Feature request: Screen groups in builder

[suller-hub]

📄 Feature Request: Screen Groups (Like UI Containers)

Summary

Introduce Screen Groups in the Builder — similar to how Containers work for UI components — to visually organize and group related screens in large Budibase apps.

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🧩 Problem

In Budibase apps with many screens, the Screens panel becomes difficult to manage. There is no way to group related screens visually. This leads to:

• Long, unstructured screen lists
• Difficult navigation in the builder
• Confusion for teams or new developers joining the project

Just like we use Containers in the UI builder to group and organize UI components, we need a way to group screens in the screen list.

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💡 Proposed Solution

Introduce a Screen Group, which functions like a visual container in the Screens panel. It doesn't affect routing, logic, or visibility in the actual app — it's just for builder-side organization.

Suggested Features

• Create a Screen Group with a custom name (e.g. “Admin Screens”, “Product Views”, “Archived”)
• Drag screens into/out of groups (just like moving elements into a UI container)
• Groups are collapsible/expandable
• Optional: assign an icon, color, or description to each group
• Purely visual: no effect on runtime navigation or permissions

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🧪 Example Use Cases

Screen Group	Contained Screens
Admin Panel	user-list, user-detail, logs
Customer Portal	home, orders, profile
Settings	preferences, themes, api-config

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✅ Benefits

• Clean, organized builder UI for apps with many screens
• Faster development by reducing time spent navigating long screen lists
• Improves team productivity: makes structure immediately clear
• Consistent UX: mirrors existing Budibase patterns (like Containers and Layout elements)

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🛠️ Implementation Notes

• Builder-only feature: no impact on app behavior, routing, or access control
• Can be stored as a screenGroups section in internal app config
• Backward-compatible and optional

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🔧 Why This Is Feasible

This is a builder-side feature, similar to how UI containers currently work. It doesn’t require changes to how screens are rendered, routed, or accessed. It can be added to the builder with minimal risk and fits well into Budibase’s visual-first philosophy.

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Would love to hear feedback from the Budibase team or community on feasibility and interest!

[benaunt]

I like this, we have similar problems with larger apps.

I think there may be some more to it though, the left-hand panel is very cluttered with the split between screens and components. Would it maybe make sense to move the screen list (with the ability to group) into a drop down/pop up above the designer?