diff --git a/src/__tests__/database-search-wildcard.test.ts b/src/__tests__/database-search-wildcard.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bb3a62a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/__tests__/database-search-wildcard.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,220 @@
+/**
+ * Database Search Wildcard Escaping Tests
+ *
+ * Verifies that episodicSearch, semanticSearch, and proceduralSearch
+ * properly escape SQL LIKE wildcards (%, _, \) in user-supplied queries.
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from "vitest";
+import fs from "fs";
+import path from "path";
+import os from "os";
+import {
+  episodicSearch,
+  episodicInsert,
+  semanticSearch,
+  semanticUpsert,
+  proceduralSearch,
+  proceduralUpsert,
+} from "../state/database.js";
+import { createDatabase } from "../state/database.js";
+import Database from "better-sqlite3";
+
+let dbPath: string;
+let db: ReturnType<typeof Database>;
+let automatonDb: ReturnType<typeof createDatabase>;
+
+function makeTmpDbPath(): string {
+  const tmpDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "automaton-wildcard-test-"));
+  return path.join(tmpDir, "test.db");
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  dbPath = makeTmpDbPath();
+  automatonDb = createDatabase(dbPath);
+  db = automatonDb.raw;
+});
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  automatonDb.close();
+  try { fs.unlinkSync(dbPath); } catch {}
+});
+
+describe("episodicSearch wildcard escaping", () => {
+  it("does not treat % in query as LIKE wildcard", () => {
+    episodicInsert(db, {
+      sessionId: "s1",
+      eventType: "test",
+      summary: "normal event",
+      detail: "nothing special",
+      outcome: "success",
+      importance: 5,
+      embeddingKey: null,
+      tokenCount: 10,
+      classification: "productive",
+    });
+    episodicInsert(db, {
+      sessionId: "s1",
+      eventType: "test",
+      summary: "event with 100% completion",
+      detail: "has percent",
+      outcome: "success",
+      importance: 5,
+      embeddingKey: null,
+      tokenCount: 10,
+      classification: "productive",
+    });
+
+    // Search for literal "100%" — should only match the second entry
+    const results = episodicSearch(db, "100%");
+    expect(results.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(results[0].summary).toContain("100%");
+  });
+
+  it("does not treat _ in query as LIKE single-char wildcard", () => {
+    episodicInsert(db, {
+      sessionId: "s1",
+      eventType: "test",
+      summary: "file_name found",
+      detail: null,
+      outcome: null,
+      importance: 5,
+      embeddingKey: null,
+      tokenCount: 10,
+      classification: "productive",
+    });
+    episodicInsert(db, {
+      sessionId: "s1",
+      eventType: "test",
+      summary: "filename found",
+      detail: null,
+      outcome: null,
+      importance: 5,
+      embeddingKey: null,
+      tokenCount: 10,
+      classification: "productive",
+    });
+
+    // Search for "file_name" — should match only the underscore entry, not "filename"
+    const results = episodicSearch(db, "file_name");
+    expect(results.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(results[0].summary).toBe("file_name found");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("semanticSearch wildcard escaping", () => {
+  it("does not treat % in query as LIKE wildcard", () => {
+    semanticUpsert(db, {
+      category: "self",
+      key: "cpu_usage",
+      value: "CPU at 95% utilization",
+      confidence: 0.9,
+      source: "test",
+      embeddingKey: null,
+      lastVerifiedAt: null,
+    });
+    semanticUpsert(db, {
+      category: "self",
+      key: "memory_usage",
+      value: "Memory at 50GB",
+      confidence: 0.9,
+      source: "test",
+      embeddingKey: null,
+      lastVerifiedAt: null,
+    });
+
+    // Search for literal "95%" — should only match the first entry
+    const results = semanticSearch(db, "95%");
+    expect(results.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(results[0].value).toContain("95%");
+  });
+
+  it("does not treat _ in query as LIKE single-char wildcard", () => {
+    semanticUpsert(db, {
+      category: "self",
+      key: "var_name",
+      value: "Variable var_name is important",
+      confidence: 0.9,
+      source: "test",
+      embeddingKey: null,
+      lastVerifiedAt: null,
+    });
+    semanticUpsert(db, {
+      category: "self",
+      key: "varXname",
+      value: "Variable varXname is different",
+      confidence: 0.9,
+      source: "test",
+      embeddingKey: null,
+      lastVerifiedAt: null,
+    });
+
+    // Search for "var_name" — _ should NOT match arbitrary character
+    const results = semanticSearch(db, "var_name");
+    expect(results.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(results[0].key).toBe("var_name");
+  });
+
+  it("filters by category when provided", () => {
+    semanticUpsert(db, {
+      category: "self",
+      key: "test_key",
+      value: "100% match",
+      confidence: 0.9,
+      source: "test",
+      embeddingKey: null,
+      lastVerifiedAt: null,
+    });
+    semanticUpsert(db, {
+      category: "environment",
+      key: "other_key",
+      value: "100% different",
+      confidence: 0.9,
+      source: "test",
+      embeddingKey: null,
+      lastVerifiedAt: null,
+    });
+
+    const results = semanticSearch(db, "100%", "self");
+    expect(results.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(results[0].category).toBe("self");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("proceduralSearch wildcard escaping", () => {
+  it("does not treat % in query as LIKE wildcard", () => {
+    proceduralUpsert(db, {
+      name: "deploy_100pct_coverage",
+      description: "Deploy with 100% coverage",
+      steps: ["test", "deploy"],
+    });
+    proceduralUpsert(db, {
+      name: "deploy_basic",
+      description: "Basic deployment",
+      steps: ["deploy"],
+    });
+
+    // Search for "100%" — should only match the first
+    const results = proceduralSearch(db, "100%");
+    expect(results.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(results[0].description).toContain("100%");
+  });
+
+  it("does not treat _ in query as LIKE single-char wildcard", () => {
+    proceduralUpsert(db, {
+      name: "run_tests",
+      description: "Run test suite with run_tests command",
+      steps: ["run"],
+    });
+    proceduralUpsert(db, {
+      name: "runXtests",
+      description: "Run X tests",
+      steps: ["run"],
+    });
+
+    // Search for "run_tests" — _ should NOT match arbitrary character
+    const results = proceduralSearch(db, "run_tests");
+    expect(results.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(results[0].name).toBe("run_tests");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/state/database.ts b/src/state/database.ts
index d6b839ce..ebe7121c 100644
--- a/src/state/database.ts
+++ b/src/state/database.ts
@@ -1402,7 +1402,8 @@ export function episodicGetRecent(db: DatabaseType, sessionId: string, limit: nu
 
