Flag declined because OP edited their answer in the meantime and I wasn't notified

Question

I raised a custom in need of moderator intervention flag on this post because it was a link-only answer (when I did). The user has also posted another link-only with the same link. So, I found more appropriate to flag one post for moderator intervention and explain them the situation.

In the meantime, however, OP edited their answer and I wasn't notified. So, I didn't retract my mod-flag. Then, the flag was declined with the message:

The flagged answer includes details from the other thread, making it not a link-only answer.

and the other link-only answer the user had posted was deleted.

I'd expect my flag to be cleared or disputed (if that is possible), but it was instead declined.

Answer 1

Moderators only get "Helpful" or "Declined" for flag states. In this case, I marked it as "declined" because at the time of the flag being reviewed, it was not valid, and I didn't find the flag to be "helpful"

There is no such thing as "clearing" a flag so it doesn't exist unless you retract it yourself (though the flag becomes "Retracted" in your flag history), and "disputed" state is not something that Moderators can set (this is explained here on Meta.SE in a question named "What is a disputed flag?".

Rest assured though that a single declined flag is not a bad thing, we all have a small handful of declined flags (even myself, from my pre-moderator days).