diff --git a/docs/customization/testing_plugins.md b/docs/customization/testing_plugins.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..369156631
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/customization/testing_plugins.md
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+# Testing your Commitizen plugin
+
+Adding a test suite to your plugin helps prevent accidental regressions when you update
+commit rules, regex patterns, or changelog templates. This guide shows how to test the
+most common plugin behaviors using [pytest](https://docs.pytest.org/).
+
+## Setup
+
+Install the testing dependencies in your plugin project:
+
+```bash
+pip install commitizen pytest
+```
+
+## Testing commit message rules
+
+### Testing `bump_pattern` and `bump_map`
+
+Use `commitizen.bump.find_increment` to verify that your regex correctly maps commit
+messages to the expected version increment (`MAJOR`, `MINOR`, `PATCH`, or `None`).
+
+```python title="tests/test_my_plugin.py"
+import pytest
+from commitizen import bump
+from commitizen.git import GitCommit
+
+from my_plugin import MyCommitizen  # replace with your plugin import
+
+
+def make_commits(*messages: str) -> list[GitCommit]:
+    return [GitCommit(rev="abc123", title=msg) for msg in messages]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("messages", "expected"),
+    [
+        # patch — bug fixes should produce a PATCH bump
+        (["fix: correct off-by-one error"], "PATCH"),
+        # minor — new features should produce a MINOR bump
+        (["feat: add dark mode"], "MINOR"),
+        # major — breaking changes should produce a MAJOR bump
+        (["feat!: rename public API"], "MAJOR"),
+        # no relevant commits — no bump
+        (["chore: update CI config"], None),
+    ],
+)
+def test_bump_increment(messages, expected):
+    commits = make_commits(*messages)
+    result = bump.find_increment(
+        commits,
+        regex=MyCommitizen.bump_pattern,
+        increments_map=MyCommitizen.bump_map,
+    )
+    assert result == expected
+```
+
+### Testing `changelog_pattern` and `commit_parser`
+
+Verify that only relevant commits appear in the changelog and that the parser
+extracts fields (type, scope, message) correctly.
+
+```python title="tests/test_changelog_rules.py"
+import re
+
+from my_plugin import MyCommitizen
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("message", "should_match"),
+    [
+        ("feat(api): add pagination", True),
+        ("fix: handle null pointer", True),
+        ("chore: bump dev dependency", False),
+        ("docs: update README", False),
+    ],
+)
+def test_changelog_pattern(message, should_match):
+    pattern = re.compile(MyCommitizen.changelog_pattern)
+    assert bool(pattern.match(message)) is should_match
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("message", "expected_groups"),
+    [
+        (
+            "feat(api): add pagination",
+            {"change_type": "feat", "scope": "api", "message": "add pagination"},
+        ),
+        (
+            "fix: handle null pointer",
+            {"change_type": "fix", "scope": None, "message": "handle null pointer"},
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_commit_parser(message, expected_groups):
+    pattern = re.compile(MyCommitizen.commit_parser)
+    match = pattern.match(message)
+    assert match is not None
+    for key, value in expected_groups.items():
+        assert match.group(key) == value
+```
+
+### Testing `message()` output
+
+Ensure your `message()` method produces the correct commit string from user answers.
+
+```python title="tests/test_message.py"
+from commitizen.config import BaseConfig
+
+from my_plugin import MyCommitizen
+
+
+def test_message_with_scope():
+    cz = MyCommitizen(BaseConfig())
+    msg = cz.message({"type": "feat", "scope": "api", "subject": "add pagination"})
+    assert msg == "feat(api): add pagination"
+
+
+def test_message_without_scope():
+    cz = MyCommitizen(BaseConfig())
+    msg = cz.message({"type": "fix", "scope": "", "subject": "handle null pointer"})
+    assert msg == "fix: handle null pointer"
+```
+
+## Testing schema validation
+
+If your plugin overrides `schema_pattern()`, test that valid and invalid commit
+messages are accepted and rejected as expected.
+
+```python title="tests/test_schema.py"
+import re
+
+from my_plugin import MyCommitizen
+
+
+def test_valid_commit_passes_schema():
+    pattern = re.compile(MyCommitizen().schema_pattern())
+    assert pattern.match("feat(api): add pagination")
+
+
+def test_invalid_commit_fails_schema():
+    pattern = re.compile(MyCommitizen().schema_pattern())
+    assert not pattern.match("random text without type")
+```
+
+## Running the tests
+
+```bash
+pytest tests/ -v
+```
+
+## See also
+
+- [Customizing through a Python class](python_class.md) — full plugin API reference
+- [Third-Party Commitizen Plugins](../third-party-plugins/about.md) — examples of published plugins
+- [Commitizen's own test suite](https://github.com/commitizen-tools/commitizen/tree/master/tests) — for more advanced testing patterns
diff --git a/docs/faq.md b/docs/faq.md
index 568ec2fbe..89e1a0f6c 100644
--- a/docs/faq.md
+++ b/docs/faq.md
@@ -76,6 +76,50 @@ legacy_tag_formats = [
 ]
 ```
 
+## A dependency has the same version as my project — how do I prevent it from being bumped?
+
+When using [`version_files`](config/bump.md#version_files) to track your project version,
+Commitizen searches for the current version string and replaces it with the new one.
+If a dependency in the same file happens to share the exact same version number, it will
+also be updated, which is usually undesirable.
+
+There are two ways to avoid this:
+
+### Option 1 — Anchor the pattern with `^`
+
+Prefix the file entry with `^` to match only lines that *start* with `version`:
+
+```toml
+[tool.commitizen]
+version_files = ["pyproject.toml:^version"]
+```
+
+This ensures only lines like `version = "1.2.3"` are matched, not dependency
+specifications that happen to contain the same version string.
+
+### Option 2 (recommended) — Use a `version_provider`
+
+Instead of `version_files`, use the appropriate
+[`version_provider`](config/version_provider.md) for your project type. Commitizen
+will then update exactly the right field without any regex-based text replacement.
+
+For example, if you use `pyproject.toml` with a `[project]` table (PEP 621):
+
+```toml
+[tool.commitizen]
+version_provider = "pep621"
+```
+
+Or for Poetry users:
+
+```toml
+[tool.commitizen]
+version_provider = "poetry"
+```
+
+See the [version providers reference](config/version_provider.md) for all available
+options.
+
 ## How to avoid warnings for expected non-version tags?
 
 You can explicitly ignore them with [`ignored_tag_formats`](config/bump.md#ignored_tag_formats).
diff --git a/mkdocs.yml b/mkdocs.yml
index 21d6376c5..852eedbc0 100644
--- a/mkdocs.yml
+++ b/mkdocs.yml
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ nav:
   - Advanced Customization:
     - Customize via config file: "customization/config_file.md"
     - Customized Python Class: "customization/python_class.md"
+    - Testing Plugins: "customization/testing_plugins.md"
     - Changelog Template: "customization/changelog_template.md"
   - Tutorials:
     - Commit Message Best Practices: "tutorials/writing_commits.md"