9b2..6bba5c2 100644
--- a/IPython/nbformat/current.py
+++ b/IPython/nbformat/current.py
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ from .validator import validate
 
 from IPython.utils.log import get_logger
 
+__all__ = ['NotebookNode', 'new_code_cell', 'new_text_cell', 'new_notebook',
+'new_output', 'new_worksheet', 'parse_filename', 'new_metadata', 'new_author',
+'new_heading_cell', 'nbformat', 'nbformat_minor', 'nbformat_schema',
+'to_notebook_json', 'convert', 'validate', 'NBFormatError', 'parse_py',
+'reads_json', 'writes_json', 'reads_py', 'writes_py', 'reads', 'writes', 'read',
+'write']
 
 current_nbformat = nbformat
 current_nbformat_minor = nbformat_minor
diff --git a/docs/autogen_api.py b/docs/autogen_api.py
index 7899d3c..323d4d4 100755
--- a/docs/autogen_api.py
+++ b/docs/autogen_api.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
                                         # Extensions are documented elsewhere.
                                         r'\.extensions',
                                         r'\.config\.profile',
+                                        # These should be accessed via nbformat.current
+                                        r'\.nbformat\.v\d+',
                                         ]
 
     # The inputhook* modules often cause problems on import, such as trying to
@@ -33,7 +35,18 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
                                         r'\.frontend$',
                                         # We document this manually.
                                         r'\.utils\.py3compat',
+                                        # These are exposed by nbformat.current
+                                        r'\.nbformat\.convert',
+                                        r'\.nbformat\.validator',
                                         ]
+
+    # These modules import functions and classes from other places to expose
+    # them as part of the public API. They must have __all__ defined. The
+    # non-API modules they import from should be excluded by the skip patterns
+    # above.
+    docwriter.names_from__all__.update({
+        'IPython.nbformat.current',
+    })
     
     # Now, generate the outputs
     docwriter.write_api_docs(outdir)
diff --git a/docs/sphinxext/apigen.py b/docs/sphinxext/apigen.py
index 21f28e2..3be2ec2 100644
--- a/docs/sphinxext/apigen.py
+++ b/docs/sphinxext/apigen.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from __future__ import print_function
 
 # Stdlib imports
 import ast
+import inspect
 import os
 import re
 
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@ class ApiDocWriter(object):
                  rst_extension='.rst',
                  package_skip_patterns=None,
                  module_skip_patterns=None,
+                 names_from__all__=None,
                  ):
         ''' Initialize package for parsing
 
@@ -111,6 +113,12 @@ class ApiDocWriter(object):
             ``.util.console``
             If is None, gives default. Default is:
             ['\.setup$', '\._']
+        names_from__all__ : set, optional
+            Modules listed in here will be scanned by doing ``from mod import *``,
+            rather than finding function and class definitions by scanning the
+            AST. This is intended for API modules which expose things defined in
+            other files. Modules listed here must define ``__all__`` to avoid
+            exposing everything they import.
         '''
         if package_skip_patterns is None:
             package_skip_patterns = ['\\.tests$']
@@ -120,6 +128,7 @@ class ApiDocWriter(object):
         self.rst_extension = rst_extension
         self.package_skip_patterns = package_skip_patterns
         self.module_skip_patterns = module_skip_patterns
+        self.names_from__all__ = names_from__all__ or set()
 
     def get_package_name(self):
         return self._package_name
@@ -204,6 +213,29 @@ class ApiDocWriter(object):
             mod = ast.parse(f.read())
         return FuncClsScanner().scan(mod)
 
+    def _import_funcs_classes(self, uri):
+        """Import * from uri, and separate out functions and classes."""
+        ns = {}
+        exec('from %s import *' % uri, ns)
+        funcs, classes = [], []
+        for name, obj in ns.items():
+            if inspect.isclass(obj):
+                cls = Obj(name=name, has_init='__init__' in obj.__dict__)
+                classes.append(cls)
+            elif inspect.isfunction(obj):
+                funcs.append(name)
+
+        return sorted(funcs), sorted(classes, key=lambda x: x.name)
+
+    def find_funcs_classes(self, uri):
+        """Find the functions and classes defined in the module ``uri``"""
+        if uri in self.names_from__all__:
+            # For API modules which expose things defined elsewhere, import them
+            return self._import_funcs_classes(uri)
+        else:
+            # For other modules, scan their AST to see what they define
+            return self._parse_module(uri)
+
     def generate_api_doc(self, uri):
         '''Make autodoc documentation template string for a module
 
@@ -218,7 +250,7 @@ class ApiDocWriter(object):
             Contents of API doc
         '''
         # get the names of all classes and functions
-        functions, classes = self._parse_module(uri)
+        functions, classes = self.find_funcs_classes(uri)
         if not len(functions) and not len(classes):
             #print ('WARNING: Empty -', uri)  # dbg
             return ''