Python String Formats with SQL Wildcards and LIKE

It's not about string formatting but the problem is how queries should be executed according to db operations requirements in Python (PEP 249)

try something like this:

sql = "SELECT column FROM table WHERE col1=%s AND col2=%s" 
params = (col1_value, col2_value)
cursor.execute(sql, params)

here are some examples for psycog2 where you have some explanations that should also be valid for mysql (mysqldb also follows PEP249 dba api guidance 2.0: here are examples for mysqldb)

To escape ampersands in Python string formatting expressions, double the ampersand:

'%%%s%%' % search_string

Edit: But I definitely agree with another answer. Direct string substitution in SQL queries is almost always a bad idea.

Those queries all appear to be vulnerable to SQL injection attacks.

Try something like this instead:

curs.execute("""SELECT tag.userId, count(user.id) as totalRows 
                  FROM user 
            INNER JOIN tag ON user.id = tag.userId 
                 WHERE user.username LIKE %s""", ('%' + query + '%',))

Where there are two arguments being passed to execute().