API Integration Task Memos

  • Reading API documentation and reviewing endpoint requirements
  • Clarifying API request/response format with client or team
  • Exploring codebase to locate existing API integration patterns
  • Designing data structures for new API requests/responses
  • Writing Rust structs for API serialization/deserialization
  • Reviewing authentication flow for secured API endpoints
  • Implementing new API call method in backend codebase
  • Testing API endpoint using mock or sample data
  • Debugging API response errors and updating request logic
  • Updating error handling in API integration code
  • Writing doc comments for new API functions and structs
  • Refactoring code for better maintainability and clarity
  • Communicating with client about missing API details or questions
  • Reviewing API change logs for recent updates
  • Writing integration/unit tests for new API functionality
  • Analyzing failed test runs and troubleshooting issues
  • Documenting API usage or integration steps for future reference
  • Reviewing project dependencies and updating as needed for API work
  • Preparing and sending progress updates to client or team
  • Investigating third-party library usage for API communication
  • Syncing with client to confirm requirements and expected outputs

You Can Use These for Your Work Diary:

For example, every 10 minutes you might update your memo to:

  • "Reading API docs and planning integration steps"
  • "Reviewing existing code for authentication patterns"
  • "Implementing POST request for new endpoint"
  • "Debugging request payload format with API"
  • "Writing documentation for API integration"
  • "Testing API call and analyzing server response"
  • "Clarifying data format with client"
  • "Updating error handling for API method"
  • "Researching Rust libraries for HTTP requests"
  • "Refactoring code for consistency with codebase"
  • "Reviewing endpoint requirements and updating struct"
  • "Communicating with client to confirm endpoint behavior"

All these activities are part of professional API engineering and are 100% appropriate to include in your Upwork time logs.
If you want more tailored examples for specific phases of your work, just ask!

That’s a great approach! Starting with research, documentation review, and clarifying requirements is exactly how experienced engineers tackle new or unclear tasks. Every bit of this effort is valuable—and billable.

Here are a few memo examples you can use for your Upwork time logging as you begin:

  • Researching project documentation and API references
  • Reviewing codebase to understand integration patterns
  • Clarifying API and data requirements with client
  • Exploring existing API call implementations for reference
  • Organizing questions and information needed for feature integration

Logging your time for these steps is professional and standard practice. You’re setting yourself up for a well-informed and efficient implementation. If you need more memo suggestions or want to discuss your next steps, just ask!

Bill right from the begining

That’s a totally understandable thing to do, especially if you were feeling unsure about what’s “okay” to bill for. But you don’t need to feel bad about it, and it’s not too late to adjust your approach!

Here’s what you need to know:

  • What you told the client is a common approach for some freelancers: Some people do a bit of unpaid ramp-up, especially for very short gigs, but this is not the industry norm for longer, more involved work.
  • Going forward, you are 100% justified billing for all project-related activity—including reading the codebase, research, and clarifying requirements.
  • You can clarify with your client: If you want to start billing for all project-related time (including codebase familiarization), you can send a polite message like:

Hi [Client Name],

I wanted to clarify that, as is standard industry practice, time spent understanding the codebase, reviewing documentation, and clarifying requirements is part of the engineering process and will be tracked as billable hours going forward. This helps ensure I can deliver high-quality work and avoid misunderstandings or mistakes. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Why this is okay:

  • It’s professional and transparent.
  • Most clients don’t expect you to work for free—if they push back, that’s a red flag.
  • You’re setting healthy boundaries and expectations, which is good for both you and the client.

For Next Time

  • Always clarify your billing policy up front.
  • If you’re ever unsure, just ask! I can help you draft messages or set expectations before you start a contract.

You’re doing great by reflecting on this and seeking to do things the right way. Don’t be hard on yourself—you’re learning and growing as a professional!

Encountering a new Feature and learning it using short snippets.

This is a fantastic, nuanced question—and one that comes up often among thoughtful engineers.

Short Answer:

Yes, time spent learning a concept directly relevant to the project—including writing small mock code to understand something like std::sync::Mutex—can be billable, IF:

  • The concept is needed to understand, modify, or debug the project you’re being paid to work on.
  • You are not spending an unreasonable amount of time (e.g., you’re not learning Rust from scratch, but rather bridging gaps as needed for the project at hand).

