Choose the right outcome
Not planned means you decided not to pursue a recognized need. Cancelled means work that was planned or started will not continue. Archive means a card no longer belongs in default browsing; it preserves the underlying status. These are not interchangeable.
Spam, abuse, or sensitive material may need moderation removal. That is separate from deciding whether a legitimate customer problem belongs in your product. Keep that distinction visible to the team.
When the request is outside product scope
Name the actual boundary. “Not aligned with our roadmap” gives the reader almost no information. If the alternative is incomplete, say which part remains unsolved instead of presenting it as an equivalent solution.
Do not blame the customer for having a different use case. A request can be reasonable and still be outside the product you have chosen to build.
When you are withdrawing planned work
Acknowledge the prior commitment explicitly. Customers may have made decisions based on it. Explain what changes for them, whether anything already delivered will remain, and whether a replacement actually exists.
Record the decision on the original card. A new announcement without a connection to the old request makes people reconstruct the history themselves.
When the answer is genuinely undecided
Considering is appropriate when you recognize the need but have not made a commitment. Say what you are trying to learn. If the decision is already no, do not use an indefinite holding status as a softer-looking response.
Ask one concrete question if the answer could change your decision: for example, which export format their accounting process requires, or how frequently the workaround fails. Avoid asking for more information only to postpone a refusal.
If the decision changes later
Reopen the original record with the new evidence and a reason. Keep the earlier decision in history. People should be able to understand why the answer changed rather than seeing an apparently contradictory status.
In BuildCaster, closing a card stops new votes, while removing an existing vote remains possible. Approved closed ideas can still support discussion and follows unless archived, merged, or moderated out of view. A decline or cancellation does not generate a Shipped announcement.
Use a clear roadmap policy and a regular request review process so these responses reflect team decisions rather than improvised support replies.