---
title: "Choose an idea status"
canonical_url: https://zentrik.ai/docs/product/idea-statuses
markdown_url: https://zentrik.ai/docs/product/idea-statuses.md
category: "Product guides"
learning_track: "discovery"
last_reviewed: 2026-09-19
---

# Choose an idea status

Use status to show the team’s decision about an idea. Approved means it is worth exploring. Promoted means the team has committed to deliver it.

## Overview

Capture a suggestion from a teammate, a customer, or an AI tool as **New**. Review the need and the proposed solution before deciding what happens next.

## Default statuses

| Status | When to use it |
| --- | --- |
| **New** | Captured for review. You have not assessed it yet. |
| **Approved** | A possible solution worth exploring. You have not committed to build it. |
| **On hold** | Still a possibility, but not under active consideration. |
| **Promoted** | Committed for delivery. Timing is planned separately. |
| **Shipped** | Available in production. |
| **Rejected** | Not pursuing under current conditions. Keep the record so the team can revisit the decision if things change. |

You do not need to use every status for every idea. Use **Delete** to remove a record; deletion is not a workflow status.

## Commit to delivery

When the team commits, use **Promote to Initiative**. Creating an initiative from ideas moves those ideas to **Promoted** and gives the delivery work a place for scope, tasks, and planning. Promotion does not mean work starts immediately.

Linking an idea to an existing initiative does not change its status. Review the decision separately.

Use **Shipped** when the idea is available in production. If you use automatic shipment through [GitHub](https://zentrik.ai/docs/integrations/github), check the recorded delivery evidence: a production-branch merge does not verify rollout or deployment health.

## Review a set of ideas

Suppose an AI tool proposes seven ideas after reviewing competitors. Start them as **New**, keep the source material, and review each proposal with your team. Move a credible solution to **Approved** while you compare approaches and gather evidence.

Treat “competitive parity” and “differentiation” as judgments to verify separately. An idea’s status does not establish either claim. Promote the ideas the team commits to deliver, and plan their timing in the initiative.

## Troubleshooting

### My workspace uses different statuses

Workspace owners and admins can configure labels, colors, and lifecycle stages in **Discovery settings → Workflow**. The lifecycle stage determines whether a status belongs to intake, discovery, paused, committed, shipped, or declined work. Check that mapping before changing an imported workflow.

### An idea disappeared from the discovery list

The default idea view includes **New** and **Approved**, or their configured intake and discovery equivalents. Use the idea status filter to include paused, committed, shipped, or declined ideas. A status change does not delete the record.

## Related guides

- [Taxonomy and themes](https://zentrik.ai/docs/product/taxonomy-and-themes)
- [See an idea before you build it](https://zentrik.ai/docs/product/imagine-ideas)
- [Discovery: from insights to opportunities](https://zentrik.ai/docs/product/insights-to-opportunities)