How do I get the 8 standard alert action script parameters AND custom parameters defined in savedsearches.conf.spec into a custom Python alert action script at the same time?

I've been able to successfully access the 8 command line parameters passed into a regular alert action shell script just fine. Now I've graduated to building a custom alert action patterned after the python-based JIRA example.I can successfully access custom alert action parameters that I've defined in savedsearches.conf.spec and populated from a custom .html fragment. But I can't seem to also access the original 8 parameters in the same custom Python alert action script. How do I access both sets of parameters in the same script at the same time? Thanks!