diff --git a/sphaira/include/download.hpp b/sphaira/include/download.hpp
index 0c2e6eb..4544ee3 100644
--- a/sphaira/include/download.hpp
+++ b/sphaira/include/download.hpp
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ auto ToFile(const Api& e) -> ApiResult;
 auto ToMemoryAsync(const Api& e) -> bool;
 auto ToFileAsync(const Api& e) -> bool;
 
+// uses curl to convert string to their %XX
+auto EscapeString(const std::string& str) -> std::string;
+
 struct Api {
     Api() = default;
 
diff --git a/sphaira/source/download.cpp b/sphaira/source/download.cpp
index 64163e6..374e715 100644
--- a/sphaira/source/download.cpp
+++ b/sphaira/source/download.cpp
@@ -757,4 +757,14 @@ auto ToFileAsync(const Api& e) -> bool {
     return g_thread_queue.Add(e);
 }
 
+auto EscapeString(const std::string& str) -> std::string {
+    std::string result;
+    const auto s = curl_escape(str.data(), str.length());
+    if (s) {
+        result = s;
+        curl_free(s);
+    }
+    return result;
+}
+
 } // namespace sphaira::curl
diff --git a/sphaira/source/ui/menus/themezer.cpp b/sphaira/source/ui/menus/themezer.cpp
index cd7db79..32d1536 100644
--- a/sphaira/source/ui/menus/themezer.cpp
+++ b/sphaira/source/ui/menus/themezer.cpp
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ auto apiBuildUrlListInternal(const Config& e, bool is_pack) -> std::string {
     if (is_pack) {
         cmd = "packList";
         // fields += ",themes{id,creator{display_name},details{name,description},last_updated,dl_count,like_count,target,preview{original,thumb}}";
-        fields += ",themes{id, preview{thumb}}";
+        fields += ",themes{id,preview{thumb}}";
     } else {
         cmd = "themeList";
         p0 += ",$target:String";
@@ -92,7 +92,9 @@ auto apiBuildUrlListInternal(const Config& e, bool is_pack) -> std::string {
         json += ",\"query\":\"" + e.query + "\"";
     }
 
-    return api+"("+p0+"){"+cmd+"("+p1+")"+fields+"}}&variables={"+json+"}";
+    json = curl::EscapeString('{'+json+'}');
+
+    return api+"("+p0+"){"+cmd+"("+p1+")"+fields+"}}&variables="+json;
 }
 
 auto apiBuildUrlDownloadInternal(const std::string& id, bool is_pack) -> std::string {