diff --git a/common/list.c b/common/list.c
index dd864a9b..39cc10e1 100644
--- a/common/list.c
+++ b/common/list.c
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ int list_seq_find(list_t *list, int compare(const void *item, const void *data),
 	return -1;
 }
 
-static void list_swap(list_t *list, int src, int dest) {
+void list_swap(list_t *list, int src, int dest) {
 	void *tmp = list->items[src];
 	list->items[src] = list->items[dest];
 	list->items[dest] = tmp;
diff --git a/include/list.h b/include/list.h
index f478b6bb..7eead4ac 100644
--- a/include/list.h
+++ b/include/list.h
@@ -22,4 +22,6 @@ void list_qsort(list_t *list, int compare(const void *left, const void *right));
 int list_seq_find(list_t *list, int compare(const void *item, const void *cmp_to), const void *cmp_to);
 // stable sort since qsort is not guaranteed to be stable
 void list_stable_sort(list_t *list, int compare(const void *a, const void *b));
+// swap two elements in a list
+void list_swap(list_t *list, int src, int dest);
 #endif
diff --git a/sway/sway.5.txt b/sway/sway.5.txt
index c0c4bfb2..b58fbe55 100644
--- a/sway/sway.5.txt
+++ b/sway/sway.5.txt
@@ -92,6 +92,9 @@ They are expected to be used with **bindsym** or at runtime through **swaymsg**(
 	focused container. <n> can be a positive or negative integer. These commands
 	only have an effect if the focused container uses one of the "auto" layouts.
 
+**layout** promote::
+	Swap the focused element with the first in the one of the auto layouts.
+
 **move** <left|right|up|down|next|prev>::
 	Moves the focused container _left_, _right_, _up_, or _down_. Moving
 	to _prev_ or _next_ swaps the container with its sibling in the same