I’m afraid you’ve got to pick one. On the bright side, you can do whichever you prefer! 
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Hmm…
Doesn’t a command like qubesctl --skip-dom0 --target=debian-12-xfce state.apply template-browser.brave-browser saltenv=user.salt-n-pepper exist?
Not unless you define an environment called user.salt-n-pepper. But I don’t know if using a dot is legal in an environment name, and I doubt it would be interpreted as a nested directory. Likely more trouble than your other two options! (But you might learn something by trying, don’t let me stop you! 
)
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By default, dom0 is an implicit target when you apply Salt states (imagine --targets=dom0 being always there).
As you’ve probably noticed, applying states takes time. The more targets, the more time. So if you know that you don’t need to target dom0, the option --skip-dom0 allows you to save some time. But it’s an option, and as such it is never strictly speaking necessary.
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Thank you for your kind support☺️
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Please tell me about this
When you include dom0 in a backup (using the Qubes Backup tool), it’s your user’s home directory in dom0 that’s backed up.
Among other things, /srv/user_salt is not included.
One easy way to make sure that you don’t forget those files in your next backup is to place the entirety of /srv/user_salt in your user’s home directory (e.g. in ~/user_salt), and replace that /srv/user_salt directory by a symbolic link to the directory you created in your user’s home (e.g. ~/user_salt).
Next time you restore a backup, you only need to re-create that symbolic link if needed and you’re good to go again. No copying files around, no forgetting to backup that last Salt state you created, etc. Does that make sense?
I’ve only skimmed through it, but I’ve read some good docs by DigialOcean before and this seems like a decent explanation of what symbolic links are useful for:
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