diff --git a/src/Usage/Adapter/ClickHouse.php b/src/Usage/Adapter/ClickHouse.php
index fdd977e..068b5bc 100644
--- a/src/Usage/Adapter/ClickHouse.php
+++ b/src/Usage/Adapter/ClickHouse.php
@@ -3280,6 +3280,21 @@ private function formatTypedValue(string $chType, mixed $value): string
         return $this->formatParamValue($value);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Escape ClickHouse LIKE-pattern wildcards in a user-supplied needle.
+     *
+     * Backslash is escaped first so already-escaped characters aren't
+     * double-escaped. Keeps `contains('metric', ['100%'])` a literal
+     * substring match instead of a wildcard.
+     *
+     * @param string $value
+     * @return string
+     */
+    private function escapeLikeWildcards(string $value): string
+    {
+        return \str_replace(['\\', '%', '_'], ['\\\\', '\\%', '\\_'], $value);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Normalize a user-supplied cursor row into a column-keyed array.
      *
@@ -3613,33 +3628,37 @@ private function parseQueries(string $tenant, array $queries, string $type = 'ev
                     break;
 
                 case Query::TYPE_CONTAINS:
+                    // Substring match, mirroring utopia-php/database: each
+                    // value becomes `LIKE '%value%'`, OR'd together.
                     $this->validateAttributeName($attribute, $type);
                     $escapedAttr = $this->escapeIdentifier($attribute);
-                    $chType = $this->getParamType($attribute);
-                    $inParams = [];
+                    $conditions = [];
                     foreach ($values as $value) {
+                        if (!is_string($value)) {
+                            throw new Exception("contains value must be a string for attribute '{$attribute}'");
+                        }
                         $paramName = 'param_' . $paramCounter++;
-                        $inParams[] = "{{$paramName}:{$chType}}";
-                        $params[$paramName] = $this->formatTypedValue($chType, $value);
-                    }
-                    if (!empty($inParams)) {
-                        $filters[] = "{$escapedAttr} IN (" . implode(', ', $inParams) . ")";
+                        $conditions[] = "{$escapedAttr} LIKE {{$paramName}:String}";
+                        $params[$paramName] = '%' . $this->escapeLikeWildcards($value) . '%';
                     }
+                    $filters[] = '(' . implode(' OR ', $conditions) . ')';
                     break;
 
                 case Query::TYPE_NOT_CONTAINS:
+                    // Negated substring match, mirroring utopia-php/database:
+                    // each value becomes `NOT LIKE '%value%'`, AND'd together.
                     $this->validateAttributeName($attribute, $type);
                     $escapedAttr = $this->escapeIdentifier($attribute);
-                    $chType = $this->getParamType($attribute);
-                    $inParams = [];
+                    $conditions = [];
                     foreach ($values as $value) {
+                        if (!is_string($value)) {
+                            throw new Exception("notContains value must be a string for attribute '{$attribute}'");
+                        }
                         $paramName = 'param_' . $paramCounter++;
-                        $inParams[] = "{{$paramName}:{$chType}}";
-                        $params[$paramName] = $this->formatTypedValue($chType, $value);
-                    }
-                    if (!empty($inParams)) {
-                        $filters[] = "{$escapedAttr} NOT IN (" . implode(', ', $inParams) . ")";
+                        $conditions[] = "{$escapedAttr} NOT LIKE {{$paramName}:String}";
+                        $params[$paramName] = '%' . $this->escapeLikeWildcards($value) . '%';
                     }
+                    $filters[] = '(' . implode(' AND ', $conditions) . ')';
                     break;
 
                 case Query::TYPE_IS_NULL:
diff --git a/tests/Usage/UsageBase.php b/tests/Usage/UsageBase.php
index ea126c4..da6a125 100644
--- a/tests/Usage/UsageBase.php
+++ b/tests/Usage/UsageBase.php
@@ -224,6 +224,53 @@ public function testContainsQuery(): void
 
         // Should find all metrics matching either 'requests' or 'bandwidth'
         $this->assertGreaterThanOrEqual(2, count($results));
+
+        // Contains is a substring match (like utopia-php/database), not an
+        // exact IN match — 'band' should match 'bandwidth'
+        $results = $this->usage->find('1', [
+            Query::contains('metric', ['band']),
+        ], Usage::TYPE_EVENT);
+
+        $this->assertGreaterThanOrEqual(1, count($results));
+        foreach ($results as $result) {
+            $this->assertStringContainsString('band', $result->getMetric());
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function testNotContainsQuery(): void
+    {
+        // notContains is a negated substring match — excludes any metric
+        // containing 'request', keeps 'bandwidth'
+        $results = $this->usage->find('1', [
+            Query::notContains('metric', ['request']),
+        ], Usage::TYPE_EVENT);
+
+        $this->assertGreaterThanOrEqual(1, count($results));
+        foreach ($results as $result) {
+            $this->assertStringNotContainsString('request', $result->getMetric());
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function testContainsEscapesLikeWildcards(): void
+    {
+        $this->assertTrue($this->usage->addBatch([
+            ['tenant' => '1', 'metric' => 'cache%hit', 'value' => 1, 'tags' => []],
+        ], Usage::TYPE_EVENT));
+
+        // '%' in a needle is a literal, not a LIKE wildcard — an unescaped
+        // '%' would match every metric
+        $results = $this->usage->find('1', [
+            Query::contains('metric', ['%']),
+        ], Usage::TYPE_EVENT);
+        $this->assertCount(1, $results);
+        $this->assertEquals('cache%hit', $results[0]->getMetric());
+
+        // '_' is a literal too — as a wildcard 'cache_hit' would match
+        // 'cache%hit'
+        $results = $this->usage->find('1', [
+            Query::contains('metric', ['cache_hit']),
+        ], Usage::TYPE_EVENT);
+        $this->assertCount(0, $results);
     }
 
     public function testLessThanEqualQuery(): void