diff --git a/.github/skills/code-standards/SKILL.md b/.github/skills/code-standards/SKILL.md
index c81db641..c24d0ca2 100644
--- a/.github/skills/code-standards/SKILL.md
+++ b/.github/skills/code-standards/SKILL.md
@@ -98,6 +98,15 @@ from db_test_helpers import make_db, DummyDB, insert_device, minutes_ago
 
 If a helper you need doesn't exist yet, add it to `db_test_helpers.py` — not locally in the test file.
 
+## Stubbing Modules in Standalone-Capable Tests
+
+If a test stubs NetAlertX modules into `sys.modules` so a script can be imported
+outside the container (see `test/plugins/test_ntfy_custom_headers.py`), pop each
+stubbed name back out of `sys.modules` right after the one-time import that needed
+it. Otherwise the fake module leaks into every other test file collected in the
+same pytest session and shadows the real module (see `testing-workflow` skill for
+the full pattern and reproduction steps).
+
 ## MAC Literals in Tests — ALWAYS Lowercase
 
 **MANDATORY:** Every MAC address literal used in test fixtures, parametrize decorators, assertions, or comments must be lowercase hex:
diff --git a/.github/skills/testing-workflow/SKILL.md b/.github/skills/testing-workflow/SKILL.md
index e369021d..bb2e942e 100644
--- a/.github/skills/testing-workflow/SKILL.md
+++ b/.github/skills/testing-workflow/SKILL.md
@@ -59,3 +59,49 @@ docker buildx build -t netalertx-test .
 ```
 
 This takes ~30 seconds unless venv stage changes (~90s).
+
+## Pitfall: `sys.modules` Stubbing Leaks Across Test Files
+
+Some plugin tests (e.g. `test/plugins/test_ntfy_custom_headers.py`) stub NetAlertX
+modules (`conf`, `helper`, `models.notification_instance`, etc.) via
+`sys.modules[name] = fake_module` so the plugin script can be imported standalone,
+outside the container. Because `sys.modules` is a single process-wide cache shared
+by the whole pytest session, a fake module inserted by one test file silently
+shadows the real module for every other test file collected afterwards — pytest
+imports all test files during collection, before any test runs, so this can happen
+regardless of alphabetical/directory order.
+
+Symptom: `AttributeError: <module 'models.notification_instance'> does not have
+the attribute 'get_setting_value'` (or similar) in an unrelated test file, where
+the module repr has no `from '<path>'` suffix — a giveaway that a stub, not the
+real module, was resolved.
+
+Fix pattern: track which module names your stub actually inserted, and pop them
+back out of `sys.modules` immediately after the one-time import that needed them
+(the already-imported script keeps its bound names regardless):
+
+```python
+_stubbed_module_names = []
+
+def _stub(name, **attrs):
+    if name not in sys.modules:
+        mod = types.ModuleType(name)
+        for k, v in attrs.items():
+            setattr(mod, k, v)
+        sys.modules[name] = mod
+        _stubbed_module_names.append(name)
+
+# ... _stub(...) calls, then the one-time import ...
+import ntfy
+
+for _name in _stubbed_module_names:
+    sys.modules.pop(_name, None)
+```
+
+Reproduce cross-file pollution locally by running the suspect file together with
+the affected one in a single pytest invocation (order matters less than you'd
+think — collection happens for all files first):
+
+```bash
+pytest test/plugins/test_ntfy_custom_headers.py test/backend/test_notification_templates.py -v
+```