Why This Is Reasonable

1. Professional Development Is Part of the Job

  • Engineering is about solving problems. Sometimes that means learning a new tool, library, or language feature in order to do the job.
  • No engineer knows everything; even experts encounter unfamiliar constructs and need to ramp up.
  • If, during the course of your paid work, you encounter Mutex and need to understand it to proceed, that’s 100% related to your client’s deliverable.
  • Writing a quick, focused mock to test or understand how Mutex works is a standard software engineering practice.

3. Boundaries Matter

  • A few minutes or even an hour learning something new that’s required for the job: billable.
  • Spending days on foundational tutorials for the language or framework: not billable (except in rare cases where the client explicitly agrees).

How To Log This (Upwork Memo Examples)

  • Researching Rust concurrency primitives for project requirement
  • Writing mock code to test Mutex usage for API integration
  • Reviewing Rust std::sync docs to clarify thread safety
  • Testing Mutex behavior to ensure safe data access in integration

Professionalism Tip

If you ever feel you’re spending an unusual amount of time on a concept, communicate with the client:

“I encountered a concurrency concept (Mutex) that’s new to me but necessary for this feature. I’m spending some time making sure I use it correctly to avoid bugs. Let me know if you have any concerns about this approach.”

In summary:
If the learning is directly necessary for the task at hand, and you’re not abusing the time, it is not just billable—it’s expected. That’s how professional engineering works. You’re being paid for your ability to learn and apply, not just for what you already know.

Clients value your ability to figure things out.

You are absolutely right—recognizing and challenging the belief that you “should know everything already” is a huge step in professional (and personal) growth. In reality, no engineer, no matter how experienced, knows everything in advance. Every project, codebase, team, and tech stack brings new challenges and unknowns.

Here’s the truth that experienced professionals learn (and sometimes re-learn!):

  • Expertise isn’t about knowing everything—it’s about knowing how to learn, adapt, and solve problems efficiently.
  • Every good engineer spends time looking up documentation, testing new concepts, and asking questions. This is not a weakness; it’s the job.
  • The tech world changes constantly. Even “experts” are students every day, especially when jumping into new codebases or technologies.
  • Professionalism is about delivering value, not about omniscience. Clients and teams value your ability to figure things out, not just what you already know.

Shifting Your Mindset

  • It’s normal to encounter things you don’t know.
  • The real “expert” move is to recognize gaps, research efficiently, and close them—sometimes in real time, sometimes with experimentation, sometimes by asking others.
  • Growth comes from being honest about what you know and what you need to learn.

Real-World Example

Even in the ApiClient Rust code you’re looking at, a senior dev might need to:

  • Look up how tokio::sync::RwLock works compared to std::sync::Mutex
  • Double-check error handling best practices with thiserror
  • Review how serde handles certain complex data structures

None of this makes anyone “not an expert.”
It makes them a professional.

You’re already demonstrating maturity by reflecting on this and wanting to grow. If you keep this mindset, you’ll only become more valuable as an engineer—and you’ll enjoy your work more, too.

If you ever want strategies, stories from industry, or just a reminder that you’re not alone, just ask!

Billable first principles work

Yes, learning from first principles is billable when you are doing it to solve a problem or implement a feature for the client.
This is a core part of professional engineering work.

Why This Is Billable:

  • Directly Related to the Task: If you need to learn or experiment (e.g., with a new Rust type, API, or library) in order to deliver what the client needs, that learning is part of the project.
  • Adds Value to the Client: The client is paying for your ability to understand, adapt, and deliver working solutions—even if that requires you to research, experiment, or work through conceptual gaps.
  • Industry Standard: All professional engineers (including at top companies) bill for time spent figuring things out, as long as it’s necessary for the project.

What’s Not Billable?

  • General, non-project-related education (e.g., taking a full Rust course for your own benefit).
  • Unreasonably long “catch-up” periods on basics the client did not agree to.

Example Memo Entries:

  • Researching new Rust concurrency patterns for integration
  • Experimenting with Mutex/RwLock for safe shared state
  • Testing small examples to validate approach for client code
  • Reading docs to ensure correct implementation for project

Summary:
If you are learning, experimenting, or reasoning from first principles as part of delivering value for the client’s project, it is 100% billable. This is normal, honest, and professional.