I would simply insert (?:[^\n]*\n){2} after the \A. 

qr/(?x:
   \A
   (?:[^\n]*\n){2}
   (?:
      [^|]*                       \|
      \s* activate[ ]complete \s* \|
      [^\n]*                      \n?
   )*
   \z
)/ms;

[download]

For the finicky, [^|] could be changed to [^|\n]

In reply to Re^4: Multi-line string regex and negative inline match by ikegami
in thread Multi-line string regex and negative inline match by josh803316

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