diff --git a/BUILD b/BUILD
index 8764a908739..f8f31cc72f8 100644
--- a/BUILD
+++ b/BUILD
@@ -34,6 +34,18 @@ alias(
 # regenerate with scripts/known_good/update_module_from_known_good.py.
 docs(
     bundles = DOCS_BUNDLES,
+    # REPRO (see //repro/dependable_element_testonly/README.md): pull
+    # Communication's dependable_element documentation into this site.
+    #
+    # mw_com_rst is the sphinx_docs_library that dependable_element generates
+    # for exactly this purpose. Referencing it breaks the docs build:
+    #
+    #   non-test target '//:docs_bundle' depends on testonly target
+    #   '@@score_communication+//score/mw/com/dependability:mw_com_rst'
+    #   and doesn't have testonly attribute set
+    #
+    # This line is the whole point of the PR and must not be merged.
+    data = ["@score_communication//score/mw/com/dependability:mw_com_rst"],
     known_good = "known_good.json",
     source_dir = "docs",
 )
diff --git a/repro/dependable_element_testonly/README.md b/repro/dependable_element_testonly/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..766b0141e2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/repro/dependable_element_testonly/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+# Reproducer: `dependable_element` docs are unavoidably `testonly`
+
+Communication publishes verification reports for its dependable elements
+(`mw_com`, `message_passing`) on its own GitHub Pages site. We would like to
+mount those pages into the reference integration documentation instead of only
+linking them. This branch shows why that currently does not work.
+
+**Nothing here is meant to be merged.** The change deliberately breaks `//:docs`.
+
+## The change
+
+One line in the root [`BUILD`](../../BUILD):
+
+```python
+docs(
+    bundles = DOCS_BUNDLES,
+    data = ["@score_communication//score/mw/com/dependability:mw_com_rst"],
+    known_good = "known_good.json",
+    source_dir = "docs",
+)
+```
+
+`<name>_rst` is the `sphinx_docs_library` that `dependable_element` generates in
+"Step 4" *precisely so that an external Sphinx build can include the element's
+pages*. `docs(data = ...)` is the documented way to add files to this project's
+root bundle, so this is the natural attempt.
+
+## Result
+
+```bash
+bazel build --nobuild \
+  --extra_toolchains=//bazel/toolchains:score_ref_int_libclang_toolchain \
+  //:docs
+```
+
+```
+ERROR: BUILD:35:5: in _docs_bundle rule //:docs_bundle: non-test target
+'//:docs_bundle' depends on testonly target
+'@@score_communication+//score/mw/com/dependability:mw_com_rst'
+and doesn't have testonly attribute set
+ERROR: Analysis of target '//:docs' failed; build aborted: Analysis failed
+```
+
+Communication is pinned at `313f1178` per `known_good.json`. The
+`--extra_toolchains` flag is unrelated to the problem; without it analysis stops
+earlier on a missing `libclang` toolchain for `score_tooling`. CI hits the same
+error through `//:docs_shim`.
+
+`@score_communication//score/message_passing/dependability:dependable_element_message_passing_rst`
+behaves identically.
+
+## Why `testonly = False` is not the answer
+
+`dependable_element` has a `testonly` parameter that only *defaults* to `True`,
+so the obvious idea is to flip it. That does not help: the target graph
+underneath `<name>_rst` is built out of Bazel **test rules**, and test rules are
+unconditionally `testonly` — no attribute can turn that off.
+
+`<name>_rst` has `srcs = [":<name>_index"]`, and `<name>_index` reaches test
+rules through *three* independent attributes:
+
+```
+$ bazel query 'somepath(@score_communication//score/mw/com/dependability:mw_com_rst,
+                        @score_communication//score/mw/com/impl:frontend_component)'
+@score_communication//score/mw/com/dependability:mw_com_rst
+@score_communication//score/mw/com/dependability:mw_com_index
+@score_communication//score/mw/com/impl:frontend_component
+```
+
+```
+$ bazel query 'kind(".*_test rule",
+                    deps(@score_communication//score/mw/com/dependability:mw_com_rst))'
+@score_communication//score/mw/com/impl:frontend_component
+@score_communication//score/mw/com/impl/bindings:bindings
+@score_communication//score/mw/com/impl/bindings/lola:lola_component
+@score_communication//score/mw/com/impl/bindings/mock_binding:mock_component
+@score_communication//third_party/score_baselibs:bitmanipulation
+@score_communication//third_party/score_baselibs:bitmanipulation_component
+@score_communication//third_party/score_baselibs:containers
+@score_communication//third_party/score_baselibs:containers_component
+@score_communication//third_party/score_baselibs:futurecpp
+@score_communication//third_party/score_baselibs:futurecpp_component
+@score_communication//third_party/score_baselibs:os
+@score_communication//third_party/score_baselibs:os_component
+```
+
+The three paths, all in
+[`eclipse-score/tooling`](https://github.com/eclipse-score/tooling/blob/main/bazel/rules/rules_score/private/dependable_element.bzl):
+
+| Attribute of `_dependable_element_index` | Points at | Rule class | Read in the rule impl? |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| `components` (mandatory, line 1848) | `<x>_component` / `<x>` from the `component()` macro | `_component_test` (`component.bzl:359`) | yes, via aspect |
+| `deps` (line 1875) | `<dep>` of other dependable elements | `_dependable_element_test` (`dependable_element.bzl:2036`, `test = True`) | only `dep.label.name`, line 693 |
+| `tests` (line 1853) | real test targets (`message_passing` passes `//score/message_passing:unit_tests`) | `cc_test` etc. | **never** — no `ctx.attr.tests` anywhere |
+
+Note the `components` row: `component()` creates its main target as a test rule
+too, and `components` is a **mandatory** attribute of `dependable_element`. So
+the contamination is structural, not just an artifact of the two optional
+attributes.
+
+## Possible directions
+
+1. **`deps` and `tests` are cheap wins.** `ctx.attr.tests` is never read, and
+   `ctx.attr.deps` is only used for `dep.label.name` in `_process_deps`
+   (`dependable_element.bzl:693`) — no providers, no files. The real provider
+   edge is `processed_deps` (`<dep>_index`, used at lines 1194/1369/1530).
+   Making `deps` a `string_list` (or deriving the names from `processed_deps`)
+   and dropping `tests` removes two of the three paths without any loss of
+   functionality.
+
+2. **`components` needs a split.** The documentation-producing part and the
+   traceability-checking test would have to be separate targets, so that
+   `<name>_index` can depend on the former without inheriting the latter. That
+   is the same split that already exists for `<name>` vs `<name>_doc`.
+
+3. **Or: give up on mounting and keep linking.** That is what
+   eclipse-score/reference_integration#378 does.
+
+## Context
+
+* Linking PR: eclipse-score/reference_integration#378
+* Rule source:
+  `bazel/rules/rules_score/private/dependable_element.bzl` and
+  `bazel/rules/rules_score/private/component.bzl` in `eclipse-score/tooling`
+* Communication's dependable elements:
+  `score/mw/com/dependability/BUILD`,
+  `score/message_passing/dependability/BUILD`