# contains — DuckDB 1.5.5

Returns `true` if `search_string` is found within `string`.

- Reference: /products/haybarn/functions/releases/duckdb-1.5.5/contains/
- JSON: /products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/duckdb-1.5.5/functions/contains.json
- Snapshot ID: duckdb-1.5.5
- Engine: duckdb v1.5.5
- Source ID: d8cdaa33fd
- Binary SHA-256: 8463eb26527b278109cfddffc4606e1019ebefcfe2eac75efc53c76ed8f282d5
- Captured: 2026-09-05T18:37:40.699Z
- Source: https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/releases/tag/v1.5.5
- Loaded extensions: autocomplete, core_functions, icu, json, parquet, shell

## Interpretation

- Choose a snapshot matching the target engine and build. The default is captured from the published Haybarn WASM package used by the browser playground. Historical native snapshots are also available.
- Availability is an observation in the recorded build and extension profile, not a guarantee of support in every installation or in WASM.
- Types and descriptions are declarations from duckdb_functions(). Binding can specialize result types. Null means not supplied by the catalog; do not invent defaults, optionality, argument mode, or table output columns.
- Raw parameter arrays preserve catalog order for scalar/aggregate/macro functions. Raw table arguments are alphabetical. Use callingConvention for engine-confirmed positional order and named arguments; null modes are unrecorded. Named does not mean optional. Macro defaults and special named variadic behavior are not supplied by duckdb_functions().
- Catalog examples are source material and may require data or extensions. runnableExamples contains separately verified SQL for the pinned WASM package; sample-data adaptations and guide examples are labeled separately.
- Guide annotations and recipes are separate editorial content. The browser runner always uses Haybarn WASM 1.5.5-rc3, independently of the documentation snapshot.
- All URLs beginning with / are relative to the origin hosting this document. Exports require no JavaScript, cookies, API key, or browser engine.

## Overloads

### overload-4f2518abcf62fe65

Kind: scalar. Parameter order: catalog-order.

```text
contains(col0: MAP(K, V), col1: K) → BOOLEAN
```

Link: /products/haybarn/functions/releases/duckdb-1.5.5/contains/#overload-4f2518abcf62fe65

| Argument | Catalog type | Calling mode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| col0 | MAP(K, V) | not recorded |
| col1 | K | not recorded |

Declared return type: BOOLEAN. Variadic argument type: none declared.
Stability: CONSISTENT. Declared side effects: false.

### overload-1043f2c7d3047b22

Kind: scalar. Parameter order: catalog-order.

```text
contains(col0: STRUCT, col1: ANY) → BOOLEAN
```

Link: /products/haybarn/functions/releases/duckdb-1.5.5/contains/#overload-1043f2c7d3047b22

| Argument | Catalog type | Calling mode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| col0 | STRUCT | not recorded |
| col1 | ANY | not recorded |

Declared return type: BOOLEAN. Variadic argument type: none declared.
Stability: CONSISTENT. Declared side effects: false.

### overload-c181d0baad0b368f

Kind: scalar. Parameter order: catalog-order.

```text
contains(col0: T[], col1: T) → BOOLEAN
```

Link: /products/haybarn/functions/releases/duckdb-1.5.5/contains/#overload-c181d0baad0b368f

| Argument | Catalog type | Calling mode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| col0 | T[] | not recorded |
| col1 | T | not recorded |

Declared return type: BOOLEAN. Variadic argument type: none declared.
Stability: CONSISTENT. Declared side effects: false.

### overload-28225cca8cbb2682

Kind: scalar. Parameter order: catalog-order.

```text
contains(string: VARCHAR, search_string: VARCHAR) → BOOLEAN
```

Link: /products/haybarn/functions/releases/duckdb-1.5.5/contains/#overload-28225cca8cbb2682

| Argument | Catalog type | Calling mode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| string | VARCHAR | not recorded |
| search_string | VARCHAR | not recorded |

Declared return type: BOOLEAN. Variadic argument type: none declared.
Stability: CONSISTENT. Declared side effects: false.


## Guide recipes

No guide recipes.

## Engine catalog examples

Source examples may require additional data or extensions. Expressions are wrapped in SELECT; execution verification is not recorded.

Reported for: overload-28225cca8cbb2682

```sql
SELECT contains('abc', 'a');
```

## Runnable examples

Executed successfully in Haybarn WASM 1.5.5-rc3. Sample data and guide examples are separate from the original catalog.

```sql
SELECT contains('abc', 'a');
```

## Additional DuckDB documentation

- [List Functions](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/list#containslist-element)
- [Text Functions](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/text#containsstring-search_string)
- [Text Functions](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/text.html#containsstring-search_string)

## In other engines

### BigQuery: contains_substr()



BigQuery:

```sql
CONTAINS_SUBSTR(a, b)
```

Haybarn / DuckDB:

```sql
CONTAINS(LOWER(a), LOWER(b))
```

Translation from [SQLGlot](https://github.com/tobymao/sqlglot/blob/3086608e6fd4c41c02dfba47171608d2b193fce2/tests/dialects/test_bigquery.py#L2021).

## Observed availability

| Snapshot | Observed | Overloads | JSON |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| haybarn-1.5.5-rc3 | present | 4 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/haybarn-1.5.5-rc3/functions/contains.json) |
| duckdb-1.5.5 | present | 4 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/duckdb-1.5.5/functions/contains.json) |
| duckdb-1.4.4 | present | 4 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/duckdb-1.4.4/functions/contains.json) |
| duckdb-1.3.2 | present | 3 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/duckdb-1.3.2/functions/contains.json) |

Engine catalog documentation is derived from MIT-licensed Haybarn and DuckDB. [Notices](/third-party-notices.txt).