pipe into if then in csh/tcsh

I would like to have a csh script to test a variable between two pipes. For example (the incoming resembles a json file but without the newlines and indentations): set debug = 1 cat test.inp | if ($debug) then (jq '.response' | tee test2.json) else python -m json.tool endif > test.output The idea is that whatever the value of the variable debug, the output is saved in test.output. But the way I wrote this leads to the error: > if: Improper then. Is there any way to do this in csh/tcsh (as there seems to be in sh/bash)?