try "

azure-pipelines/steps/confirm-kv-loaded.yaml

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ steps:
     echo "--------------------------------"
     echo "KV_DEBUG_ENV: $KV_DEBUG_ENV"
     echo ""
-    if [ $KV_DEBUG_ENV == '$(kv-debug-env)' ]; then
+    if [ $KV_DEBUG_ENV == \$\(kv-debug-env\) ]; then
       echo "⛔️ Key Vault not loaded"
       echo "Please double check configuration Variable Groups in Azure Pipelines UI and that the YAML pipeline is running against the 'main' or 'production' branch."
       exit 1