 export function episodicSearch(db: DatabaseType, query: string, limit: number = 10): EpisodicMemoryEntry[] {
   try {
-    const rows = db.prepare("SELECT * FROM episodic_memory WHERE summary LIKE ? OR detail LIKE ? ORDER BY importance DESC, created_at DESC LIMIT ?").all(`%${query}%`, `%${query}%`, limit) as any[];
+    const escaped = query.replace(/[%_\\]/g, (ch) => `\\${ch}`);
+    const rows = db.prepare("SELECT * FROM episodic_memory WHERE summary LIKE ? ESCAPE '\\' OR detail LIKE ? ESCAPE '\\' ORDER BY importance DESC, created_at DESC LIMIT ?").all(`%${escaped}%`, `%${escaped}%`, limit) as any[];
     return rows.map(deserializeEpisodicRow);
   } catch (error) { logger.error("episodicSearch failed", error instanceof Error ? error : undefined); return []; }
 }
@@ -1469,11 +1470,12 @@ export function semanticGet(db: DatabaseType, category: SemanticCategory, key: s
 
 export function semanticSearch(db: DatabaseType, query: string, category?: SemanticCategory): SemanticMemoryEntry[] {
   try {
+    const escaped = query.replace(/[%_\\]/g, (ch) => `\\${ch}`);
     if (category) {
-      const rows = db.prepare("SELECT * FROM semantic_memory WHERE category = ? AND (key LIKE ? OR value LIKE ?) ORDER BY confidence DESC, updated_at DESC").all(category, `%${query}%`, `%${query}%`) as any[];
+      const rows = db.prepare("SELECT * FROM semantic_memory WHERE category = ? AND (key LIKE ? ESCAPE '\\' OR value LIKE ? ESCAPE '\\') ORDER BY confidence DESC, updated_at DESC").all(category, `%${escaped}%`, `%${escaped}%`) as any[];
       return rows.map(deserializeSemanticRow);
     }
-    const rows = db.prepare("SELECT * FROM semantic_memory WHERE key LIKE ? OR value LIKE ? ORDER BY confidence DESC, updated_at DESC").all(`%${query}%`, `%${query}%`) as any[];
+    const rows = db.prepare("SELECT * FROM semantic_memory WHERE key LIKE ? ESCAPE '\\' OR value LIKE ? ESCAPE '\\' ORDER BY confidence DESC, updated_at DESC").all(`%${escaped}%`, `%${escaped}%`) as any[];
     return rows.map(deserializeSemanticRow);
   } catch (error) { logger.error("semanticSearch failed", error instanceof Error ? error : undefined); return []; }
 }
@@ -1528,7 +1530,8 @@ export function proceduralRecordOutcome(db: DatabaseType, name: string, success:
 
 export function proceduralSearch(db: DatabaseType, query: string): ProceduralMemoryEntry[] {
   try {
-    const rows = db.prepare("SELECT * FROM procedural_memory WHERE name LIKE ? OR description LIKE ? ORDER BY success_count DESC, updated_at DESC").all(`%${query}%`, `%${query}%`) as any[];
+    const escaped = query.replace(/[%_\\]/g, (ch) => `\\${ch}`);
+    const rows = db.prepare("SELECT * FROM procedural_memory WHERE name LIKE ? ESCAPE '\\' OR description LIKE ? ESCAPE '\\' ORDER BY success_count DESC, updated_at DESC").all(`%${escaped}%`, `%${escaped}%`) as any[];
     return rows.map(deserializeProceduralRow);
   } catch (error) { logger.error("proceduralSearch failed", error instanceof Error ? error : undefined); return []; }
 }