A digital software recorder (DSR) leverages the functionality of a container management software platform, such as Docker, to permit time-travel debugging of a containerized software application, including pausing, playing, rewinding, and fast-forwarding execution of the application, by using snapshots taken by a snapshot manager service as the basis for setting the application state at points in the application's execution, thus saving debugging time that would otherwise be incurred by restarting an application. Snapshots can be triggered manually or automatically based on time or resource utilization threshold criteria. If source code is available to the DSR, the DSR can also enable hot code replacement, wherein modifications to the source code of the application do not require application restart, but instead the application state can be restored to just prior to the execution of the source code modifications. Machine-learning-based anomaly prediction can be used to take snapshots or set debugging information.