elasticsearch/docs/reference/esql/functions/like.asciidoc

[discrete]
[[esql-like-operator]]
=== `LIKE`

// tag::body[]
Use `LIKE` to filter data based on string patterns using wildcards. `LIKE`
usually acts on a field placed on the left-hand side of the operator, but it can
also act on a constant (literal) expression. The right-hand side of the operator
represents the pattern or a list of patterns. If a list of patterns is provided,
the expression will return true if any of the patterns match.

The following wildcard characters are supported:

* `*` matches zero or more characters.
* `?` matches one character.

include::./types/like.asciidoc[]

[source.merge.styled,esql]
----
include::{esql-specs}/docs.csv-spec[tag=like]
----
[%header.monospaced.styled,format=dsv,separator=|]
|===
include::{esql-specs}/docs.csv-spec[tag=like-result]
|===

Matching the exact characters `*` and `.` will require escaping.
The escape character is backslash `\`. Since also backslash is a special character in string literals,
it will require further escaping.

[source.merge.styled,esql]
----
include::{esql-specs}/string.csv-spec[tag=likeEscapingSingleQuotes]
----

[source.merge.styled,esql]
----
include::{esql-specs}/where-like.csv-spec[tag=likeListDocExample]
----

To reduce the overhead of escaping, we suggest using triple quotes strings `"""`

[source.merge.styled,esql]
----
include::{esql-specs}/string.csv-spec[tag=likeEscapingTripleQuotes]
----
// end::body[]