New concept "folder group" to manage folders with identical sharing/policy

I'm working on setting up Syncthing to use as my own video game cloud save host. I want to be able to sync all the games that don't have some sort of cloud saves already implemented. This is obviously possible but it's a bit unwieldy without being able to use symlinks to push it all into one synced folder, especially if you want to sync the files somewhere other than your default directory and can't just rely on auto-accepts.

I want to be able to add folders to my sync so that they will automatically propagate to my main server and the rest of my computers while being able to place them in a specific subdirectory other than my default path.

I think I have a possible solution to this, that might also satisfy the people who have been clamoring for a way to use symlinks. Add a way to group Folders together.

The way I think it could work is like this, you make a Group sync just like you would a regular folder but Group syncs allow you to add folders underneath them. What the Group sync could do is set properties that you'd want shared across multiple folders including some settings that are currently device wide settings.

Once the Group is accepted on devices, they'd default to automatically adding folders from it to the default path of the Group. This would work perfectly for someone doing something similar to me, where I want all my game saves in a folder together but not in my server's default path. The alternative option, where they aren't automatically accepted, is that they are put on a waiting list where they wait for the user to add them and set their settings. This would work perfectly for all the people trying to use symlinks or someone like me because they'd be able to set each device so that they put the individual folders where they want but in bulk in contrast to manual additions now i.e. I'd be able to put each game's saves in the proper location to be recognized.

Another benefit of this is that it'd allow users that are syncing large numbers of separate Folders to have a more organized UI. Instead of listing each individual Folder, there would be a list of each Group as well as any ungrouped Folders.

I hope you guys like the suggestion, I know it'd be a pretty big change but hopefully it'd solve some issues people are having. Thanks for working on Syncthing, it's nice to have a fast and secure replacement for Dropbox and the like.

Version Information

Syncthing Version: v0.14.49

The issue names no files, tests, or entry points; start by mapping current folder configuration, folder acceptance, device-wide settings, and UI listing flows. Define the group model, propagation and acceptance behavior, per-device paths, and grouped display before implementation. Done means grouped folders can share policy, support automatic or queued acceptance, use device-specific locations, and remain synchronized.