Phalcon PHP framework not passing parameters to controller - php

Question

Just started development in the Phalcon PHP framework and am also pretty new to PHP in general. My question is on how to create a request with a route, which I believe I have done, and pass the parameters of the route to the controller action that is linked to the said route. Below I have included the three files that I have been working on and summarize what each one is supposed to do. I also have the end result and where my problem lies directly.
The first file is the index.php file that takes in all route requests for my site.
<?php
//Include all routes on site
foreach (glob("../app/routes/*.php") as $filename)
{
include $filename;
}
foreach (glob("../app/controllers/*.php") as $filename)
{
include $filename;
}
//Create routes and initialize routes
$router = new \Phalcon\Mvc\Router();
$router->mount(new PublicRoutes());
$router->mount(new ApiRoutes());
$router->mount(new AdminRoutes());
$router->handle();
$controller = $router->getControllerName();
$action = $router->getActionName();
$params = $router->getParams();
$di = new \Phalcon\DI\FactoryDefault();
$d = new Phalcon\Mvc\Dispatcher();
$d->setDI($di);
$d->setControllerName($router->getControllerName());
$d->setActionName($router->getActionName());
$d->setParams($router->getParams());
$controller = $d->dispatch();
The second file is the actual routes mounted in for my API call which I am testing everything out with.
<?php
class ApiRoutes extends Phalcon\Mvc\Router\Group
{
public function initialize()
{
//Basic api route for pixelpusher
$this->add(
"/addhawk/api/:action/:model/:params",
array(
"controller" => "api",
"action" => 1,
"model" => 2,
"params" => 3,
)
);
}
}
The third, and final file is the controller class for the API with the only action I am testing right now.
<?php
class ApiController extends \Phalcon\Mvc\Controller
{
public function handlerAction()
{
//Pull in parameters
echo "<h1>API Handler Entered</h1>";
$model = $this->dispatcher->getParam("model");
echo $model;
//Choose correct api based off of api param
if( $model == "grid" ) {
echo 'grid';
}
else if ( $model == "admin" ) {
echo 'admin';
}
else {
//No valid api must have been found for request
}
//Return result from api call
return true;
}
}
So, the url is "localhost/addhawk/api/handler/grate/view" which results in the following output in html courtesy of line 9 in the ApiController.
There is no print out of the $model variable as it should do. There is also no error so I have no idea why it's not printing. According to the documentation and every resource I have read online, all parameters should be available directly from each controller action thanks to the dispatcher and $di class or something similar. So my question is why can I not access the parameters if everything seems to be saying I should be able to?