diff --git a/.cursor/rules/publishing_release.mdc b/.cursor/rules/publishing_release.mdc
index 4d6fecca5d2a..f50a5ea57f93 100644
--- a/.cursor/rules/publishing_release.mdc
+++ b/.cursor/rules/publishing_release.mdc
@@ -12,13 +12,18 @@ Use these guidelines when publishing a new Sentry JavaScript SDK release.
 
 The release process is outlined in [publishing-a-release.md](mdc:docs/publishing-a-release.md).
 
-1. Make sure you are on the latest version of the `develop` branch. To confirm this, run `git pull origin develop` to get the latest changes from the repo.
+1. Ensure you're on the `develop` branch with the latest changes:
+   - If you have unsaved changes, stash them with `git stash -u`.
+   - If you're on a different branch than `develop`, check out the develop branch using `git checkout develop`.
+   - Pull the latest updates from the remote repository by running `git pull origin develop`.
+
 2. Run `yarn changelog` on the `develop` branch and copy the output. You can use `yarn changelog | pbcopy` to copy the output of `yarn changelog` into your clipboard.
 3. Decide on a version for the release based on [semver](mdc:https://semver.org). The version should be decided based on what is in included in the release. For example, if the release includes a new feature, we should increment the minor version. If it includes only bug fixes, we should increment the patch version. You can find the latest version in [CHANGELOG.md](mdc:CHANGELOG.md) at the very top.
 4. Create a branch `prepare-release/VERSION`, eg. `prepare-release/8.1.0`, off `develop`.
-5. Update [CHANGELOG.md](mdc:CHANGELOG.md) to add an entry for the next release number and a list of changes since the last release from the output of `yarn changelog`. See the `Updating the Changelog` section in [publishing-a-release.md](mdc:docs/publishing-a-release.md) for more details. If you remove changelog entries because they are not applicable, please let the user know.
+5. Update [CHANGELOG.md](mdc:CHANGELOG.md) to add an entry for the next release number and a list of changes since the last release from the output of `yarn changelog`. See the `Updating the Changelog` section in [publishing-a-release.md](mdc:docs/publishing-a-release.md) for more details. Do not remove any changelog entries.
 6. Commit the changes to [CHANGELOG.md](mdc:CHANGELOG.md) with `meta(changelog): Update changelog for VERSION` where `VERSION` is the version of the release, e.g. `meta(changelog): Update changelog for 8.1.0`
 7. Push the `prepare-release/VERSION` branch to origin and remind the user that the release PR needs to be opened from the `master` branch.
+8. In case you were working on a different branch, you can checkout back to the branch you were working on and continue your work by unstashing the changes you stashed earlier with the command `git stash pop` (only if you stashed changes).
 
 ## Key Commands